CPA News

The Association of Professional Cyclists (CPA) has announced that the list of UCI ProTeam riders appointed by the teams to attend the CPA meetings was almost complete. 16 trade teams already communicated the names of the riders chosen with this intention. Amongst them are Paolo Bettini, Tom Boonen, Peter Van Petegem, Jens Voigt, Joseba Beloki, Pablo Lastras, Alessandro Petacchi, Danilo Di Luca, Erik Dekker and Lance Armstrong. The delegates of the UCI ProTour Teams will meet again on May 24 in Lissone, during the second rest day of the Giro d'Italia.

Meanwhile, the CPA is not happy with the awarded prize money at the Giro, as previously reported. In response to organiser RCS director Angelo Zomegnan's letter, in which the he confirmed the impossibility of respecting the scale of prize money as foreseen by the regulation for the 2005 edition, CPA president Francesco Moser reiterated the real disagreement of the CPA with the decision. "The riders are not responsible for the errors of strategy relating to marketing and the sale of the TV rights made by RCS and do not have to support the economic consequences of such an affair," Moser said.

At least with the Vuelta a España, an agreement has been found as to the prize money awarded in the 2005 edition, the first of the new ProTour calendar. The CPA, represented by Secretary General Daniel Malbranque and President of the Spanish riders Association José Rodríguez, and Unipublic Executive Director Victor Cordero, recently met in Madrid and furthermore the Vuelta prize money until 2008.