[3] UCI was founded in 1900 in Paris by the national cycling sports organisations of Belgium, the United States, France, Italy, and Switzerland.

In September 2007 the UCI announced that it had decided to award ProTour status for the first time ever to an event outside of Europe; the Tour Down Under in Adelaide, Australia.

The announcement followed negotiations between UCI President Pat McQuaid and South Australian Premier Mike Rann.

[3] In 3 May 2023, UIC approved a process to review and allow Russian and Belarusian riders to participant UCI events under Individual neutral athlete.

They were allocated originally to member nations in turn, on condition the country was deemed competent and that it could guarantee ticket sales.

Continental European organisers generally preferred massed races on circuits, fenced throughout or along the finish to charge for entry.

They were promoted for three classes of bicycle: solos, tandems and unusual machines such as what are now known as recumbents, on which the rider lies horizontal.

Later changes included restrictions on riding positions of the sort that affected Graeme Obree in the 1990s and the banning in 2000 of all frames that did not have a seat tube.

The winner of a UCI World Championship title is awarded a rainbow jersey, white with five coloured bands on the chest.

This jersey can be worn in only the discipline, specialty and category of competition in which it was awarded, and expires on the day before the following world championship event.

[12] When Floyd Landis confessed to using performance-enhancing drugs throughout his career in May 2010, he alleged that the UCI had accepted a bribe from Lance Armstrong to cover up an EPO positive after the 2001 Tour de Suisse.

[14] The UCI has sued or threatened to sue several cyclists, journalists, and writers for defamation after they accused it of corruption or other misdeeds related to doping.

[15] Many, though not all, of these suits are heard in the Est Vaudois district court of Vevey, Switzerland[16] In 2002 UCI sued Festina soigneur Willy Voet over claims in his book Breaking the Chain.

[19] In 2006, according to Cycling News, the UCI contacted Greg LeMond after an interview he did in 2006 with L'Equipe, and threatened to sue him for defamation.

[15] Another lawsuit was by Hein Verbruggen against WADA Chief Dick Pound in Swiss court regarding his comments about doping and the UCI.

[24] Greg LeMond,[25] David Walsh and others voiced their support for Kimmage and a legal defense fund was set up to assist him.

[26][27][28] Under approval of the UCI, the Free Rate Downhill Race took place in May 2015 on Crimea,[29] an internationally recognised Ukrainian territory that was annexed by the Russian Federation in March 2014.

Between 1998 and 2015, the UCI Women's Road World Cup served as a season-long competition of elite-level one-day events.

At the 2011 World Championships held in Champéry, Switzerland the UCI announced a controversial new sponsorship deal with the previously unheard of RockyRoads Network.

Unlike other types of cycling disciplines, trials is a sport where the main factors are the stability and the control of the bike in extreme situations where speed also plays an important role.

The UCI Trials World Youth Games is the most important international event for boys and girls under 16 years old, the first edition of which took place in 2000.