The UCI has announced it has awarded WorldTour licences to 17 teams for the 2017 and 2018 seasons, with only the Chinese-backed TJ Sports team that took over from Lampre-Merida left out and facing further scrutiny from the UCI Licence Commission.
The 17 places in the sport’s highest division have been awarded to AG2R La Mondiale, Astana, BMC, Bora-Hansgrohe, Cannondale-Drapac, Dimension Data, Quick-Step Floors, FDJ, Lotto Soudal, Movistar, Orica-Bike Exchange, Bahrain-Merida, Katusha-Alpecin, LottoNL-Jumbo, Team Sky, Team Sunweb (formerly Giant-Alpecin) and Trek-Segafredo.
Most of the teams competed at WorldTour level in 2016 with Bora-Hansgrohe stepping up from Professional Continental level after signing Peter Sagan and Rafa Majka. New squad Bahrain-Merida has secured WorldTour status for its first season after signing Vincenzo Nibali as team leader.
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The UCI said that the licences have been awarded “in accordance with the UCI Regulations and following a full review of all criteria for attribution (administrative, ethical, financial and sporting).” It did not specify why a decision on the TJ Sports team had been delayed, only saying that an announcement will be made in due course.
The UCI also awarded one-year Professional Continental licences to 20 teams including the new Acqua Blue Sport team from Ireland, the Israel Cycling Academy and Manzana Postobon from Colombia.
The position of Gianni Savio’s Androni Giocattoli team and the Polish Verva Activajet team are still under review by the UCI licence Commission.
The registration procedure of the Soul Brasil team has been provisionally suspended following the referral of the team to the UCI Disciplinary Commission after three riders tested positive during 2016. As recently announced, the One Pro Cycling team has decided to step down to Continental level after a shortfall in sponsorship. The full list of Continental teams has still to be confirmed.
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