A total of 18 men’s teams have applied with the UCI to renew their WorldTeam status for 2022, the UCI announced Tuesday. This is one fewer than 2021 reflecting the absence of Qhubeka NextHash, which was expected with the team experiencing financial problems and missing the UCI’s October 15 deadline to submit an application.
Among the WorldTeam squads, three confirmed new names due to changes in partnerships: Astana-Premier Tech will be Astana Qazaqstan Team, Deceuninck-Quickstep will be QuickStep-AlphaVinyl Team and Team BikeExchange will go by Team BikeExchange-Jayco.
Premier Tech has still to confirm which team it will partner with for 2022.
To read about the 14 women's teams that have applied for WorldTour status, click here.
Of the 19 UCI men's ProTeams from this season, 16 applied to return at the same level next year, including Alpecin-Fenix, which is the leading ProTeam for a second year in a row, and ranked sixth overall in the UCI World Rankings for elite men’s teams.
The Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec squad was one of the three missing ProTeams. The Italian team is set to be called Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli in 2022 after adding a new Spanish sponsor. The team moved quickly to assure it will soon complete the registration process.
"Being a "start up", a longer time frame was required for the completion of the bureaucratic-administrative formalities, which is why our team does not appear in the list. All the formalities will be completed in the next few days," the team said in a statement.
Another Italian squad, Vini Zabù, is expected to drop down to Continental level next season while French ProTeam Delko ceased all operations earlier this month and will not race in 2022 due to financial difficulties.
No new teams completed applications for the upcoming season as first or second division road teams.
Any teams not on the approved list provided by the UCI on Tuesday still have until December to complete the registration process, which would be reviewed by Licence Commission hearings. However the teams face significant fees for every day of delay in their application.
Last year the Qhubeka team also missed the application deadline but registered in November, having been saved by a sponsorship deal with clothing brand Assos. The future of the South African squad is still in question.
“Today we are not in a position to submit our initial application for our UCI WorldTour licence for next year to the sport’s governing body. We are actively engaged with potential partners, and our current partners, as we work to secure our future for 2022,” the team said in a post on its website on Friday.
Applicants as UCI WorldTeams
- AG2R Citroën Team
- Astana Qazaqstan Team
- Bahrain Victorious
- Bora – Hansgrohe
- Cofidis
- EF Education – Nippo
- Groupama – FDJ
- Ineos Grenadiers
- Intermarche – Wanty – Gobert Materiaux
- Israel Start-Up Nation
- Jumbo-Visma
- Lotto Soudal
- Movistar Team
- Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
- Team BikeExchange – Jayco
- Team DSM
- Trek-Segafredo
- UAE Team Emirates
Applicants as UCI ProTeams
- Alpecin-Fenix
- B&B Hotels p/b KTM
- Bardiani CSF Faizane’
- Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
- Burgos-BH
- Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
- Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
- Equipo Kern Pharma
- Euskaltel – Euskadi
- Gazprom – Rusvelo
- Rally Cycling
- Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
- Team Arkea – Samsic
- Team Novo Nordisk
- TotalEnergies
- Uno-X pro Cycling Team
