World Tour...

[ultimobici]

what compromise? Did you read the Zomegnan link ?

From Cyclingnews
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/pro-tour-licences-wont-last-without-results-or-recruitments

World Tour hitting early obstacles?

Despite the news yesterday in which the UCI announced that 24 teams are currently bidding for the 2011 World Tour, the project has already hit a possible hurdle.

According to the announcement by the UCI, the 18 selected teams will have automatic entry to the Grand Tours and all other events of the World Tour. But Giro d’Italia organiser Angelo Zomegnan told Cyclingnews “that we already have an agreement that we signed in September 2008.” Under this agreement, the top seventeen teams of the 2010 world rankings would qualify for the Grand Tours, while all changes would first have to be discussed.

Cyclingnews understands that the launch of the World Tour was carried out without the consent or backing of Giro organisers RCS, while every race within the professional calendar was represented by ASO at the UCI congress this week, with Tour de France management member Jean-François Pescheux representing races over which he and his organisation hold no jurisdiction. Cyclingnews is unaware if races such as the Giro d’Italia, Tour de Suisse or Tour Down Under gave their consent to this.

Cyclingnews also understands that the UCI is frustrated that it needs to submit its rules to all parties in order to be discussed.

Finally, it appears that no organisation representing the riders was consulted on the World Tour plans.

UCI president Pat McQuaid countered Zomegnan reaction by saying, “If he doesn’t want the best 18 teams, his races shouldn’t be on the world calendar. I can’t see why race organisers wouldn’t accept the rules. We have taken their wishes into account. I would hope they accept it.”

Seems the UCI thought that if they spoke to ASO and got them to agree the rest would follow suit. Nice one Pat!

 

[Libertine Seguros]

What an idiot McQuaid is.

Firstly, who remembers that the 2008 agreement was that they would have the 17 'best teams' by the rules set out by the UCI?

Secondly, who is to say that the 18 ProTour teams are 'the 18 best teams'? Considering that the 'sporting' credentials are only 1 of the 4 criteria for choosing the ProTour teams (and that money is the most important to McQuaid because he's second only to Bernie Ecclestone in trying to destroy his sport through 'globalising').

 

[Finn84]

Just give every ProTour team the chance to cancel on 1 GT, 1 shorter stage race and 1 one day race (no more or Canada will have no participants) throughout the season.

Except for the TDF this should give some room for wildcards in the other GT's, teams with lower funds can skip Australia, nobody has to go to Poland...

I agree partly with that, but then I think that each race should have certain numbers of ProTeams anyway. Maximum of 2-3 teams should be able to skip one race.

Team like Euskaltel doesn't really have any business in Paris-Roubaix and I can easily see them skipping that event. Of course they would have to do other two cobblestone races, but at least Flanders has some hills and G-W not so much cobblestone.

 

[staubsauger]

fantastico zomegnan! hope he doesn't accept this new agreement anymore, as he has to waste wildcards to teams like androni, which otherwise would be included to the automaticly invited teams and leave space for other teams like colnago or colombia.

 

[jaylew]

Did you read the Zomegnan link ?

Sorry, I don't know Italian. I have since read the CN story, though. The original story made it seem like all parties were involved in the decision. All of these guys make me sick. I'm so fed up with all of this BS.

 

[Francois the Postman]

Cyclingnews also understands that the UCI is frustrated that it needs to submit its rules to all parties in order to be discussed.

Yes, because imposing your whim-of-the-moment dictats on private enterprises, the ones who actually take big financial risks each year and stage the actual races that the UCi coat tails on, makes so much more sense.

Face it, what did these pesky little who-do-they-think-they-are organisers actually ever do for the UCI, or cycling?

 

[Benotti69]

it really is time to kick back against the uci. idiots are ruining cycling al in the name of trying to make the sport richer, but for themselves as they want to control it with aso......

McQuaid is an idiot of the highest order. why cant they just list the top 20 race sof the year as A races and a certain number of point s are awarded for placing then B races with a lower number of points then c races etc...let the teams or race organisers pick the invites. Every race organiser is gonna invite the big teams and sensibily the teams that race in the country to give those teams some publicity to help grow the sport.