UCI Continental Team
UCI Continental Teams are international cycling teams that take part in the road races of the UCI Continental Circuits ( UCI Africa Tour , UCI America Tour , UCI Asia Tour , UCI Europe Tour , UCI Oceania Tour ) and the UCI ProSeries .
The team category UCI Continental Team was created in 2005 in the course of the introduction of the UCI ProTour as the third category of road cycling teams registered by the UCI World Cycling Association after the UCI WorldTeams and the UCI ProTeams (until the end of the 2019 season: UCI Professional Continental Teams ) and thus roughly corresponds to the previous category GS3 or TT3 (Groupe Sportif 3 or Trade Team 3).
For the 2018 season, 172 Continental teams were registered by the UCI.
Identity and name
A UCI Continental team consists of the representative of the team, the sponsors (including up to three main partners), the cyclists and the other employees of the team (manager, trainer , team doctor , designer , mechanic, etc.). Up to three sponsors have the status of main partner.
The name of a UCI Continental team is the name or brand of one of the main partners. The team name changes when the sponsors change and can also become the name of another team in whole or in part.
driver
The drivers of the UCI Continental Teams , like the drivers of the two next higher team categories, are contractually bound to the teams, but not necessarily professional athletes , as there is in particular no minimum income set by the UCI. However, contractual remuneration - also on a professional level - may be agreed.
The minimum number of riders per UCI Continental Team is 8, the maximum number 16. To this end, the team can engage up to 4 additional specialists from other cycling endurance disciplines, i.e. the endurance competitions of track cycling , MTB cross-country and bike cross . These specialists must have been placed in the top 150 of the respective UCI world rankings last season .
In addition, a UCI Continental team can contract up to three riders as trainees in the U23 age group from August 1st of each year .
Licensing and nationality
A UCI Continental team has the nationality of the majority of its riders and must be licensed through the relevant national cycling association. Each national association may license a maximum of 15 UCI Continental Teams , monitor the UCI minimum requirements (in particular driver contracts and bank guarantees) and may make further requirements a prerequisite for licensing. At the end of this process, the UCI will register.
meaning
The UCI Continental Team team category primarily serves to promote young talent and cycling outside the core countries of road cycling. Although UCI Continental teams sometimes contest races at lower levels together with UCI WorldTeams and UCI ProTeams, they are not entitled to participate in races on the UCI WorldTour. As a result, the international perception of these teams is rather limited.
Development teams
With the start of the 2020 season, team operators of a WorldTeam or ProTeam who operate a Continental team can register this with the UCI as a development team (“ farm team ”). A maximum of two drivers from such a development team can participate in a UCI ProSeries race for the connected World or ProTeam, and a maximum of four in a race in the first UCI category . Conversely, a maximum of one driver from the World or ProTeam for the Continental Team can take part in races in the first category or one driver in races in the second category.
See also
Web links
References and comments
- ↑ UCI Road Teams , there filter by category = UCI Continental Teams
- ↑ UCI Cycling Regulations Part 2 Road Races , there 2.17.003
- ↑ a b The Italian cycling federation FCI demanded for the season 2011 u. a. an annual minimum income of € 23,000 for neoprofis and € 27,500 for other drivers as a prerequisite for licensing, cf. FCI regulations for Continental teams there 3.3. (Italian) ( Memento from November 4, 2010 in the Internet Archive )