November 13/04 7:35 am - Custom Clothing Program, UCI Announces Pro Tour Teams

Posted by Editor on 11/13/04
 

Custom Team Clothing

It is time to start thinking about team clothing for 2005. Canadian Cyclist is pleased once again to be able to provide access to some of the finest clothing available for your club or team - Giordana. Giordana supplies many of the top pro teams in the world, and now you can wear the same clothing in your team or club colours. Among the squads Giordana clothes are CSC, Liberty Seguros, Colavita and Panaria. Check out the 2005 program here.


UCI Issues Pro Tour Team and Event Licences
Courtesy UCI

The UCI Licence Commission met yesterday at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne.
As a result of the meeting, 19 of the 31 candidates who had applied for a UCI ProTour team licence were given a positive initial evaluation by the Commission.

These 19 candidates are:

Esperanza bvba - Quick Step, Belgium
Omega Pharma - Davitamon-Lotto, Belgium
Riis Cycling A/S - CSC, Denmark
Abarca Sport S.L. - Illes Balears, Spain
Active Bay S.L. - Liberty Seguros, Spain
Fundacion Ciclista Euskadi - Euskaltel-Euskadi, Spain
GM Bikes SA - Saunier Duval-Prodir, Spain
Cofidis Competition Eusrl - Cofidis, France
SA Vendée Cyclisme - Bouygues Telecom, France
Société de Gestion de L'Echappée - FDJeux.com, France
Vélo Club de Paris - Crédit Agricole, France
H-S-M GmbH - Gerolsteiner, Germany
Walter Godefroot GmbH - T-Mobile, Germany
Ciclosport Srl - Domina Vacanze, Italy
Liquigas Sport Spa - Liquigas, Italy
Bici Club Azzurro Srl - Lampre-Caffitta, Italy
Silver Team Srl - Fassa Bortolo, Italy
Professional Cycling Promotion B.V. - Rabobank, Netherlands
Tailwind Sports Corporation - Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team, USA

The UCI ProTour team licences will be valid for four years, with the exception of those issued to Lampre-Caffitta (3 years), T-Mobile and Illes Balears (2 years) and Fassa Bortolo (1 year). The Licence Commission turned down the application by the Phonak team.

The Licence Commission, created by the UCI to guarantee the principles of independence, neutrality and transparency in the procedure for awarding UCI ProTour licences, has three members and is chaired by Mr Pierre Zappelli, a judge in the Swiss Federal Tribunal.

According to the UCI rules, the Licence Commission may refuse to grant a licence, or reduce its period of validity to less than 4 years, depending on the following criteria:

1. Quality and speed of fulfilling the conditions for obtaining a licence;
2. Guarantees of sound and stable finances for the coming four years;
3. Quality of riders, particularly in terms of their ranking and results;
4. Compliance with the UCI Rules;
5. Compliance with contractual obligations;
6. Compliance with legal obligations;
7. Respect for sports ethics, including issues related to doping and health;
8. Absence of other elements with a potentially adverse effect on the image of cycling.

Candidates wishing to appear before the Licence Commission to defend their applications, further to the initial evaluations published yesterday, may do so on 22 November, in accordance with the regulations. In the absence of any such requests, the initial evaluations will take full effect on 2 December 2004, when UCI ProTour team licences will be issued.

During yesterday's meeting the Licence Commission also approved the following events:

Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian ˆ San Sebastian - Spain
Ronde van Vlaanderen / Tour des Flandres - Belgium
HEW-Cyclassics-Cup ˆ Hamburg - Germany
Amstel Gold Race - Netherlands
Züri Metzgete - Switzerland
Volta a Catalunya - Spain
Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco - Spain
Criterium du Dauphiné Libéré - France
Tour de Romandie - Switzerland
Tour de Suisse - Switzerland
Gent-Wevelgem - Belgium
Grand Prix Ouest France Plouay - France
Deutschland Tour - Germany
Team time trial (Eindhoven) - Netherlands
Tour of Poland - Poland
Tour of Benelux