UCI registers Astana – but what does that mean?
The UCI has registered 17 ProTour teams, including Astana, but the team still may need to produce a bank guarantee before its future is secured.
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The UCI ProTour council has registered 17 ProTour teams for 2010, including Astana, but that does not mean the road is completely clear for the team to keep its current status in the coming season.
The UCI treats licensing and registration as two separate steps in a team’s efforts to secure or reaffirm ProTour status. The council’s decision regarding Astana means that the team has satisfied paperwork requirements, but could still face problems if it is unable to produce a bank guarantee within days.
The council also rejected a registration request from the Italian Lampre team.
In an announcement released Wednesday, the UCI confirmed that 17 teams had complied with reporting requirements and will be registered for the 2010 season. That includes the Kazakh-financed Astana program, whose future remained in doubt as late as Tuesday.
Following rule changes adopted this past July, all ProTour teams are now required to submit registration applications on an annual basis. The applications and supporting documents – including financial statements and bank guarantees – are then subject to review.
Astana’s management failed to meet an initial October 20 deadline, leading to speculation that the team would lose its ProTour status and its star rider, four-time grand tour winner Alberto Contador. The team supplied documents earlier this month, but the UCI asked for evidence of a bank guarantee of funds, to ensure that the team did not repeat the financial problems that kept some riders from being paid this spring.
“With regard to the Astana team, the UCI wishes to state that in response to the difficulties that this team had paying its riders’ salaries last season, the UPTC President, Mr Vittorio Adorni, last May requested the Licence Commission to withdraw the licence held by the Kazakh team,” a release issued Wednesday noted. “The subsequent intervention of team executives allowed a solution to the problem to be implemented for the year 2009.
“The request for withdrawal presented by the UPTC President was then suspended. Looking forward to the 2010 season, the UCI requested the Kazakh team to provide an additional bank guarantee so that the regrettable situation in 2009 would not be repeated and so that the request for the withdrawal of the Astana licence would not have to be reactivated.
“This request is not connected in any way to the registration procedure for UCI ProTeams mentioned above but to the request for the withdrawal of the Astana licence that would have to be reactivated if the bank guarantee is not provided,” the UCI statement concluded.
In all, the ProTour Council registered 17 teams:
| Team | Country of Registration | License Expiration |
| Ag2r La Mondiale | (FRA) | 2012 |
| Astana | (KAZ) | 2010 |
| Caisse d’Epargne | (ESP) | 2010 |
| Euskaltel-Euskadi | (ESP) | 2010 |
| Footon-Servetto | (ESP) | 2010 |
| Française des Jeux | (FRA) | 2010 |
| Garmin-Slipstream | (USA) | 2012 |
| Liquigas-Doimo | (ITA) | 2010 |
| Omega Pharma-Lotto | (BEL) | 2011 |
| Quick Step | (BEL) | 2011 |
| Rabobank | (NED) | 2012 |
| Saxo Bank | (DEN) | 2011 |
| Team Columbia-HTC | (USA) | 2010 |
| Team Katusha | (RUS) | 2011 |
| Team Milram | (GER) | 2010 |
| Team RadioShack | (USA) | 2013 |
| Team Sky | (GBR) | 2013 |
The council, however, refused the registration of the Italian Lampre Farnese Vini team, referring the issue to the UCI licensing commission for further review. While Lampre holds a current license, the commission could revoke the team’s ProTour status before next season.
