May 8, 2007 – Holland’s Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank will not ride the Giro d’Italia, but he has shown the potential to win major stage races and the UCI ProTour with an impressive overall victory in the Tour de Romandie stage race in Switzerland.

Dekker rode well in the mountain stages of the six-day race and then snatched overall victory with a powerful performance in the time trial around Lausanne. The young Dutchman scored 55 points for his success in the race and immediately took tenth place in the UCI ProTour individual rankings. Italy’s Paolo Savoldelli (Astana) finished second and so scored 45 points, with his team mate Andrei Kashechkin third, scoring 36 points.

Italy’s Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner) kept the overall lead with a total of 157 points, with 2006 UCI ProTour winner Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) second with 107 points. The Predictor Lotto team won the team competition ahead of Astana but Team CSC was third and retained the overall lead in the team rankings with 170 points. Liquigas are second with 163 points and Rabobank moved up to third from six with a total of 137 points. Italy still leads the nations rankings with 397 points, ahead of Spain and Germany.

Giro d’Italia

Following the many one-day classics in northern Europe in April, stage races dominate the UCI ProTour in May. The three-week Giro d’Italia begins on May 12 in Sardinia and at the same time the Volta a Ciclista a Catalunya (May 21-27) will be held in Spain.

The Giro d’Italia is the first of the so-called major stage races and will see the best Italian riders compete on home roads for the legendary pink jersey awarded to the race leader.

In the absence of 2006 winner Ivan Basso, the battle for overall victory is wide-open with the balanced route meaning that at least six riders have a real chance of pulling on the final pink jersey in Milan on June 3. Damiano Cunego (Lampre), Gilberto Simoni (Saunier Duval) and Paolo Savoldelli (Astana) have planned their season around the Giro and are all chasing either a second or third victory.

Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) showed he is on form when he won Liege-Bastogne-Liege and he is determined to show he can also win the Giro. The determined Italian was fourth in 2005 and if he can finish in the top three and score extra points by winning stages or leading this year’s race, he could move past current leader of the UCI ProTour Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner) and second placed Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne). Other overall contenders for the Giro d’Italia include Yaroslav Popovych (Discovery Channel) and Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank), while young riders determined to emerge include Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) and Riccardo Ricco (Saunier Duval).

As ever the sprint stages in the Giro d’Italia will offer some spectacular racing with Alessandro Petacchi (Milram) back to his best after breaking his knee in last year’s race. Petacchi will try and control the sprints but will face serious opposition from Robbie McEwen (Predictor), Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) and JJ Haedo (CSC).

The Giro starts with a 24km team time trial in Sardinia and moves to the mainland after two road stages. The decisive stages come in the second half of the race with a mountain time trial, three key mountain stages in the Alps and Dolomites and then a final decisive time trial to Verona. As tradition, the Giro d’Italia ends in Milan on June 3.

