The UCI announced on Thursday that the Professional Cycling Council (PCC), stakeholders of men’s professional road cycling, agreed on the next steps of the WorldTour reform and approved the 2017 UCI WorldTour calendar in a meeting held on Wednesday in Geneva, Switzerland.
The UCI stated in the press release that the calendar will comprise “all existing UCI WorldTour races – including those in the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) portfolio.” The agreement on the calendar is a milestone-step reached between the UCI and ASO, as the two entities have displayed a public power struggle over the details of the reforms in the last year.
The UCI also stated that the WorldTour will introduce new events to the calendar, and that these events will have three-year licences. The full 2017 UCI WorldTour calendar will be announced soon.
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“This marks another important step in the reform of men’s professional cycling, and I am very pleased that we now have our stakeholders behind what represents the future of our sport," said UCI President Brian Cookson. "I am delighted that we can build on the heritage and prestige of the UCI WorldTour, while also welcoming newer but already successful events taking place in and outside Europe. We are committed to continuing the consultation with all stakeholders on various details of the reform."
AIOCC President, Christian Prudhomme added, “I am delighted that an agreement could be found that will help the sport of cycling as a whole.”
As for WorldTour teams, there will be 17 teams next year and each will be granted a two-year licence for 2017 and 2018, but the goal is to reduce the number of teams to 16 a year later, and for it to be set at 16 teams for 2019 and beyond.
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