The UCI has confirmed there will be 18 teams in the sports highest division in 2017, awarding the final place to UAE Abu Dhabi, which replaces the planned TJ Sport team and which was known as Lampre-Merida in 2016.
No other details were revealed by the UCI but the press release said it had awarded UAE Abu Dhabi a two-year licence "following a full review of the documentation provided concerning different criteria for awarding of licences (sporting, financial, administrative and ethical)." The UCI did not specify why a decision on the TJ Sports team had been delayed so long.
The UCI released a list of 17 WorldTour teams for 2017 on November 25 but said the WorldTour licence of the team managed by Saronni was still under review.
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Saronni faced a race against time to secure a WorldTour licence for 2017, with riders and staff worried that previously announced funding from a consortium of Chinese backers would never materialise.
Cyclingnews reported on December 13 that bike sponsor Colnago had helped secure a sponsor from Abu Dhabi. The names of the backers and title sponsors are still unclear.
It seems the new sponsors will ensure the team has a budget of eight or nine million Euros. This is likely to be the lowest of all the WorldTour teams and allow little for extra costs such as training camps and expensive team presentations but should ensure that riders and staff are paid their agreed salaries.
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