There could be more Canadians in the WorldTour in 2020

More teams have applied for UCI WorldTour licenses for the three year period of 2020 to 2022 than there are places in the upper division of men’s pro cycling. A total of 23 teams have confirmed their interest in acquiring a UCI WorldTour license. One of those teams currently has three Canadians on the roster and is working hard to accumulate UCI points in 2019.

As a result, the UCI WorldTour could have a different look in the coming years as numerous teams are vying for a limited number of places in the upper echelon of men’s pro cycling. Notably, five teams that are currently UCI Pro Continental would like to be upgraded to the big leagues while all the existing teams have expressed their intentions of trying to stay right where they are. With a WorldTour license comes invites to all the seasons biggest races, most importantly the Tour de France.

The UCI Pro Continental teams that want to move up are French-registered teams Arkea-Samsic, B&B Hotels-Vital Concept, Cofidis and Direct Energie which is set to have Total come on as title sponsor. The Israel Cycling Academy, the team co-owned by Canadian-Israeli real estate developer Sylvan Adams, has also applied to join the upper echelon of the sport. Adams’ with an eye on earning an invite to the Tour de France in the coming seasons and to accumulate UCI points which now points to their interest in joining the WorldTour.

Each team will undergo a revenue by the UCI to see if they meet the standard to make it into the sport’s most prestigious division. The UCI will take into account each team’s sporting criteria based on the UCI points earned by the 10 best riders of each team in 2017, 2018 and 2019. The programs also need to meet ethical criteria, financial stability, and follow the organizational and administrative rules as defined by the UCI to be able to earn a place in the WorldTour. Teams had to confirm their intent to apply for a three year UCI license that goes into affect next year by April 1.

There are currently 18 WorldTour teams which is the number the UCI wanted to keep the WorldTour at. But as reported on Cyclingnews, because there are WorldTour teams that want to remain in the upper division but won’t necessarily meet the sporting criteria, that could be expanded to 20 to avoid potential legal challenges. In 2017 and 2018, teams raced without knowing the importance of accumulating UCI points to remain in the WorldTour. Existing UCI WorldTour sponsorship contracts are sometimes written with the condition that they are only valid if the team is in the WorldTour.

According to Cyclingnews, the UCI has thus drafted a quick revision of the rules that state if existing WorldTour teams don’t make the original 18 team WorldTour because of sporting criteria, there will be 19th or 20th places available but only to teams that were WorldTour in 2019. Currently, it seems only Dimension Data would be at risk of losing its place but Katusha-Alpecin are another team competing with the likes of Cofidis and Wanty-Groupe Gobert in the points rankings.