The leading teams, race organisers and UCI officials will gather in Monte Carlo on Monday for the annual two-day WorldTour Forum, unsure exactly which teams have secured WorldTour status for 2023 and which ProTeams will have automatic invitations to the Grand Tours and Classics.
The WorldTour Forum should also see the UCI reveal details of any changes to the points awarded in races after the polemics of the last few months and the impact of racing for survival had on the sport.
New safety measures are also expected, possibly with an external company given responsibility for safety checks, while the debate about more long-term reforms of the sport for 2026 will begin.
Most teams have completed the annual registration process with the UCI and are planning for the 2023 season, but the future status of Israel-Premier Tech and the French B&B Hotels team is still to be decided, leaving them unsure at what level and in what races they will compete in 2023.
Cyclingnews understands that a number of teams travelled to Switzerland this week to appear before the UCI’s auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers and the UCI officials for final checks on the paperwork needed to secure WorldTour and ProTeam status.
Under UCI rules, teams have to submit most of their rider contracts, bank guarantees and other paperwork by October 15, with the auditors issuing their assessment on November 15. The UCI is only likely to confirm which teams have WorldTour and ProTeam status in mid-December, just a month before the Tour Down Under begins in Australia.
Teams that fail the initial assessment, as in the case of B&B Hotels, that are struggling to secure extra sponsorship to fund their planned step-up and expected signing of Mark Cavendish, face daily penalties and a last-minute appeals process.
Jérôme Pineau has had to ask for special dispensation from the UCI and the DNCG (the teams' regulatory body in France) for an extended final cut-off point of November 30 as he waits for a decision from at least two title sponsors.
Israel-Premier Tech and Lotto Soudal are set to be relegated from the WorldTour, with Alpecin-Deceuninck and Arkea-Samsic expected to take their place after finishing in the top 18 teams based on points scored during the last three seasons.
Lotto Soudal, which will be known as Lotto-Dstny in 2023, and TotalEnergies are expected to be the best-ranked ProTeams and so will secure automatic invitations to the 2023 Grand Tour and Classics. Israel-Premier Tech was ranked lower in 2022, and only appears to have obtained automatic invitations to the Classics.
However, Israel-Premier Tech team owner Sylvan Adams has promised to fight relegation and blasted the UCI and the WorldTour licence system in an interview with Cyclingnews and Velonews.
He is apparently still hoping the UCI will relent and allow 20 teams in the WorldTour for 2023-2025. If that is not the case, Israel-Premier Tech will be relegated to WorldTour status and will have to hope to secure a wildcard invitation to the Grand Tours and other races.
Scandinavian ProTeam Uno-X ranked 21st in 2022 but applied for WorldTour status anyway, are hoping to learn from the process in the future.
Team manager Jens Haugland revealed he travelled to Switzerland to make his pitch, believing Uno-X deserves at least an invitation to a Grand Tour in 2023.
“In 2023, we came 4th in the ProTeam ranking for the second consecutive year. I think that’s quite a performance from a newly established professional team based in Oslo with riders from Norway and Denmark only,” he wrote in a blog as he travelled.
“So one thing is the licence sporting criterion, another thing is getting a Grand Tour spot. I hope to see a system that ensures participation for Uno-X in a Grand Tour. Given our performances, identity and vision – we deserve it. I hope to see a system that ensures participation for Uno-X in a Grand Tour. We deserve it.”
Haugland highlighted how his team had satisfied all of the registration criteria bar the sporting results and ranking.
“In many ways, this is a review of who we are and what we aim to achieve. You might make fun of Uno-X applying for the licence when we are ranked 21. But it's five criteria, not one. At least we have made sure to comply 100% with the other four. If we don’t apply, we never get the chance to hear a yes. We learn the process. Because we will apply, apply, apply, and apply until we get the licence.
Scandinavian cycling deserves a spot on the big stage. It might not happen yet, but it will. With a WorldTour team for both women and men.”
