As part of his campaign to be re-elected president of the UCI, Pat McQuaid has proposed new team structures and qualifications for team support workers.

Staff members such as doctors, coaches and sports directors will have to have suitable qualifications and McQuaid proposes a skills certification system for these staff members. In addition teams will have to have one doctor, coach and sport director per seven riders.

McQuaid says the idea is to provide better support for the riders, though it might involve smaller squads. This would move teams away from the "historic model that left riders without adequate mentoring, support and supervision" he said.

“This will enhance the level of monitoring care and support available to each rider, thereby helping riders to better manage their workload, race schedule and recovery,” said McQuaid in a statement.

“Individualised training and sustainable race load programmes up to a maximum of 80 days racing are also required.

“Teams must be capable of providing analytical, scientific and innovative training solutions for their riders that are based on performance monitoring, especially power metering.”

McQuaid acknowledged that the UCI must also introduce a sustainable and long lasting economic model to assist teams in implementing the initiatives that he is proposing.

“This may well require the UCI to reduce the size of teams at UCI World Tour level and UCI Continental level by five or more riders respectively,” he said.

These changes would place riders at the centre of a team’s organisation and activities, rather than leaving them to their own devices.

“Today’s riders should never be faced with having to make the same choices as previous generations,” said McQuaid.

“Today’s teams and those of the future must be built upon a model where riders are placed at the centre of the organisation where their performance is monitored and underpinned through collaboration with a multi-disciplinary scientific team.”

Some teams are already at the staffing levels proposed by McQuaid. Team Sky, for example, has four team doctors, coaches and sport directors for a 27-man team. But others will have to recruit new personnel and may have to choose between riders and support staff.