The ASO threw down the gauntlet this week in its fight against the UCI and the ProTour. The ASO,...
No Unibet? (Image credit: Sirotti)
The ASO threw down the gauntlet this week in its fight against the UCI and the ProTour. The ASO, which organizes the Tour de France among other races, announced the teams which had been invited to Paris-Nice - and did not include ProTour newcomer Unibet.
Paris-Nice, which will run from March 11-18, is the first ProTour race of the season, and under UCI rules, all 19 ProTour teams should participate. However, the ASO invited the 18 "old" ProTour teams, and issued wild cards to Astana (which received its ProTour license late in December) and the French Continental Professional Agritrubel team.
The organizers announced that "logistical grounds" prevented them from inviting more than 20 teams. Unibet team manager Koen Terryn has already said that he will ask the UCI to intervene on his team's behalf. "We have received a program from the UCI, in which Paris-Nice stands in black and white. But now it looks as if we won't be there, but instead there will be Agritubel, a French team without a ProTour license. We will complain to the UCI. We don't have the power to change anything in this matter, but the UCI does," Terryn said. "If we are not allowed to race, then that is a slap in the face for cycling."
Teams invited to Paris-Nice
AG2R Prévoyance Agritubel Astana Bouygues Telecom Caisse d’Epargne-Illes Balears Cofidis Le Crédit Par Téléphone Credit Agricole Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team Euskaltel - Euskadi Française Des Jeux Gerolsteiner Lampre - Fondital Liquigas Predictor - Lotto Quick Step - Innergetic Rabobank Saunier Duval - Prodir T - Mobile Team Team CSC Team Milram
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Laura Weislo has been with Cyclingnews since 2006 after making a switch from a career in science. As Managing Editor, she coordinates coverage for North American events and global news. As former elite-level road racer who dabbled in cyclo-cross and track, Laura has a passion for all three disciplines. When not working she likes to go camping and explore lesser traveled roads, paths and gravel tracks. Laura specialises in covering doping, anti-doping, UCI governance and performing data analysis.
