Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) is a professional cycling union that oversees cycling events in the international community. The UCI is headquartered in Aigle, Switzerland. The English translation is the International Cycling Union (ICU) but the UCI acronym is the one used most extensively, perhaps due to another meaning of ICU.
The UCI issues racing licenses to riders and enforces disciplinary rules, such as in matters of doping. The UCI also manages the classification of races and the points ranking system in various cycling disciplines from mountain biking, road cycling, and track cycling. It also oversees the World Championships — in which different countries compete instead of trade teams — in various disciplines and in different categories. The winners of these races have the right to wear a special rainbow-themed jersey for the following year, and have the right to wear an armband in the same rainbow pattern for the remainder of their careers.
Starting in 2005 the UCI has started the UCI ProTour series of cycling events, which replaces the previous UCI World Cup series. Unlike the World Cup, the ProTour includes the Grand Tours road cycling stage races, which are the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana.
The current president of the UCI is Hein Verbruggen, which term ends in 2006.
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