17 WorldTour squads named; China’s TJ Sport on hold

The UCI named 17 teams that will race as top-tier WorldTour squads for 2017 and 2018 on Friday, but it told Chinese outfit TJ Sport, an outgrowth of the defunct Lampre – Merida team, that its license request is still pending review. Cycling’s governing body made a lot of noise about trimming the number of WorldTour teams for the coming season but ultimately backpedaled on plans. In the long run, however, the UCI wants to have just 16 WorldTour teams in 2020.

In addition to its announcement that TJ Sport’s application was still under review, the License Commission said Pro Continental teams Androni Giocattoli and Verva Activejet were still under review. It also confirmed that Soul Brazil had been provisionally suspended.

2017 WorldTour teams (UCI code – country code)

AG2R LA MONDIALE (ALM – FRA)
ASTANA PRO TEAM (AST – KAZ)
BMC RACING TEAM (BMC – USA)
BORA – HANSGROHE (BOH – GER)
CANNONDALE DRAPAC PRO CYCLING TEAM (CDT – USA)
TEAM DIMENSION DATA (DDD – RSA)
QUICK-STEP FLOORS (QST – BEL)
FDJ (FDJ – FRA)
LOTTO SOUDAL (LTS – BEL)
MOVISTAR TEAM (MOV – ESP)
ORICA – BIKEEXCHANGE (OBE – AUS)
BAHRAIN-MERIDA (TBM – BRN)
TEAM KATUSHA ALPECIN (KAT – SUI)
TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO (TLJ – NED)
TEAM SKY (SKY – GBR)
TEAM SUNWEB (SUN – GER)
TREK SEGAFREDO (TFS – USA)

2017 Pro Continental teams

AQUA BLUE SPORT (ABS – IRL)
BARDIANI CSF (BAR – ITA)
CAJA RURAL – SEGUROS RGA (CJR – ESP)
CCC SPRANDI POLKOWICE (CCC – POL)
COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS (COF – FRA)
DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE KTM (DMP – FRA)
DIRECT ENERGIE (DEN – FRA)
FORTUNEO – VITAL CONCEPT (FVC – FRA)
GAZPROM – RUSVELO (GAZ – RUS)
ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY (ICA – ISR)
MANZANA POSTOBON (MZN – COL)
NIPPO – VINI FANTINI (NIP – ITA)
ROOMPOT – NEDERLANDSE LOTERIJ (RNL – NED)
SPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE (SVB – BEL)
TEAM NOVO NORDISK (TNN – USA)
UNITEDHEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL CYCLING TEAM (UHC – USA)
VERANDA’S WILLEMS CRELAN (VWC – BEL)
WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT (WGG – BEL)
WB VERANCLASSIC AQUA PROTECT (WVA – BEL)
WILIER TRIESTINA (WIL – ITA)