Saronni Surprised: Lampre ProTour Registration Denied

Lampre-Farnese Vini team manager Giuseppe Saronni has expressed surprise that his team's registration (an annual procedure to check that teams have the team and budget in place to carry out their activities during the coming season) was denied. The UCI ProTour Council (UPTC) announced that it had ruled on the registration applications submitted by UCI ProTeams and candidates for ProTour licences. Seventeen teams were successfully registered for the 2010 season, however, Italy's Lampre-Farnese Vini team was not. The matter has now been referred to the UCI License Commission which will make a decision on whether or not the team's UCI ProTour license will be withdrawn.

"The decision of the UPTC is surprising", said Saronni. "Now we will attend to understanding which points of our dossier the UCI requires clarification of. Certainly, at this point I would rather be thinking of the sports aspect of 2010 but now I see I will have to work on administrative and bureaucratic issues. I am ready to go to work immediately, as always, to clear up the situation and guarantee that Lampre-Farnese Vini occupies the position it deserves in cycling's elite."

After an examination of the applications received, the UPTC has registered the following 17 teams:

AG2R La Mondiale (FRA)
Astana (KAZ)
Caisse d’Epargne (ESP)
Euskaltel-Euskadi (ESP)
Footon-Servetto (ESP)
Française des Jeux (FRA)
Garmin-Slipstream (USA)
Liquigas-Doimo (ITA)
Omega Pharma-Lotto (BEL)
Quick Step (BEL)
Rabobank (NED)
Saxo Bank (DEN)
Team Columbia-HTC (USA)
Team Katusha (RUS)
Team Milram (GER)
Team RadioShack (USA)
Team Sky (GBR)

All the registered teams already have a UCI ProTour licence that is valid for the coming season or beyond:

Team Licence expiry
Astana (KAZ) 2010
Caisse d’Epargne (ESP) 2010
Euskaltel-Euskadi (ESP) 2010
Footon-Servetto (ESP) 2010
Française des Jeux (FRA) 2010
Liquigas-Doimo (ITA) 2010
Team Columbia-HTC (USA) 2010
Team Milram (GER) 2010
Omega Pharma-Lotto (BEL) 2011
Quick Step (BEL) 2011
Saxo Bank (DEN) 2011
Team Katusha (RUS) 2011
AG2R La Mondiale (FRA) 2012
Garmin-Slipstream (USA) 2012
Rabobank (NED) 2012
Team RadioShack (USA) 2013
Team Sky (GBR) 2013

The UCI ProTour license and the registration of UCI ProTeams are two different things. To be part of the UCI ProTour, a team must obtain a license (valid for 1-4 years) the award of which is based, in particular, on sporting, ethical and financial criteria, taking into account the team’s history and guarantees provided for the future. The license implies the right and obligation to participate in all UCI ProTour events. As for registration, this is , as indicated above, an annual procedure to check that teams have the team and budget in place to carry out their activities during the coming season.

Photo: Lampre-NGC 2009 team photo

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