VILLARS-SUR-OLLON, Switzerland (AP) — Five teams and 30 of the world's top cyclists have been removed from the women's Tour de Romandie in a dispute over GPS trackers on riders, the sport's governing body said as the race began Friday.

The excluded riders made up nearly a third of the field for the three-day race in Switzerland and included 2024 Tour de France winner Katarzyna Niewiadoma.

The International Cycling Union said the teams had been asked to each pick one rider to wear a GPS tracker ahead of a wider rollout of the device to all riders at the world championships in Rwanda next month. They refused to nominate riders and were excluded from the race, the UCI said. All 30 riders were listed as non-starters on the race website.

“It is deplorable to witness the refusal of certain

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