February 23, 2007 – Following the agreement made between ASO, organizer of Paris-Nice, and the French Cycling Federation (FFC), according to whom this race is apparently no longer registered on the UCI international calendar but on the FFC national calendar, the UCI, in accordance with its rules, has been obliged to take the following decisions:

– Teams holding a UCI ProTour licence and UCI professional continental teams will not be allowed to take part in this race. The rules in fact stipulate that these two types of teams cannot participate in a national race.

– International anti-doping bodies will not be able to test riders in this race. According to the rules, only national anti-doping bodies are allowed to carry out such tests at national races.

– UCI International Commissaires will not be able to officiate at Paris-Nice. The mission of an UCI International Commissaire is to ensure that UCI rules are respected. He/she cannot therefore support a race where the organizer is blatantly violating the international cycling rules.

The UCI is sorry that teams and riders have been taken hostage by an organizer wanting to flout the rules that all parties in cycling are obliged to respect.

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