ProTour Individual Ranking

1. Davide Rebellin (ITA) Gerolsteiner 157
2. Alejandro Belmonte Valverde (ESP) Caisse d’Epargne 107
3. Danilo Di Luca (ITA) Liquigas 100
4. Oscar Gomez Freire (ESP) Rabobank 82
5. Stuart O’Grady (AUS) Team CSC 79
6. Stefan Schumacher (GER) Gerolsteiner 75
7. Frank Schleck (LUX) Team CSC 63
8. Juan Acebo Cobo (ESP) Saunier Duval-Prodir 62
9. Alberto Contador (ESP) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 58
10. Tom Boonen (BEL) Quick Step-Innergetic 57
11. Thomas Dekker (NED) Rabobank 55
12. Andreas Klöden (GER) Astana 53
13. Alessandro Velasco Ballan (ITA) Lampre-Fondital 50
14. Matthias Kessler (GER) Astana 50
15. Robbie Mcewen (AUS) Predictor-Lotto 47
16. Tadej Valjavec (SLO) Lampre-Fondital 46
17. Roger Hammond (GBR) T-Mobile Team 45
18. Paolo Savoldelli (ITA) Astana 45
19. Samuel Gonzalez Sanchez (ESP) Euskaltel-Euskadi 45
20. Cadel Evans (AUS) Predictor-Lotto 45
21. Damiano Cunego (ITA) Lampre-Fondital 45
22. Kim Kirchen (LUX) T-Mobile Team 43
23. Michael Boogerd (NED) Rabobank 42
24. Marcus Burghardt (GER) T-Mobile Team 40
25. Juan Giannoni Flecha (ESP) Rabobank 40
26. Leif Hoste (BEL) Predictor-Lotto 40
27. Allan Davis (AUS) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 40
28. Alexandre Vinokourov (KAZ) Astana 38
29. LuisGIL Sanchez (ESP) Caisse d’Epargne 38
30. Paolo Bettini (ITA) Quick Step-Innergetic 37
31. Andrey Kashechkin (KAZ) Astana 36
32. Luca Paolini (ITA) Liquigas 36
33. Karsten Kroon (NED) Team CSC 30
34. Björn Leukemans (BEL) Predictor-Lotto 30
35. Franco Pellizotti (ITA) Liquigas 28
36. Janez Brajkovic (SLO) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 27
37. Christopher Horner (USA) Predictor-Lotto 27
38. Vladimir Gusev (RUS) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 25
39. Roberto Petito (ITA) Liquigas 25
40. Riccardo Ricco (ITA) Saunier Duval-Prodir 24
41. Roman Kreuziger (CZE) Liquigas 24
42. David Garcia Lopez (ESP) Caisse d’Epargne 23
43. Jens Voigt (GER) Team CSC 23
44. Francisco Alberdi Ventoso (ESP) Saunier Duval-Prodir 22
45. Erik Zabel (GER) Team Milram 20
46. Tomas Vaitkus (LTU) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 20
47. Igor Hernandez Anton (ESP) Euskaltel-Euskadi 18
48. Christophe Mengin (FRA) Française Des Jeux 15
49. Nick Nuyens (BEL) Cofidis, le Credit Par Telephone 15
50. Rinaldo Nocentini (ITA) Ag2r Prevoyance 11
51. Andy Schleck (LUX) Team CSC 10
52. Enrico Franzoi (ITA) Lampre-Fondital 10
53. Dmitriy Muravyev (KAZ) Astana 10
54. Alessandro Petacchi (ITA) Team Milram 10
55. Joaquin Oliver Rodriguez (ESP) Caisse d’Epargne 9
56. Max Van Heeswijk (NED) NED19730302 Rabobank 7
57. Matteo Bono (ITA) Lampre-Fondital 6
58. John Gadret (FRA) Ag2r Prevoyance 5
59. Baden Cooke (AUS) Unibet.com 5
60. Sylvester Szmyd (POL) Lampre-Fondital 5
61. Kevin Van (BEL) Quick Step-Innergetic 5
62. Vicente Mimo Reynes (ESP) Caisse d’Epargne 5
63. Robert Gesink (NED) Rabobank 3
64. Jose Gil Rojas (ESP) Caisse d’Epargne 3
65. Koldo Gil Impe Perez (ESP) Saunier Duval-Prodir 3
66. José Marchante Gomez (ESP) Saunier Duval-Prodir 3
67. Manuel Martinez Beltran (ESP) Liquigas 3
68. Markus Fothen (GER) Gerolsteiner 3
69. Yaroslav Popovych (UKR) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 3
70. Alexandr Kolobnev (RUS) Team CSC 3
71. Koldo Fernandez (ESP) Euskaltel-Euskadi 3
72. Daniele Bennati (ITA) Lampre-Fondital 3
73. Enrico Gasparotto (ITA) Liquigas 3
74. David Millar (GBR) Saunier Duval-Prodir 3
75. Jean-Patrick Nazon (FRA) Ag2r Prevoyance 3
76. Fabio Baldato (ITA) Lampre-Fondital 2
77. Francisco Sanchez Perez (ESP) Caisse d’Epargne 2
78. Patxi Errandonea Vila (ESP) Lampre-Fondital 2
79. Mirco Lorenzetto (ITA) Team Milram 2
80. Constantino Gutierrez Zaballa (ESP) Caisse d’Epargne 2
81. Fumiyuki Beppu (JPN) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 2
82. José Ramos Redondo (ESP) Astana 2
83. Sebastian Siedler (GER) Team Milram 2
84. Alexandre Usov (BLR) Ag2r Prevoyance 1
85. Marco Pinotti (ITA) T-Mobile Team 1
86. Jérôme Pineau (FRA) Bouygues Telecom 1
87. Iker Ortuzar Camano (ESP) Saunier Duval-Prodir 1
88. Giovanni Visconti (ITA) Quick Step-Innergetic 1
89. Samuel Dumoulin (FRA) Ag2r Prevoyance 1
90. Sven Krauss (GER) Gerolsteiner 1
91. Thor Hushovd (NOR) Credit Agricole 1
92. Mathew Hayman (AUS) Rabobank 1
93. Sébastien Joly (FRA) Française Des Jeux 1

April 13, 2005 – The UCI ProTour Council (UPTC) met Monday, April 11 in Brussels for the first time as a new entity. The UPTC expressed great satisfaction with the development and execution of the first phase of the UCI ProTour, and is happy to see growing interest in this quality division.

