UCI updates on 2013 registrations - RadioShack-Nissan, Katusha & Movistar applications referred

The UCI has issued a further update on the registration process for the 2013 season, confirming the WorldTour licences of eight ProTeams, while others including RadioShack-Nissan, Movistar and Katusha will see their applications go before its Licence Commission.

The governing body has also reiterated that registrations so far granted for 2013 could be subject to review should any “significant change” come to light regarding the information previously submitted.

That presumably reflects the fact that the process this year has coincided with the fallout of the Lance Armstrong affair, as well as the ongoing Padova enquiry in Italy which is expected to be concluded shortly.

Teams applying for a first-time WorldTour licence or the renewal of an existing one are obliged to go before the Licence Commission, as are those ranked between 16th and 20th by what the UCI terms ‘sporting value.’

The three teams mentioned above, however, all hold existing licences and are ranked within the top 15, which ordinarily should make confirmation of their registration a formality so long as they also satisfy financial, ethical and administrative criteria.

The fact that they have been referred to the Licence Commission points to the UCI and its auditors Ernst & Young not being satisfied with some aspect of the files they have submitted.

However, while the governing body is open about which teams are at which stage in the process, it gives no clue as to why registration has not yet happened in those cases, meaning that there’s bound to be speculation, particularly in the current environment, about the exact reasons those teams have been referred.

Also going before the Licensing Commission by virtue of the fact that their existing licences expire this year are AG2R La Mondiale, Euskaltel-Euskadi, Garmin Sharp, Former Rabobank and Team Saxo-Tinkoff.

So too does current Professional Continental team Argos-Shimano, which is applying for the top-flight status it missed out on 12 months ago. It will be joined by existing ProTeams Lotto-Belisol and FDJ which, like Saxo-Tinkoff, were ranked between 16th and 20th by sporting value.

The eight ProTeams with an existing WorldTour licence that have had those confirmed are Astana, BMC Racing, Cannondale, Lampre-Merida, Omega Pharma-Quick Step, Orica-GreenEdge, Sky and Vacansoleil DCM.

According to the UCI, the first decisions about registration of the other teams will be made “shortly after November 26th” with the Licence Commission’s final decisions made public on December 10th.

So far confirmed as having secured second-tier Professional Continental status are Accent Jobs-Wanty, Androni Giocattoli, Caja Rural, CCC Polsat Polkowice, Cofidis, IAM Cycling, Landbouwkrediet-Euphony, Sojasun, Team Europcar, Team Netapp-Endura, Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise, UnitedHealthCare and Vini Fantini.

In its press release providing the update on the process, the UCI gave a clear signal that it was keeping an eye on developments that might affect the status of teams, including those already registered for 2013.

The governing body said it wished “to make it clear that any significant change in the information used to establish the evaluation of the teams whose registration has been announced above will automatically be referred to the Licence Commission with the possible consequence of the withdrawal of the UCI WorldTour licence, the withdrawal of the registration or the suspension of the team depending on the seriousness of the case.”