BMC country of registry?

[The_Z_man]

Where is BMC going to be registered next season? With the riders they've signed, they're obviously shooting for a Pro Tour license, or at least invites to major European races. With Garmin-Slipstream, Columbia-HTC, and now The Shack having US registry, wouldn't it be better for them to lean heavy on the Swiss side of their current registry?

Sorry if this was discussed in the transfers thread, but I didn't feel like sifting through 500 some posts to find it.

 

[Pezlion]

I don't remember reading anything about this in the transfers thread. It's an interesting thought since there isn't a Swiss ProTour team currently. I haven't read anything about BMC going for a ProTour license next year though. They may just plan on getting exemptions for the races they want in on.

On the other hand, there are 4 French teams and 3 Spanish teams with ProTour licenses. So it's not like there isn't precedent to have 3 or 4 American teams. I realize that many in Europe hate the idea of American influence, but based on population and potential growth of interest, there's a lot of reason to look to expand coverage of the sport in the US.

 

[issoisso]

Country of registry doesn't matter at all. What matters is the real nationality of the team. In this case half-American, half-Swiss. For many teams, country of registry is a country completely unrelated to the team itself, merely for tax reasons.

Others do the same simply because it's the country the license is already registered with. A bunch of continental italian teams are registered in Ireland, for example.

Simply put, it won't make a difference

 

[Sheltowee]

I think Cervelo is licensed out of Switzerland.

 

[craig1985]

BMC are not interested in going PT. Certainly not next year at least.

 

[The_Z_man]

This season a ProTour license isn't worth the paper it's written on. Cervelo proved that. I didn't even know they didn't have one until after the Tour.

My point is this, how is the ASO going to react to 4 teams that will have USA after their names? Do you really think that Agritubel is going to be left out in favor of BMC? I doubt it. If on the other hand BMC has SUI after their name, would it make taking them a little easier to swallow?

 

[Clemson Cycling]

Agritubel is done after this year from what I have heard

 

[taiwan]

If they're hiring a lot of classics types, wouldn't a Protour license be particularly useful to them, to guarantee them entry to the classics? Having said that, maybe just hiring those riders will secure invitations.
For all I know, though, I don't think that the ASO will be keeping them out of the tour on the basis of their country of registry, but it doesn't even sound like they'll be targeting the tour, like others probably will.

 

[wheels55]

Just curious - which Classics did BMC ride this year?

With the roster upgrades and some history it seems like they wouldn't need the PT license to get into the races they want - but were they denied access to anything they've targeted so far?

 

[md2020]

Just curious - which Classics did BMC ride this year?

With the roster upgrades and some history it seems like they wouldn't need the PT license to get into the races they want - but were they denied access to anything they've targeted so far?

I think the only invite was from Paris-Roubaix. I would think that by adding George they at least secure another invitation there.

 

[taiwan]

Actually, does a Protour license even allow you access to the Classics? are they all owned by different organisations like the Grand Tours?

They seem to be U.S. registered. a site that has their nationality listed as such also has Ceramica Flamina and LPR Brakes listed as Irish, so I think they must be referring to registered nationality.

http://www.bmcracingteam.com/index.php?id=6&L=0

Shows what next, but I don't know what they raced this year.