ARTICLE 1.3.014
“The plane passing through the highest points at the front and rear of the saddle can have a maximum angle of nine degrees from horizontal. The length of the saddle shall be 24 cm minimum and 30 cm maximum. A tolerance of 5mm is allowed.”
It is important to grant the rider sufficient freedom to allow a comfortable position to be adopted, reducing the pressure on the perineum, while avoiding any deviation through an excessively sloping saddle that could improve sporting performance to an unacceptable degree by the addition of a lumbar support. Furthermore, if the saddle is inclined too severely, this reduces the quality of the rider’s position on the saddle, thus reducing its intrinsic function of providing a basic support for the rider on the bicycle.
Checks on the horizontality of saddles are conducted in the road, track and cyclo-cross events by measuring the angle of incline of the saddle, considering the plane passing through the highest points at the front and rear of the saddle. This angle must be less than 9 degrees (positive or negative incline).
The commissaries are provided with a measuring device as shown in the Figure 4. Checks will not be systematic, but in the event of any doubt, the commissaires will place the device on the saddle to determine its angle of incline after having calibrated the device to the ground or the measuring jig.
The measurement of the horizontality of saddles must be a simple, fair and repeatable process. The tolerance of 9 degrees gives the rider a lot of freedom to adjust his or her position on the bike. Commissaires are able to give a clear, coherent and categorical response when carrying out saddle checks.
http://www.uci.ch/mm/Document/News/R...NG_English.pdf