"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Pro Tour is dead!

Dang! Pat McQuaid must be sh*tting a brick house right now. No more gravy train. I always thought it was a mistake getting rid of the World Cup.


The UCI's ProTour series appears to be officially dead after all 17 teams at the Tour de France decided to leave the series and not renew their licences next season.

"It has been decided unanimously not to renew the ProTour licences for the 2009 season," read a joint statement from the teams.

The teams met Tuesday in Pau during the Tour's first rest day and indicated that they would form a new alliance with the three Grand Tour organisers Amaury Sport Organisation, RCS Sport and Unipublic. "The teams are working to develop a new system of organisation of professional cycling," the statement added.

The only ProTour team not present at the Tour de France, Astana, is also expected to leave the ProTour. "If everybody decides so, I can't imagine Astana will not follow," Astana chief press officer Philippe Maertens told Reuters.

UCI President Pat McQuaid told Reuters that all the teams could face exclusion from the UCI. "We'll deal with that according to the regulations," said McQuaid. "They face exclusion from the international federation. It is something we are going to discuss."

I guess the teams can hire whoever they damn well feel like now.

The ProTour was a good idea, but it was really badly executed.

McQuaid can go urinate up a rope.

Wow. I wonder what the national federations are going to do? How will this affect worlds? How will it affect races not put on by ASO? Just wow.

UCI President Pat McQuaid told Reuters that all the teams could face exclusion from the UCI. "We'll deal with that according to the regulations," said McQuaid. "They face exclusion from the international federation. It is something we are going to discuss."

What a sad state of affairs.

What a sad state of affairs.
and if he does that the UCI will consist of Rock Racing and the budget-less teams Joe Papp rode for.

I'm willing to start my own team, consisting completely of BF also-rans.

Hoo boy. The UCI is really up a creek, now. This isn't good at all; I really do think that international cycling needs the UCI. The formation of a new regulatory body is not going to go well, and this will only get worse. And yes, the ProTour as executed was pretty bad, with the expansion to other territories in lieu of including the Grand Tours being a particularly bad idea. For the ProTour to work, it needs the Grand Tours and it needs to remain in Western Europe for the forseeable future. It's pretty clear that the teams and sponsors think that a more global ProTour will be bad for the bottom line, and that's what drives this sport. ASO pisses me off, but I think that the UCI needs to revert crisis *ss-kissing mode. Either that, or face the consequences.

linkage : http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2008/jul08/jul15news4

I guess the teams can hire whoever they damn well feel like now.

I doubt that, ASO is going to control most of the big races, including the Vuelta, they are more likely to not invite a team than the UCI. Look for LiquiGas to be uninvited to most ASO races next season due to Basso's hire.

I guess the teams can hire whoever they damn well feel like now.

Pcad is available for 2 million Euros annually, plus use of a Cessna Citation X jet.

http://www.flug-revue.rotor.com/frtypen/Fotos/cessna/citxku.JPG

I'm willing to start my own team, consisting completely of BF also-rans.

You want pure entertainment value? You could make the best team ever:

botto
PCad
Chipcom
Lazyrider
Euro
Cypress
55/Rad
Dr. Pete
WHOOOSH

And of course, Ryanf could tag along as the soigneur.
You coud probably get a reality show on MTV.

You want pure entertainment value? You could make the best team ever:

botto
PCad
Chipcom
Lazyrider
Euro
Cypress
55/Rad
Dr. Pete
WHOOOSH

And of course, Ryanf could tag along as the soigneur.
You coud probably get a reality show on MTV.

WTF is my role on that team...rolling feed stop?

I think you mean that the UCI is dead. I can't see them recovering from this. McQuaid should have never let it come to this.

You want pure entertainment value? You could make the best team ever:

botto
PCad
Chipcom
Lazyrider
Euro
Cypress
55/Rad
Dr. Pete
WHOOOSH

And of course, Ryanf could tag along as the soigneur.
You coud probably get a reality show on MTV.

Call me for the head shots and website.

What does this mean for the anti-doping end of things? Will the same procedures be used or is this not even up to them?

Pcad is available for 2 million Euros annually, plus use of a Cessna Citation X jet.


Oh, give me a break. You'd do it for some schwag and a lifetime supply of Nutella, just like the rest of us.

What a mess. I shouldn't have been surprised though, given all the bluster and nonsense issued by McQuaid over Paris-Nice.

I can understand why he wants to promote ProTour, but the bottom line is that you can't bludgeon teams into staying in a cycling league. Threats to punish the teams is only going to make things worse for the UCI.



What does this mean for the anti-doping end of things? Will the same procedures be used or is this not even up to them?
Nothing yet, until / unless the actual races start to pull out of the UCI. In that case, it'd be like the Tour this year: anti-doping procedures will be the responsibility of the national federations, who in turn happen to adhere to the WADA code.

Wow, and everyone gave Lemond **** for suggesting this very thing just a couple of weeks ago...

What does this mean for the anti-doping end of things? Will the same procedures be used or is this not even up to them?

Guess Flody's Pro Tour ban will go away.

Guess Flody's Pro Tour ban will go away.
ooh....that's a thought.

Oh, give me a break. You'd do it for some schwag and a lifetime supply of Yodels

Fixed.

You're hired.

I'm in. As long as Dr. Ferrari is the team medical consultant.

The really hurts for a lot of the smaller classics events that won't have the same draw anymore if the pro tour teams arent required to attend.

Fixed.


I thought it was Tastykakes.

Leaders only lead when they have the permission of the followers.

Personally, I think this is the best thing that's happened in a long time. Next, the teams need to develop their own governing body...they need to be a pro league like an NFL. Then they go to the race promoters and "hire" them to run the races.

And hire your own people to take care of testing and the like. Set your standards, have your own people. And the riders need a collective bargaining argreement so they have a say in how things are done.

UCI makes the Olympic Committee look competent. And who cares if they can't ride in the "World Championship"? Guess what? These guys can put on their own "World Championship".