Responding to the confirmation that it has secured UCI ProTeam registration for 2012, the BMC Racing Team has hailed the performances of Cadel Evans and the other riders as being prime factors in retaining its place in the top echelon of the sport.
“Cadel’s victory at the Tour de France and the team's consistent performance throughout the year, both on and off the race course, is the true confirmation for this selection,” said the team’s president and general manager Jim Ochowicz. “We look forward to the 2012 season with renewed enthusiasm and pride in our team of riders and staff.”
Evans won the Tour, took Tirreno-Adriatico and the Tour de Romandie, and also finished second in the Critérium du Dauphiné, seventh in the USA Pro Cycling Challenge and eighth in the Volta a Catalunya. His points haul saw him finish second in the individual WorldTour rankings and BMC Racing to end up fifth in the teams classification.
Its season will begin in the Santos Tour Down Under in January.
A total of seven other teams were given ProTeam licences today. These are the Astana Pro Team (Kazakstan), Garmin-Cervélo (USA), Lampre – ISD (ITA), Liquigas – Cannondale (ITA), Movistar Team (ESP), Rabobank (NED) and Sky Procycling (GBR).
The other squads vying for the licences must appear before the UCI’s Licence Commission. Of those, RadioShack-Nissan and Vacansoleil-DCM have already lost out in today’s initial awarding, which pertained to teams who had ProTeam licences running into 2012.
They both gave brief comments on the issue, as did the UCI, and the two will hope to secure their place in the top level after their Commission hearings.