Belgian team clears up “two administrative formalities” to allow a seat at the top table
Lotto-Belisol has had its place at cycling’s top table confirmed by the International Cycling Union (UCI), the Belgian team reports, as it has been confirmed as registered as a ProTeam for 2014. The team missed out on the initial list of registered teams released earlier this month, due to “certain irregularities”, but confirmed shortly afterwards that it was merely due to “two administrative formalities.”
These “formalities” have now been straightened out, Lotto-Belisol says, and the team will be part of the UCI WorldTour next season.
“As was expected the UCI has awarded Lotto Belisol a license for the WorldTour 2014,” the team’s statement reads. “Previously we reported that only two administrative formalities stood in the way of this ratification. The team handed over these documents to the UCI, won’t have to appear before the license commission and gets its license immediately.”
Lotto-Belisol becomes the tenth team to have been registered for the 2014 WorldTour, after nine were confirmed in the UCI’s original list on November 5th. Of the eight teams applying for the final eight potential places, six – Astana, Lampre-Merida, Movistar, Orica-GreenEdge, Sky and Europcar – first have to apply for a renewed WorldTour licence [or a brand new one in the case of Europcar – ed] and will have to appear before the UCI Licensing Commission.
The other two teams applying for ProTeam registration both already hold WorldTour licences, but must also appear before the Licensing Commission before their registration can be confirmed. Trek Factory Racing must do so because it is taking over the existing licence of RadioShack-Leopard, while Argos-Shimano [which is expected to have a new name sponsor in 2014 – ed] must appear for a similar reason to Lotto-Belisol.
Thankfully, the UCI is not faced with the same dilemma as last year, when 19 teams were chasing 18 possible registrations. The initial denial of Katusha was overturned by the Court for Arbitration in Sport (CAS), which meant that there was one extra first division team for race organisers to cope with in 2013.