Today’s announcement of the teams which have been awarded the first ProTeam licences by the UCI contained two notable omissions, namely the RadioShack-Nissan team of Andy and Frank Schleck, Fabian Cancellara and Andreas Klöden, plus the Vacansoleil DCM squad of riders such as Johnny Hoogerland and Marco Marcato.
While a total of ten teams must appear before the UCI Licence Commission [namely two new teams, three applying for new multi-year ProTeam terms, three seeking to move up from Pro Continental status and the two others listed between sixteenth and twentieth], RadioShack-Nissan and Vacansoleil DCM are the only squads currently holding ProTeam licences to be declined at this point.
The UCI’s statement on the licences was short on details about why the two missed out, stating simply that they would have to attend a hearing in order to try to secure a licence.
“The teams Vacansoleil – DCM Pro Cycling Team and RadioShack-Nissan will also be heard by the Licence Commission in accordance with article 2.15.071 of the regulations,” it stated.
That regulation doesn’t provide hints about why they have been declined, but rather talks about the process once a registration has been refused. That wording is as follows:
If the UCI administration decides that it is unable to register the UCI ProTeam, it will notify the
licence holder and the paying agent. Unless the holder renounces the licence, the UCI administration
will refer the case to the licence commission:
1. The licence commission summons the UCI ProTeam to a hearing with a minimum of 10 days'
notice, unless otherwise agreed with the UCI ProTeam;
2. The applicant must lodge any documents in support of his registration application to the commission
in three copies, with one copy to the UCI, at least 5 days before the date of the hearing.
Documents lodged after this deadline shall be automatically disregarded;
3. At least 5 days before the date of hearing, the UCI ProTeam shall notify the licence commission
and the UCI of the identity of those persons who will represent him or attend the hearing. The
licence commission may refuse to hear any persons not notified within this time;
4. The UCI may participate in the hearing. The auditor appointed by the UCI may be heard at the
request of the UCI ProTeam, the UCI or the licence commission;
5. The licence commission shall apply the assessment criteria set out in article 2.15.011a ff.
Should the licence commission refuse the registration, the UCI ProTeam's licence is automatically withdrawn. The decision is subject to appeal to the CAS. Furthermore, the licence commission will pass on the application documentation to the UCI administration so that the latter can assess the possibility of registering the team as a professional continental team.
The UCI ProTeam shall be represented before the licence commission by the licence holder or, with the agreement of the latter, by the paying agent.
VeloNation has sought comment from each of the parties concerned, with more details likely to emerge in time.
Representatives for both the RadioShack-Nissan (currently known as Leopard-Trek) and Vacansoleil-DCM teams indicated that they did not know the reason why they were the only existing ProTeams to run into issues at this point.
Vacansoleil-DCM said that it needed to get more information, and that it would be better able to comment tomorrow.
As for the RadioShack-Nissan team, the 2011 Leopard-Trek press officer referred the enquiry to Philippe Maertens, who is the spokesman with the American-registered RadioShack squad this year. That team will bring sponsors, riders and management across to the Luxembourg squad next season, with Johan Bruyneel replacing Brian Nygaard at the helm.
Maertens stated that the team would not be issuing an official comment on the matter, downplaying its importance. “It is just a question of paperwork and extra explanation,” he stated. “No worries at all.”
UCI spokesman Enrico Carpani was initially not contactable, but later gave a brief reaction to VeloNation. “In today’s statement we only mentioned the article of the regulations, which allows the UCI to ask the licence commission to review the position of any team. I can’t explain why,” he said.
“It could be one of the four reasons [the four factors for consideration for registration – ed.] – it could be ethics, it could be sporting, it could be financial, it could be administrative. We won’t give any more information.”
It appears that the UCI won’t comment further for at least another 18 days. “There will be more details after the 20th of November when the Licence Commission will make its decision,” Carpani said. “Depending on the decision, they will probably give more details, but won’t do so now.”
Until that time, the riders on both teams must simply wait and hope that they will indeed be part of ProTeam squads in 2012.