ProTour licenses

iainf72
iainf72 Posts: 15,784
edited August 2007 in Pro race
So, Disco's is up for grabs.

Astana's will be likely.

Unibet announce tomorrow.

Who would apply? Barloworld? Relax-GAM? Slipstream?

If I was in charge of Barlowold or Slipstream I'd stay well out of it and do the keep ASO sweet / do the French cup races thing.
Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.

Comments

  • skavanagh.bikeradar
    skavanagh.bikeradar Posts: 1,097
    FWIW I'm with you there Iain. There is little point hitching yourself to the Pro Tour at this point in time. There is little point in the Pro Tour either in it's current bodged state.
  • GroupOfOne MkII
    GroupOfOne MkII Posts: 1,289
    Is this not an opportunity for the UCI to not offer any new ProTour licenses, thus reducing the number of teams to 17 and so allowing for ASO etc to offer more wildcards, thus slightly reducing one of the sources of friction between the groups?

    I mean common sense would say that would be good for everyone...but I'm beginning to think common sense and cycling is a bit of an oxymoron.

    As for teams pushing for ProTour licenses, I'd guess Tinkoff could well be interested, especially with the Discovery Eastern-European contingent (Popo, Gusev, Padrnos, Bileka and Vaitkus) up for grabs. Other than Barloworld there's not many other candidates, though I suppose if someone like Relax/Karpin/Fuerteventura were to pick up a few of the riders available they might be able to make a case.
  • Kléber
    Kléber Posts: 6,842
    Why pay a penny for a Pro Tour licence? What do you get back in return?

    Spend the equivalent amount of money needed on a dope-testing regime, plus Prudhomme out to lunch a few times and you'll probably get to ride the Tour de France, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Paris-Roubaix, Paris-Nice and plenty more.
  • CM92S4E
    CM92S4E Posts: 33
    I'd imagine Slipstream would apply for it, and possibly Tinkoff.

    Wouldn't think that Barloworld, Agritubel or Skil-Shimano would invest.

    Whats the situation with Astana now? Surely nobody will have them?
  • drenkrom
    drenkrom Posts: 1,062
    Vaughters has already said it's extremely unlikely Slipstream would want to apply. They did sign a few top-tier riders, but they're still a young development team and the racing program would be too much, especially all three GTs. He did leave the door open for 2009, which was the initial goal.

    I'd certainly sit back and watch the house burn down. Going in now is insane, especially with 3 more wildcard slots in every PT race.

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