UCI agrees to reduce team sizes in 2018 Grand Tours

(Reuters) - Tour de France teams will be limited to eight riders next year as part of governing body the UCI's modernisation of the regulations which were announced on Tuesday. The Giro d'Italia and Vuelta will also be reduced from nine to eight riders in a bid to improve the safety of riders, spectators and the race convoy. The move means the peloton will be reduced to 176 in the three Grand Tours next year, down from 198. Other men's road races on the UCI International Road Calendar will be reduced to seven riders per team. Tuesday's UCI meeting in Bergen, currently hosting the world road championships, also decided on Pruszkow, Poland to host the 2019 world track championships. (Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Toby Davis)