Following the news that the Fly V Australia team will apply for ProTour status for 2011 onwards, it has been confirmed that another Australian group is also aiming to join the top echelon of world cycling.
The Australian Road Cycling (ARC) group has verified to VeloNation that it has been working hard on the project and that it aims to have a licence in place for the start of the 2012 season.
Victor Barichello, one of the group’s directors, confirmed today that the project is progressing
“Things are very well on our side,” he said. “I'm aware that there has been a heightened desire for the media to talk to us. Our plans are centred on 2012 - it is a better option for us,” he stated.
In January, Barichello met UCI President Pat McQuaid in Adelaide during the Tour Down Under and discussed the plans with him. He said then that ARC was trying to have something in place for 2011, but that there was a possibility they would ultimately opt for 2012. The timescale has indeed shifted and so, if it is successful in its licence application, Fly V Australia will become the first ProTour team from that country next season.
McQuaid said today that he had spoken to representatives from both groups involved, and that he believes that the ProTour would benefit from an Australian presence.
“I have spoken to several different people over the past couple of years in Australia about the possibility of an Australian ProTour team,” he told VeloNation. “All I can say is that the UCI would welcome a ProTour team from there as Australian cyclists are very strongly represented in the ProTour, at the top level of the sport.
“It would be very fitting, and also beneficial to the development of the sport should a good, strong Australian ProTour team be put together with Australian sponsors and an Australian look about it.”
Early last week, The Australian newspaper confirmed that Team Fly V was expected to shortly announce Australian and international backers for the team’s push to become part of the ProTour.
Chris White, who is behind the bid to move it up a level, spoke about the importance of having an Australian team at the top level. “Cadel Evans, Michael Rogers, Mark Renshaw, Simon Gerrans, Stuey O'Grady, Richie Porte and Wes Sulzberger currently ride for either American, French, British or Danish teams,” he told the paper, explaining that they don’t currently have the opportunity to compete with an Aussie squad.
The deadline for the application to the UCI is one week from today, on August 31st. The governing body is in a continuous push to globalise the sport and this may have an influence on its consideration of applications from countries such as Australia.