UCI recommends temporary license for Lampre

With the first ProTour race set to get underway next week, the International Cycling Union has recommended a temporary solution to the Lampre team's unresolved ProTour license application.

The UCI has put forth a proposal for a provisional license, which would allow the Lampre team to race with a temporary registration, giving it until March 31, 2010 to resolve the "serious administrative non-compliances" which led to the rejection of its application in November.

The proposal will be considered by the UCI's License Commission when it meets on Friday.

"It is in cycling’s utmost interest and especially the riders and the entire team staff, that the UCI has intervened by putting forward a proposal for a provisional solution that it has submitted to the Licenses Commission," the UCI said in a press release.

"If at the end of this provisional period, the situation of the Lampre team is judged as non compliant, the CUPT [ProTour council -ed.] will once again refer the matter to the Licenses Commission which will be asked to take a decision on the request to withdraw the license."

The first ProTour race on the calendar, the Tour Down Under, is set to begin on January 18 in Adelaide, Australia.

While ProTour licenses may be issued for several years at a time, the ProTour council requires teams to submit a yearly registration application. External auditors check that the team meets regulations, especially in regards to the administrative and financial regulations.

Auditors Ernst & Young noted the non-compliances in the team's application in November. The team's situation was not resolved at the License Commission's meeting earlier this month.