Visma-Lease a Bike 'Control Room' not authorised within Tour de France premises

The organisers of the Tour de France have said that a 'Control Room' vehicle, which was due to be used by Visma-Lease a Bike, will not be authorised "within any premises of the event".

The Control Room has been designed to act as a "central collection point of real-time data during the Tour de France", allowing the team to analyse all data "in one place" and "make the best tactical decisions, quickly and accurately".

The vehicle was unveiled by the team on Thursday and the UCI announced that it would be "carrying out verifications" to ensure the converted van complied with regulations on the same day.

Ahead of the first stage, organisiers Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) released a statement, noting: "The Team Visma-Lease a Bike 'control room' vehicle shall not be authorised within any of the premises of the event and shall therefore not bear a vehicle acceditation".

Cycling Weekly understands that the team did not apply for accreditation.

Visma-Lease a Bike called the vehicle, which was produced in collaboration with the team's main sponsor - business software experts Visma - and Dutch online sportbetting company, BetCity, the "first ever command centre in cycling".

When announcing its investigation, cycling's governing body cited Article 1.3.006bis, which relates to Onboard technology.

The UCI rules state that devices which capture or transmit data on positioning, still or moving images, or mechanical information are permitted. Devices which capture data on heart rate , body temperature and sweat rate are also permitted, but the "authorisation is... limited to transmission protocols which enable only the rider concerned to view the data during a competition".

The regulations also state that "the authorised capturing and transmitting of data as provided under this article shall not enable a rider to view data of another rider", also noting that teams shall only access the data of their riders, "unless information... is publicly available".

In its statement, the UCI added: "Our priority is to maintain the integrity of the sport, ensuring sporting fairness, equitable access to technology and the primacy of man over machine. The UCI is committed to upholding these principles and will take appropriate measures based on the findings of the investigation."

At time of writing, the UCI has not yet released a further statement on the results of its "verifications".