New criteria introduced for the approval of new teams; Biological Passport extended
The International Cycling Union (UCI) ProTour Council (UPTC) met yesterday in Birmingham, UK, and approved a new registration system for ProTour teams for the 2011 season. The procedures for awarding ProTour licences and registrations will now be unified, a team will no longer be able to receive a licence if it is not registered. The maximum number of ProTour teams will also be frozen at 18.
The criteria for the award of ProTour licences will not change; teams will still be assessed on a sporting, ethical, financial and administrative basis, but from 2011 the sporting “value” of a team will be calculated differently. This will now be based on the value of the riders contracted to the team for the following year, rather than the season gone by, which will be calculated on those riders’ results of the two previous seasons.
A rider’s value will be based on a number of factors, including the UCI’s World Rankings, Continental rankings, Under-23 rankings, Grand Tour podium places and victories in the season’s most important races.
The new registration schedule means that the UCI will publish a list of those teams to whom ProTour races will be awarded on November 20th each year. The list of teams to be registered in the second division – currently known as “Professional Continental” – will be published at the same time. Should there be any available places left on either of these lists, there will be time for new applications before the definitive lists are published on December 10th.
A significant change to the rules will also require all second division teams to join the UCI’s Biological Passport programme. Currently only those teams that want Wild Card status (which allows them to compete in ProTour and Historic Calendar races) need join the programme. This measure means that the Wild Card status will no longer exist since all Professional Continental teams will be eligible for those races.
Currently of the 20 Professional Continental teams, only 2 (Scott-Marcondes César and CCC Polsat) are not already part of the programme.
On another issue the UCPT agreed that, from January 1st 2012, there will be regulations introduced on the functions of riders’ agents. This will make the UCI one of the first international sporting federations to regulate agents; it will also aim to establish a list of certified agents whom riders will be able trust.