UCI ProTour
The UCI ProTour is a system of a set of professional cycling teams and cycling races, in which all of these teams are required to, and guaranteed to, participate. This system is new to 2005 and in many ways replaces the UCI World Cup series, which ended at the end of the 2004 season.
The ProTour includes the three Grand Tours, namely the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España. It also includes most of the former UCI World Cup races, such as Paris-Roubaix, Tour of Flanders and Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
The ProTour licenses are given to 20 teams, which sponsors must commit to 4 years of sponsorship. The exception is the Phonak team, which is given only a 2-year license due to previous doping allegations.
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History
Season-long competitions for professional road racing were first instituted in 1948, and continued until the late 1980s when the UCI instituted the UCI World Cup series which ran until 2004.
In replacing the World Cup, the ProTour was designed to follow the format of the Formula One motor-racing series, and was intended to address several concerns:
- The Grand Tours were not part of the UCI World Cup series
- Different riders and different teams targeted different types of races, making direct comparisons during competition difficult
- Team sponsorships tended to last only a very few years
- Many teams had financial difficulty in paying their riders and staff members
- Several teams had been plagued by doping issues
The UCI lobbied the organizers of the Grand Tours to participate in the ProTour, and was successful in obtaining their agreement despite prior disagreements and threats to completely pull out of the ProTour.
The ProTour has been criticized for fear of not having a system in place for a timely upgrade and downgrade of teams from/to the lower-tier Continental Series.
2005 ProTour calendar
March
- 06-13 Paris-Nice: Bobby Julich (USA)
- 09-15 Tirreno-Adriatico: Oscar Freire (ESP)
- 19 Milano-Sanremo: Alessandro Petacchi (ITA)
April
- 03 Ronde van Vlaanderen: Tom Boonen (BEL)
- 05-09 Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco: Danilo Di Luca (ITA)
- 06 Gent-Wevelgem: Nico Mattan (BEL)
- 10 Paris-Roubaix: Tom Boonen (BEL)
- 17 Amstel Gold Race: Danilo Di Luca (ITA)
- 20 La Flèche Wallonne: Danilo Di Luca (ITA)
- 24 Liège-Bastogne-Liège: Alexander Vinokourov (KAZ)
- 26-01 Tour de Romandie: Santiago Botero (COL)
May
- 07-29 Giro d'Italia
- 16-22 Volta Ciclista a Catalunya: Yaroslav Popovych (UKR)
June
- 05-12 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
- 11-19 Tour de Suisse
- 19 UCI ProTour Eindhoven Team Time Trial
July
- 02-24 Tour de France
- 31 HEW - Cyclassics
August
- 03-10 Tour de Benelux
- 13 Clasica San Sebastian
- 15-23 Deutschland-Tour
- 27-28 Vuelta a España
- 28 GP Ouest France-Plouay
September
- 12-18 Tour de Pologne
October
- 02 Züri-Metzgete
- 09 Paris-Tours
- 15 Giro di Lombardia
List of current UCI ProTour teams
- DAVITAMON-LOTTO
- QUICK STEP
- TEAM CSC
- EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI
- ILLES BALEARS
- LIBERTY SEGUROS - WÜRTH TEAM
- SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR
- BOUYGUES TELECOM
- COFIDIS, LE CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE
- CREDIT AGRICOLE
- FRANÇAISE DES JEUX
- GEROLSTEINER
- T-MOBILE
- DOMINA VACANZE
- FASSA BORTOLO
- LAMPRE - CAFFITA
- LIQUIGAS-BIANCHI
- RABOBANK
- PHONAK HEARING SYSTEMS
- DISCOVERY CHANNEL PRO CYCLING TEAM
See also
List of winners of Classics
| Year | Milan-San Remo | Tour of Flanders | Paris-Roubaix | Liege-Bastogne-Liege | Giro di Lombardia |
| 2005 | Alessandro Petacchi | Tom Boonen | Tom Boonen | Alexander Vinokourov | ... |
| 2004 | Oscar Freire | Steffen Wesemann | Magnus Backstedt | Davide Rebellin | Damiano Cunego |
| 2003 | Paolo Bettini | Peter van Petegem | Peter van Petegem | Tyler Hamilton | Michele Bartoli |
| 2002 | Mario Cipollini | Andrea Tafi | Johan Museeuw | Paolo Bettini | Michele Bartoli |
| 2001 | Erik Zabel | Gianluca Bortolami | Servais Knaven | Oscar Camenzind | Danilo di Luca |
| 2000 | Erik Zabel | Andrei Tchmil | Johan Museeuw | Paolo Bettini | Raimondas Rumsas |
| 1999 | Andrei Tchmil | Peter van Petegem | Andrea Tafi | Frank Vandenbroucke | Mirco Celestino |
| 1998 | Erik Zabel | Johan Museeuw | Franco Ballerini | Michele Bartoli | Oscar Camenzind |
| 1997 | Erik Zabel | Rolf Sörensen | Frederic Guesdon | Michele Bartoli | Laurent Jalabert |
| 1996 | Gabriele Colombo | Michele Bartoli | Johan Museeuw | Pascal Richard | Andrea Tafi |
| 1995 | Laurent Jalabert | Johan Museeuw | Franco Ballerini | Mauro Gianetti | Gianni Faresin |
| 1994 | Giorgio Furlan | Gianni Bugno | Andrei Tchmil | Jewgeni Berzin | Wjatscheslaw Bobrik |
| 1993 | Maurizio Fondriest | Johan Museeuw | Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle | Rolf Soerensen | Pascal Richard |
| 1992 | Sean Kelly | Jacky Durand | Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle | Dirk de Wolf | Tony Rominger |
| 1991 | Claudio Chiappucci | Edwig van Hooydonck | Marc Madiot | Moreno Argentin | Sean Kelly |
| 1990 | Gianni Bugno | Moreno Argentin | Eddy Plankaert | Eric van Lancker | Gilles Delion |