The UCI has announced today the first list of WorldTour teams for the 2017 and 2018 seasons. 17 of the expected teams have made the cut but the application of the TJ Sport team (currently Lampre-Merida) is still under review.
As expected, 15 of the 16 existing WorldTour teams have made the cut and the new teams Bahrain-Merida and Bora-hansgrohe have also been given the nod.
The surprise is the fact that the application of TJ Sport is still under review. The UCI have said nothing about the reason for their omission from the list but history shows that one or more teams often miss out in the first round of license approvals due to small administrative errors.
The UCI also issued the list of the Pro Continental teams for 2017. The list includes the new team Aqua Blue Sport from Ireland and Israel Cycling Academy, Manzana Postobon, Veranda’s Willems and WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect (the current Wallonie-Bruxelles team) which will all make the jump from the continental level.
Androni Giocattoli and Verva ActiveJet that both rode as pro continental teams in 2016, have not been a license and their application is still under review.
The Soul Brasil team which is currently known as Funvic have seen their registration procedure get suspended. The team recently had their third positive doping test within a period of three months and face a provisional suspension.
UCI President Brian Cookson said: “This is an exciting time and I am really looking forward to the arrival of new partners on the 2017 UCI WorldTour. The confidence shown by both new and existing sponsors confirms the growing interest in men’s professional road cycling’s major competition. With new teams and a global calendar enhanced with new races, the forthcoming season promises to be more exciting than ever.”
WorldTour teams
– AG2R LA MONDIALE (ALM – FRA)
– ASTANA PRO TEAM (AST – KAZ)
– BMC RACING TEAM (BMC – USA)
– BORA – HANSGROHE (BOH – GER)
– CANNONDALE DRAPAC PRO CYCLING TEAM (CDT – USA)
– TEAM DIMENSION DATA (DDD – RSA)
– QUICK – STEP FLOORS (QST – BEL)
– FDJ (FDJ – FRA)
– LOTTO SOUDAL (LTS – BEL)
– MOVISTAR TEAM (MOV – ESP)
– ORICA – BIKEEXCHANGE (OBE – AUS)
– BAHRAIN-MERIDA (TBM – BRN)
– TEAM KATUSHA ALPECIN (KAT – SUI)
– TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO (TLJ – NED)
– TEAM SKY (SKY – GBR)
– TEAM SUNWEB (SUN – GER)
– TREK SEGAFREDO (TFS – USA)
Pro Continental teams
– AQUA BLUE SPORT (ABS – IRL)
– BARDIANI CSF (BAR – ITA)
– CAJA RURAL – SEGUROS RGA (CJR – ESP)
– CCC SPRANDI POLKOWICE (CCC – POL)
– COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS (COF – FRA)
– DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE KTM (DMP – FRA)
– DIRECT ENERGIE (DEN – FRA)
– FORTUNEO – VITAL CONCEPT (FVC – FRA)
– GAZPROM – RUSVELO (GAZ – RUS)
– ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY (ICA – ISR)
– MANZANA POSTOBON (MZN – COL)
– NIPPO – VINI FANTINI (NIP – ITA)
– ROOMPOT – NEDERLANDSE LOTERIJ (RNL – NED)
– SPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE (SVB – BEL)
– TEAM NOVO NORDISK (TNN – USA)
– UNITEDHEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL CYCLING TEAM (UHC – USA)
– VERANDA’S WILLEMS CRELAN (VWC – BEL)
– WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT (WGG – BEL)
– WB VERANCLASSIC AQUA PROTECT (WVA – BEL)
– WILIER TRIESTINA (WIL – ITA)
