French squad B&B Hotels, which is expected to sign Mark Cavendish, is one of several ProTeams missing from the list of applications for licences for the 2023 season.
Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli and the US-registered Human Powered Health are also absent from the UCI list but all have more time to complete their dossier of sponsor and rider contracts, bank guarantees and information and so secure a licence for 2023.
51 teams have applied for licences for 2023. The UCI announced that 13 women’s teams have applied for new WorldTour status, with three Continental teams looking to step up in 2023.
21 teams have applied for the 18 three-year men’s WorldTour licences, while 14 teams have applied for men’s ProTour status.
Licences are awarded based on sporting, ethical, financial, organisational and administrative criteria, and teams still have time to complete their application but face extra charges and scrutiny for delays.
Ouest France reported on Monday that, "barring changes of circumstances," Mark Cavendish has reached a provisional agreement with the B&B Hotels-KTM squad for a one-year deal for 2023, with a further 12-month option for 2024.
The team denied the reports, with a full announcement set for October 26 on the eve of the 2023 Tour de France presentation. The team reportedly has backing from the Carrefour supermarket chain and the city of Paris. Team Manager Jerome Pineau hopes that Cavendish’s presence could secure a wild card invitation to the Tour de France and that he can win a record-breaking 35th Tour de France stage in 2023.
The team claimed their application for 2023 is ongoing when their absence was noticed.
“The B&B Hotels – KTM team takes note of this absence from the provisional list of candidate teams for the UCI ProTeam category for next season, published today by the UCI. This delay is due to the change of legal structure inherent to the evolution of the for the coming years,” the team said on social media.
“Aware of the upcoming deadlines set by the UCI for its registration in the ProTeam category, the team is doing its utmost to provide the missing documents as soon as possible.”
Human Powered Health, who have a Women's WorldTeam and men's ProTeam, were not listed by the UCI, told Cyclingnews that this is due to a delay in their application.
"This is due to an administrative delay with the bank in charge of our team guarantee. We changed banks this year, and it took them a little longer to get off the start line with this than we hoped," a team spokesperson said.
"Human Powered Health’s funding for 2023 is all in place, and we are busy building towards an exciting new season as the guarantee is processed."
21 men's WorldTour applicants for 18 places
18 of the existing men's WorldTeams, plus promotion candidates Alpecin-Deceuninck, Arkéa-Samsic and Uno-X Pro Cycling, have submitted applications for 2023. Based on the sporting criteria, Israel-Premier Tech and Lotto Soudal will be relegated from the 2022 WorldTour, with Alpecin-Deceuninck and Arkéa-Samsic replacing them.
Uno-X did not appear to meet the sporting criteria, so promotion is unlikely, but they are perhaps showing their long-term intentions and may compete for WorldTour status for 2025 when new licences will be awarded.
Gianni Savio’s Drone Hopper team is missing from the list of 14 ProTeams. He has admitted he is struggling to find new backers for 2023 and has released his riders.
Savio has been managing cycling teams since the 1980s, developing the likes of Eban Bernal. The team’s jersey was often cluttered with the branding of a variegated coalition of sponsors, but the team is unlikely to survive at ProTeam level.
New ProTeam applicants include Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team, and 2022 Continental teams Bolton Equities Black Spoke of New Zealand, Corratec in Italy and Fabian Cancellara’s Tudor team.
Doug Ryder of the Dimension Data and Qhubeka-NextHash teams is managing the Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team, with Vincenzo Nibali playing a key role, along with the q36.5 clothing brand. The team may have a major title sponsor from Switzerland and has reportedly signed a number of 2022 WorldTour riders.
All the team applications will be scrutinised by the UCI and their financial advisers, before a final list of 2023 teams is announced in December.
