Cycling teams to UCI: Stick it
Not sure how I feel about this development. I know the races will still go on, but I really do think the sport needs a global governing body of some sort.
Seventeen of the world’s top cycling teams said on Tuesday they would not be seeking ProTour licenses for 2009, according to a statement released at Pau during the first rest day of the Tour de France.
The UCI launched the ProTour in 2004 in a bid to revamp the cycling calendar and have the best teams riding in the best races. However, since then the series has met with resistance on several fronts.
Recently France’s top team, Cofidis, said it would not be renewing its license for next season, and there have been murmurings from the Euskaltel and Liquigas teams that they would also pull out of the series.
The organizers of the three major three-week tours of France, Spain and Italy also have had their problems with the series…
The statement comes in the wake of several meetings held among major race organizers, including those of the Tour, the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a España, and the UCI.
The Tour de France and several other top races are no longer part of the Pro Tour.
The sport of cycling is strong at most levels, really. More and more people are getting out and racing. But at the pro levels, some races are disappearing because of sponsors bailing out, scandals smearing the sport and strife of all sorts.
More drama and infighting can’t be good. Or maybe it’s what it needs.
I’d just love to see everything healthy, truly thriving, for a change.
I need some road.
