Teams oppose boycott | Cyclingnews

The International Association of Professional Cycling Teams (AIGCP) will not back a possible boycott of the Grand Tour organizers events, the group's new president Eric Boyer said Friday. The possibility of a protest was raised earlier this week by the ICPT (International Professional Cycling Teams) following an announcement by RCS Sport which left four ProTour teams (Astana, Crédit Agricole, Bouygues Telecom and Team High Road) out of the Giro d'Italia.

Nine of the 18 ProTour teams (Astana, Team High Road, Rabobank, Milram, CSC, Quickstep, Lampre, Liquigas and Saunier Duval) hinted of a boycott if the Grand Tour organisers continue down the path of excluding ProTour teams from their events, but Boyer was strongly opposed to the idea. "A boycott is tantamount to crippling its own riders," he told AFP. "It is a bad idea."

The UCI granted the three companies their wish of being left off the ProTour calendar this year, but that did not end the dispute. The national federations suggested a new calendar which placed the races of these three organisations on a separate class, but this suggestion has not moved forward as of yet. "It is necessary that the rules of participation are suitable for everybody, teams, organisers, federations," said Boyer.

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.