July 15, 2008 (Pau, France) — Today may have been the most eventful rest day ever at the Tour de France when 17 out of 18 ProTour teams announced that they will not renew their UCI ProTour licence for 2009 reports AFP citing a statement released at the TdF. The only team that has not announced it will pull out of ProTour is Astana which was not invited to the 2008 TdF. The news follows a series of meetings between major race organizers, including the TdF (ASO), the Giro d’Italia (RCS Sport), the Tour of Spain (Unipublic), and the UCI.

The UCI launched the ProTour in 2004 under the leadership of former UCI president Hein Verbruggen, replacing the UCI’s Road World Cup. The ProTour is comprised of top road races contested by top road cycling teams and theoretically the system obliges teams to race at all major competitions, requiring sponsors to sign on for a minimum of four years, assures payment of riders and team staff, and combats doping. But there have been numerous criticisms of the ProTour system, especially from the privately-owned Amaury Sports Organisation (ASO) that owns and manages the TdF and many other major cycling events. The ASO is holding the 2008 TdF outside of the jurisdiction of the UCI.

A press release from the UCI states:

“The International Cycling Union has noted the teams’ intention not to renew their UCI ProTour licences for 2009. This decision was entirely foreseeable in view of the meetings held recently between the teams and the management of ASO. The UCI notes that the teams have once again succumbed to pressure from the management of ASO, whose aim for the last four years has been to destroy the UCI ProTour. By signing the agreement that ASO’s management has imposed on them, the teams appear to want to join the parallel system that ASO is seeking to put in place. The UCI is looking into the situation and will take the necessary decisions in due course.

Cofidis had already announced that it would withdraw from the ProTour while it was rumoured Euskaltel and Liquigas would follow suit. Thierry Cazeneuve, organizer Dauphine-Libere Pro Tour was quoted by AFP as explaining that this news was the “˜end of ProTour.’ He added that it made no sense to hold a ProTour licence if no ProTour teams would come to the event.

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