October 23, 2007 – The UCI ProTour Gala was held in the magnificent setting of the Villa Erba, in Cernobbio, in the presence of some 300 guests representing world professional cycling.

In his opening speech, the UCI President Pat McQuaid, stressed that globalisation would be the main focus of the UCI ProTour starting from next season. After the Tour Down Under, the inaugural race of the 2008 UCI ProTour which will be held in January in Australia, other additional out of Europe events will most probably be included in the series in the near future. Contacts in this respect are already well-advanced with organisers and sporting and political authorities in China, the US and Russia.

The UCI ProTour Council President, Vittorio Adorni then went on to award the trophies to Cadel Evans, winner of the individual ranking, Davide Rebellin and Alberto Contador, respectively ranked in 2nd and 3rd places, to CSC, for the third year running the best UCI ProTeam of the season, and to Spain, first in the countries’ ranking.

A jury comprising of a riders’ representative, teams and the press, voted the Tour of Flanders the best event of the season, meanwhile the career prize, a new feature of this edition of the UCI ProTour Gala, was awarded to Carmine Castellano, former Director of the Giro d’Italia and CUPT member.

Winners of the UCI Continental Circuits also received awards: Hassen Ben Nasser (Tunisia) for the UCI Africa Tour, Svein Tuft (Canada) for the UCI America Tour, Hossein Askari (Iran) for the UCI Asia Tour, Alessandro Bertolini (ITA) for the UCI Europe Tour and Robert McLachlan (Australia) for the UCI Oceania Tour.

Congratulations to Tuft and the other winners for a successful season.

Watch Kevin Field’s video of Tuft receiving his UCI America Tour award on You Tube.