Tour de France organisers Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), Giro d’Italia organisers RCS Sport and Flanders Classics released a joint statement regarding the reduction of team sizes, but the UCI said they have jumped the gun.

The three organisations claimed the change would come into force for the 2017 season - which is denied by the UCI - with Grand Tour teams reduced from nine riders to eight.

"Following the General Assembly of the International Association of Cycling Race Organizers (AIOCC), RCS Sport, Flanders Classics and ASO have taken the decision to reduce the number of riders per team at the start of their races," the statement read.

"The number of riders per team will thus decrease from nine to eight on the Grand Tour and from eight to seven on the other events.

"This decision responds to a two-pronged objective: the first being to improve the safety conditions for the riders with a smaller peloton on roads equipped with more and more street furniture.

"The second, which is a fortunate consequence of the first, is to make it more difficult to dominate a race as well as enhance conditions for events to offer better racing for cycling fans.

"The decision will go into effect for the 2017 season, the number of teams will obviously remain the same."

Safety has been a key issue throughout the year after several incidents, while race organisers have previously expressed their support to reduce team sizes for Grand Tours.

Cannondale-Drapac manager Jonathan Vaughters criticised the timing of the announcement with teams planning for the new season, which is just two months away.

Vaughters, however, stated he was not unopposed to the idea of reducing the size of teams.

The UCI, responding to the announcement, stated that no change has been agreed for the forthcoming season.

"Whilst a potential reduction in team sizes may reflect a view held by some stakeholders, including some race organisers, any changes to the regulations governing men's professional road cycling must be agreed by the Professional Cycling Council (PCC), on which the race organisers are fully represented," a UCI statement read.

"This subject was discussed at the last PCC meeting in November 2016, and it was agreed to consider in detail the implications of such reduction over the coming months, with no change for 2017."

It is the latest disagreement between the governing body and key race organisers in the past year, with the UCI and ASO previously clashing over reforms to the men’s WorldTour.

ASO had informed the UCI in December that they would opt to register their events for the second tier Hors Classe (HC) status for the 2017 season, rather than the top tier WorldTour, in protest at the UCI’s reforms.

An agreement on reforms to men’s professional road cycling in June saw the ASO renege on their threat.

It was announced this month that the UCI and PCC had agreed to keep the number of WorldTour teams at 18 for the forthcoming two seasons, which prevents Dimension Data from being relegated to professional continental level status.

To strengthen competitiveness at elite level, a move would then see a maximum of 17 teams being set in 2019, dropping to 16 from 2020.

It was confirmed on Friday (November 25) that 17 WorldTour licences had been handed out by the UCI, with Bora-Hansgrohe rising to top division status and the new Bahrain-Merida squad also being included.

AG2R La Mondiale, Astana, BMC, Cannondale-Drapac, Dimension Data, Quick-Step Floors, FDJ, Lotto Soudal, Movistar and Orica-Bike Exchange were also named.

Katusha-Alpecin, LottoNL-Jumbo, Team Sky, Trek-Segafredo and Team Sunweb – formerly known as Giant-Alpecin – completed the list of approved WorldTour teams.

The application from the Chinese-backed TJ Sports team is still being reviewed by the UCI licence commission.