One year after introducing the successful UCI Under-23 Nations Cup, the UCI is launching the same system for Junior riders.
The UCI Juniors Nations Cup will kick off in the 2008 season. It will provide a new qualification system for the UCI Juniors Road World Championships. As with the Under-23 Nations Cup, the new system will be based on the ranking by nation on the Nations Cup circuit.
The UCI announced on its web site, www.uci.ch, that the Nations Cup will encourage the participation of national teams and guarantee a more equitable qualification system. The aim is to show up the true strength of each nation, without putting undue pressure on individual riders. Riders will not be able to ride more than five races on the Juniors Nations Cup calendar, excluding World Championship events. The individual ranking for Juniors will no longer exist with the beginning of the 2008 season.
The UCI Juniors Nations Cup will be open to national and mixed teams of six riders, of whom at least four must participate. In 2008 it will be made up of seven events, plus the UCI Juniors World Championships, in three continents.
The UCI Management Committee will determine the selection system each year. However for the transition year, the 2008 qualification system will be established according to the 2007 UCI ranking by nation.
The 2008 UCI Juniors Nations Cup calendar will be comprised of Paris – Roubaix Juniors, France, April 13; Course de la Paix Junior, Czech Republic, May 7–11; Trofeo Karlsberg, Germany, May 22-25; GP Général Patton, Luxembourg, July 12-13; UCI Juniors Road World Championships, South Africa, July 17-20; Nations Cup Abitibi, Canada, July 31 – August 3; Giro Ciclistico della Lunigiana, Italy, September 4-9 and Kroz Istru / Tour d'Istrie, Croatia, September 19-21.
