Tour de France organizer ASO said that it "is withdrawing its races" from the Int'l Cycling Union (UCI) calendar in '17 because of a "disagreement over the reform of the calendar and the selection of teams," according to Julien Pretot of REUTERS. ASO said that reform of the UCI's World Tour means that the '17 season "would be a closed circuit whereas it wants a system based on 'sporting criteria,'" meaning no team can be guaranteed a spot on the Tour de France and other top events. The calendar changes, approved by the UCI, mean teams "would be handed" three-year World Tour licenses from '17 -- rather than the current one-year licenses until '16. The ASO said in a statement, "Amaury Sport Organisation has informed this day Union Cycliste Internationale it has opted for the registration of its events on the Hors Classe calendar for season 2017." Organizers cannot select more than 70% of World Tour teams in a "Hors Classe" race, or 15 teams in the usual 22-team lineup for the Tour de France, "the most prestigious race in cycling." It means that three World Tour teams will be omitted from the 2017 Tour lineup "as the elite group usually features 18 teams." There is "no risk of the Tour and ASO's other major races not taking place" but they will do so outside the umbrella of cycling's main calendar, which could lead to a "potentially damaging split." ASO owns the Tour de France, La Vuelta, the top-tier classics Paris-Roubaix and Liege-Bastogne-Liege and the one-week Paris-Nice and the Criterium du Dauphine (REUTERS, 12/18).
CHOOSING SIDES: VELO NEWS' Caley Fretz reported Giro d’Italia organizer RCS Sport "stood in implicit support of the UCI" following Friday’s announcement that ASO would pull the Tour de France and other events out of the UCI’s WorldTour in '17. Though Giro d’Italia Dir Mauro Vegni "would not state definitively" that his race will be part of the WorldTour in '17, he did express support for the sport’s "institutions" -- like the UCI. Vegni said via a spokesperson, "All discussions will be held inside of the sport’s institutions. The institutions are the strength of our system." The last time ASO and UCI "butted heads in similar fashion" was from '05-08, when ASO refused to be part of the ProTour, the precursor to the WorldTour. In that quarrel, "RCS stood with its fellow race organizer, also refusing to place its marquee event into the ProTour calendar" (VELO NEWS, 12/18).
UCI WEIGHS IN: The UCI said in a statement, "The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) takes note of the intention of Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) to register its currently registered UCI WorldTour events as Hors Classe on the UCI calendar for 2017. The reform of men’s professional road cycling, which will enable sensible and gradual evolution of this important part of our sport, was approved by the Professional Cycling Council (PCC) in June and ratified by the UCI Management Committee in September. It has been developed over two years of very detailed and open dialogue and consultation amongst a diverse group of stakeholders, including race organisers. ... The UCI remains committed to implementing the reforms which were agreed as part of this extensive consultation process and which the UCI believes properly balances the interests of all those involved in professional cycling" (UCI).
