The manager of Ferrari F1 driver Fernando Alonso, Luis Garcia-Abad, cannot "sign any riders until they learn whether or not their licence application has been successful," according to Gregor Brown of CYCLING WEEKLY. But with riders signing contracts already, they "could be left with nothing." Alonso "has begun his race to start a cycling team with his application" for an Int'l Cycling Union (UCI) license. Ahead of the deadline last Friday, his manager "submitted its request to have a first division team for 2015." Garcia-Abad said, "We’ve got people working on forming the team and they are following the deadlines imposed by the UCI. Without the license, we can’t do anything."
The UCI will announce its 18 WorldTour licenses, some renewed and some new, in October. Until their license to race is secured, Alonso and his people "do not want to offer any contracts." Garcia-Abad: "The rules are what they are, and we have to accept them." Alonso reportedly has €100M ($133M) for five years from Dubai sponsors to roll into his FACT (Fernando Alonso Cycling Team) project (CYCLING WEEKLY, 8/4).
