July 16, 2008 – As reported yesterday, 17 of the 18 ProTour teams have announced that they will not renew their UCI ProTour licences in 2009, leaving Astana as the only team not taking a position on the issue. In 2008 many major races are, or have been held, outside of UCI jurisdiction, prompting predictions that the ProTour formula is now dead. The big question is what will happen next?

This conflict pits the UCI, cycling’s world governing body, against ASO, the owner of the world’s most prestigious bike race, the Tour de France. ASO is supported by the organizers of the Vuelta (Tour of Spain) and the Giro (Tour of Italy), the world’s other two grand tours. And these three are now bolstered by the 17 teams who claim they will not renew their UCI ProTour licences, and Astana will likely join the other teams in says team spokesman, Philippe Maertens, as reported by BBC. UCI President Pat McQuaid has frequently accused the ASO of trying to set up a rival world cycling federation, a charge that the ASO denies.

Bouygues Telecom manager Jean-Rene Berneaudea explains his stand in favour of the ASO by saying that ultimately what his sponsors want is for his team to participate in the world’s three most prestigious bike tours. Quick Step manager Patrick Lefevere believes that the teams’ threat to leave is a good thing and might force resolution of the conflict if the parties negotiate seriously.

Less optimistic is Thierry Cazeneuve, organizer of the Dauphine Libere race. Cazeneuve believes that the rupture will cause 30% of the team’s staffs to lose their jobs. He and Richard Chassot, the Tour of Romandie director, believe that the smaller race organizers will be the big losers in the new dynamic. Chassot suggests that the big three race organizers will end up with a big piece of the cake in any new arrangement, but that many smaller races might die off in the process.

The 17 dissident teams are apparently committed to working out a new road racing calendar but the details of how they will do so remains unclear. Read more on this story at BBC and atAFP.