Teams oppose boycott | Cyclingnews

The International Association of Professional Cycling Teams (AIGCP) will not back a possible boycott of the Grand Tour organizers events, the group's new president Eric Boyer said Friday. The possibility of a protest was raised earlier this week by the ICPT (International Professional Cycling Teams) following an announcement by RCS Sport which left four ProTour teams (Astana, Crédit Agricole, Bouygues Telecom and Team High Road) out of the Giro d'Italia.

Nine of the 18 ProTour teams (Astana, Team High Road, Rabobank, Milram, CSC, Quickstep, Lampre, Liquigas and Saunier Duval) hinted of a boycott if the Grand Tour organisers continue down the path of excluding ProTour teams from their events, but Boyer was strongly opposed to the idea. "A boycott is tantamount to crippling its own riders," he told AFP. "It is a bad idea."

"The teams are more or less the victims of the situation, the disparity of views between the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and the three organizers (ASO for France, RCS Sport for Italy, Unipublic for Spain)," said Boyer. "Two years ago we realized that the ProTour has not worked. For two years, everybody has shown good will. Now, in 2008, we are at an impasse."

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The UCI granted the three companies their wish of being left off the ProTour calendar this year, but that did not end the dispute. The national federations suggested a new calendar which placed the races of these three organisations on a separate class, but this suggestion has not moved forward as of yet. "It is necessary that the rules of participation are suitable for everybody, teams, organisers, federations," said Boyer.

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Cyclingnews' complete coverage of the ProTour-Grand Tours split

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Laura Weislo is a Cyclingnews veteran of 20 years. Having joined in 2006, Laura extensively covered the Operacion Puerto doping scandal, the years-long conflict between the UCI and the Tour de France organisers ASO over the creation of the WorldTour, and the downfall of Lance Armstrong and his lifetime ban for doping. As Managing Editor, Laura coordinates coverage for North American events and global news.