ProTour popular among fans

But teams want more certainty

In a recent survey of European cycling fans, UCI's ProTour has been given the thumbs up for making cycling more attractive and the races more competitive. In June, the Sport Marketing Survey agency asked cycling fans from six different European countries (Germany, Belgium, Spain, Italy, France and the Netherlands) for their views on the UCI ProTour, which collects the best races on the calendar and forces the best teams to ride them, ensuring a high standard in these races.

Meanwhile, ANP reports that the ProTour teams want to know for certain whether the three Grand Tours will be part of the ProTour next year. Representatives from the teams informed UCI president Hein Verbruggen of their desire for certainty in Challans on Friday. "The teams want to know as quickly as possible because they want to know how to build their teams for next year," Verbruggen was quoted as saying. "Therefore I have said that the organisers of the three Grand Tours must say before the end of July whether they want to be a part of the ProTour. If not, then the requirement that the top teams have to take part in all three tours will be dropped."