UCI ProTeam

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UCI ProTeams (until 2019: UCI Professional Continental Teams ) are professional cycling teams who, at the invitation of the organizers, take part in road bike races of the UCI WorldTour , the UCI ProSeries and the UCI Continental Circuits , the continental racing series UCI Africa Tour , UCI America Tour , UCI Asia Tour , UCI Europe Tour and UCI Oceania Tour .

Participation in the races of the UCI WorldTour takes place only upon invitation by the respective organizer; Unlike the UCI WorldTeams, they basically have neither an automatic start right nor a start obligation. For the first time in the UCI WorldTour 2019 , the best UCI ProTeams will receive an automatic start right. The UCI ProTeams thus form the second category of road teams registered by the UCI World Cycling Association , after the UCI WorldTeams and before the UCI Continental Teams .

Until the end of the 2019 season, this team category was called UCI Professional Continental Teams (German: continental professional teams). The team category Professional Continental Team was created in the course of the introduction of the UCI ProTour in 2005 and corresponds roughly to the previous category GS2 or TT2 (Groupe Sportif 2 or Trade Team 2).

Identity, name and nationality

A UCI ProTeam consists of the team operator "paying agent", the sponsors , the cyclists and the other employees of the team ( team manager , sports director , trainer , team doctor , designer , mechanic, etc.) . Up to three sponsors have the status of main sponsors. None of these persons or organizations may have connections with any other UCI ProTeam, UCI WorldTeam or the organizer of a World Tour race. The paying agent and the main sponsors, on the other hand, are allowed to run the Continental Team or other junior teams ; however, these teams are not allowed to start together in international races.

The name of a UCI ProTeam is the name or brand of one or more main sponsors, the name of the paying agent or any other name associated with the project. The team name can therefore change, especially if the sponsors change, and it can also become the name of a team operated by another paying agent in whole or in part .

The nationality of a UCI ProTeam is determined either according to the seat of the team operator ("paying agent") or the country in which the advertised product, service or brand is traded and has practical significance solely for the right to participate in UCI category "2" -Races of the UCI Europe Tour and the minimum salaries of the drivers.

driver

The minimum number of drivers per team is 20 (for teams outside Europe: 16 in 2020 and 18 in 2021). The maximum number of drivers per UCI ProTeam is 28 without Neoprofis, 29 with one Neoprofi and 30. With two to five Neoprofis, a UCI ProTeam may not employ more than five Neoprofis. In addition, a UCI ProTeam can take up to three drivers as for participating in the race UCI Continental Circuits from August 1 of each year trainees undertake contract.

The riders of the UCI ProTeams are professional cyclists according to the rules of the UCI . Your minimum working conditions are regulated by UCI regulations and an agreement similar to a collective agreement between the Association Internationale des Groupes Cyclistes Professionnels (AIGCP) and the “drivers union ” Cyclistes Professionnels Associés (CPA). The minimum annual salary for a Neoprofi is € 25,300, for other drivers € 30,250; but at least the statutory minimum wage that applies in the country whose nationality the UCI ProTeam has. These amounts must be increased by 50% if the driver does not drive as an employee but as a freelancer for the operating company. In addition there are u. a. the prize money, which is usually shared between the drivers and the other staff.

According to research by the Italian daily Corriere della Sera , the rules on minimum wages are often circumvented in the teams known at the time as Professional Continental Teams, however, in that the drivers repay salaries received to other accounts. An investigation by the Comitato Olimpico Nazionale Italiano concerning the teams Bardiani CSF , Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec and Wilier Triestina-Southeast ended in November 2016 with the acquittal of the managers Bruno Reverberi , Gianni Savio and Angelo Citracca , after u. a. the witness Marco Coledan denied having paid for races. The defense stated that drivers were only legally involved in the acquisition of small sponsors.

Licensing

Licensing takes place annually by the UCI after checking ethical, financial and administrative minimum criteria. The ethical criterion relates in particular to the question of doping . Participation in the “ Biological Pass ” program is compulsory for ProTeams. Of the other criteria, the UCI minimum requirements for driver contracts and a bank guarantee for salaries must be observed.

Applicants for a UCI ProTeam license who fail to meet the required sporting criteria but meet the other criteria will be registered as UCI Pro Teams.

meaning

The UCI ProTeams represent the second row of teams registered with the UCI. This status also enables participation in the most important cycling races - the UCI World Tour - and thus, as part of them, the Tour de France in particular, at the invitation of the respective organizers . As a result, there is a chance that these teams will be recognized internationally. In addition, this team category can be used as a stepping stone for the next higher category than UCI ProTeam.

Development teams

With the start of the 2020 season, team operators of a ProTeam who operate a Continental team can register it 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 ProTeam, and a maximum of four in a race in the first UCI category . Conversely, a maximum of one driver of the 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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Part II - Road Races - Rules amendments applying on 23.10.2019. uci.org, June 25, 2019, accessed July 18, 2019 .
  2. ↑ UCI regulations for road cycling, there 2.2.001 (English / French), accessed on December 20, 2015
  3. ↑ "Joint Agreeements 2013" between CPA and AIGCP ( Memento of the original from August 11, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.uci.ch
  4. ↑ UCI regulations for road cycling, there 2.16.036 to and 2.15.052 (English / French), accessed on December 20, 2015
  5. ^ Reverberi, Savio and Citracca acquitted by the association. radsport-news.com, November 11, 2016, accessed November 12, 2016 .
  6. ↑ uci.ch of July 24, 2014: The Athlete Biological Passport - ABP

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