Denomination
The new “UCI ProTour Council” (UPTC) replaces the “Professional Cycling Council” (CCP).

Composition and Mission of the UPTC
Following the UCI Management Committee’s decision to amend rules defining the composition of the instance governing the UCI ProTour, and intending to guarantee the representation of all players in the professional cycling movement within this organization, the UPTC is now composed of 12 members, appointed as follows.

– 2 members designated by the CPA (riders);
– 2 members designated by the UCI ProTeams members of the AIGCP; at least one of them must belong to a UCI ProTeam from a country where there is a maximum of two UCI ProTeams
– 2 members designated by holders of a UCI ProTour organizer license, members of the AIOCC; at least one of them must be an organizer of one-day events exclusively;
– 6 members designated by the UCI Management Committee

The UPTC’s mission will be to handle all events registered on the UCI ProTour calendar as well as their participants (UCI ProTeams and riders).

With the exception of antidoping, the UPTC will act autonomously regarding all aspects linked to regulations, calendar and the general organization of the UCI ProTour.

2006-2008 Calendar
The UPTC devoted the main discussion of the meeting to the 2006-2008 calendar project.

On this subject, the UPTC decided that 157 race days planned for the 2005 season represent the maximum ceiling for teams composed of 25-28 riders, and this limit will not be exceeded in the next few years.

The eventual integration of new events chosen amid the many who have expressed interest to join the UCI ProTour (Belgium, England, Scandinavia, Central Europe) will therefore not be achieved without modifying the actual UCI ProTour calendar.

UPTC-Grands Tours Relations
Negotiations between representatives from UPTC and the Grands Tours are pursued in a serene and constructive atmosphere, which foresees encouraging perspectives towards a definite agreement.

AIGCP-Grands Tours Negotiations
The UPTC has been informed that an agreement on participation allowances had been signed between AIGCP and ASO for the 2005-2008 period.

The negotiations remain open on the issue between AIGCP and the other two organisers (RCS and Unipublic)

On this subject, AIGCP representatives have asked the UPTC that, in case of a disagreement, the obligation to participate to those events, as is mentioned in the UCI ProTour regulations be lifted. The UPTC has agreed to this request.

TV Images quality control
The UPTC has approved the creation of a commission that will evaluate the quality of television images produced and broadcasted during each UCI ProTour race.

Gand-Wevelgem
In the expectation of the jury’s report concerning Gand-Wevelgem, the UPTC considers the events which occurred during the start of the race as extremely serious. A complete file will be remitted to the UCI ProTour Licenses commission, the competent authority who will determine the eventual consequences for the license of the organizer.

November 23 2004 – Following their request, three candidates to a
UCI ProTour team license were heard today in Lausanne by the UCI
Licenses Commissions. They are the following:

– ARcycling AG (Phonak Hearing Systems), SUI
– France Cyclisme (AG2R), FRA
– Sportpromotie Asbl (Mr.Bookmaker.com-Palmans), BEL

The final decision as to the attribution of UCI ProTour team licenses
will be communicated to parties on Tuesday, November 30, 2004.

June 11, 2004 – The road cycling reform and, in particular, the launch of
the
UCI ProTour which will commence on January 1, 2005, is progressing
as planned on April 22, 2004. The selection of the UCI ProTour teams is now
in progress.

After the candidacies’ registration, the composition of the Licenses
Commission as created by the UCI to guarantee the principles of
independence, neutrality and transparency in the procedure of the grant of
UCI ProTour licenses has been determined.

On the Professional Cycling Council’s recommendation, the UCI has appointed
the following Commission:

· President: Mr. Pierre Zappelli, 61 years old, Judge at the Tribunal
Fédéral (Swiss Supreme Federal Court), and representative of the Union
Internationale des Magistrats at the UNO in Geneva.
· Member: Mr. Hans Höhener, 57 years old, President of the Commission
Fédérale des Sports suisse, ex-President of the Swiss Athletics Federation.
· Member: Mr. André Hurter, 46 years old, manager, doctor in economic
sciences, CEO of Fotolabo group.

The Commission’s first task will be to evaluate the 24 candidates who have
requested the grant of a UCI ProTour license within the given deadline (May
31, 2004.)

The documentation submitted by each candidate has been transmitted to the
Licenses Commission, which will give a preliminary ruling on the status of
the submitted files, taking into consideration that the final grant of
licenses will take place in November 2004.

The said first decisions will be made public by the UCI during a press
conference to be held in Liège on July 2, 2004.