The 2017 UCI WorldTour will include 18 teams, including Dimension Data, after a agreement for the reforms of professional cycling was thrashed out at a long and often tense meeting of the UCI Professional Cycling Council (PCC) in Geneva on Tuesday.
The PCC includes different stakeholders from the sport, such as race organisers, teams and riders, and is responsible for the technical and administrative organisation of the UCI WorldTour. They have been at odds over the future of professional cycling but have now reached an agreement at least for 2017 and 2018.
As Cyclingnews reported on October 26, the UCI and Tour de France organiser Amaury Sports Organisation (ASO) put aside their agreement to reduce the number of teams to 17, thus safeguarding the future of the Dimension Data team. The UCI has still to officially confirm the names of the 18 WorldTour teams but new team Bahrain-Merida, and world champion Peter Sagan's new team Bora-Hansgrohe look certain to be part of cycling's highest division in 2017, provided their licence applications are in order.
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The UCI has already announced the list of WorldTour races on the calendar for next season, with an expansion from 27 to 37 events. The new ones are: Amgen Tour of California, Tour of Qatar, Abu Dhabi Tour and Tour of Turkey, and one-day races Dwars door Vlaanderen, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, Prudential RideLondon, Eschborn-Frankfurt and Strade Bianche.
There are reports that an extra race, the Tour of Guangxi in China, will be held in October, with organiser Wanda Group also organising a women's race and the UCI Gala event. Cyclingnews understands the event is under consideration due to business interests of many of the stakeholders. However, the race has yet to be confirmed as part of the 2017 WorldTour calendar.
The UCI will award two-year licences to the 18 WorldTour teams, giving them some stability and a place in the sport's biggest races, including the Tour de France. But the teams will not be obliged to compete in the new WorldTour races added to the 2017 calendar, with those race organisers forced to attract the teams on individual terms.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest News http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/18-teams-confirmed-for-2017-worldtour-as-stakeholders-reach-deal-on-reforms
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