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Tough choice for Dwars door Vlaanderen

By Brecht Decaluwé

published 12 February 2012

UCI rules mean a WorldTour team may miss out

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2011 Dwars door Vlaanderen podium (l-r): Geraint Thomas, Nick Nuyens, Tyler Farrar(Image credit: www.ispaphoto.com)

Nick Nuyens (Saxo Bank Sungard) wins Dwars door Vlaanderen.(Image credit: AFP)

2011 Dwars door Vlaanderen victor Nick Nuyens (Saxo Bank Sungard)(Image credit: www.ispaphoto.com)

The organisers of Dwars door Vlaanderen have a tough choice to make as UCI rules dictate the number of WorldTour teams that can participate in the race, which takes place on March 21.

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The 1.1 category race - held for the 67th time in Waregem, Belgium - has received requests from 14 of the 18 WorldTour teams, with the exceptions of Liquigas, Euskaltel, RadioShack and BMC.

The problem is that the rules from the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) stipulate that in a 1.1 race only 50 percent of the participating teams are allowed to be from the WorldTour level.

“With 25 teams at the start the outcome is we can only accept 13 ProTeams. We asked the UCI for an exception on this rule but
they didn’t allow it so one team will have to be disappointed. We will make the decision based on the quality of the riders and will decide on the matter at the end of this month,” Yvan Vanhoucke, press officer of Dwars door Vlaanderen, wrote in a press release.

A solution might be found from the recent conclusion of the CAS in the Contador case. As all the recent results from the Spaniard have been annulled his Saxo Bank team loses out on the WorldTour points gained by Contador in the previous season. With Contador holding 68 per cent of all the Saxo Bank team points the Danish squad might lose their WorldTour status.