As the world cycling association UCI announced, the first WorldTour licenses for the coming season have been handed out. A total of nine professional teams can look forward to the status. AG2R La Mondiale, Belkin, BMC, Cannondale, FDJ.fr, Garmin-Sharp, Omega Pharma-QuickStep, Katusha and Saxo Bank - the Danish outfit was recently associated with a takeover by Oleg Tinkoff - will also be in 2014 at all large tours and one-day races can insist on an automatic right to start.
It was also revealed that the UCI is currently reviewing applications from teams Astana, Lampre-Merida, Movistar, Orica-GreenEdge and Sky. The situation is similar with the application from the Europcar team that, after a few years as a ProConti team, is now again looking for admission to the top echelon. The teams of German champion André Greipel and Tour de France high-flyer Marcel Kittel have to wait. Both Lotto-Belisol and Argos-Shimano must "certain irregularities" explain in their application.
In addition to the nine World Tour teams, 16 ProConti teams also received their license. From a German point of view, this is particularly pleasing for the NetApp-Endura and MTN-Qhubeka teams. While the team from Raubling was very active this year in the Tour of Spain and even celebrated Leopold König's stage victory, the team based in South Africa is aiming for something similar in the coming year. With the victory at Milan-San Remo by Gerald Ciolek and the commitment of Linus Gerdemann, there should be a good chance of an invitation to a three-week tour.
In addition to these two teams, the teams Androni Giocattoli, Bardiani–CSF, Caja Rural–Seguros RGA, CCC Polsat Polkowice, Cofidis, Colombia, Drapac, IAM, RusVelo, Novo Nordisk, Topsport Vlaanderen–Baloise, UnitedHealthcare, Wanty–Groupe Gobert and received Yellow Fluo a ProConti license.
The next licenses will be issued on November 25th. All World Tour and ProConti teams should be confirmed by December 10 at the latest.