As with the men’s World Tour, the MPCC is publishing for the first time a summary of wildcards on the Women’s World Tour races. The analysis of these figures is intended to be distinct from that of the men’s elite, as women’s professional cycling is at a different stage of development, but a one that is growing fast.
There are 16 women’s teams in our movement: 4 World Teams and 12 Continental teams. Of these 12 teams, 7 will become Women’s Pro Teams, the new intermediate level implemented between the Women’s World Tour and the Continental level, from next season. All the Women’s Pro Teams will be members of the MPCC, a fact which we are delighted about and which encourages us to maintain our fight against doping while acting for more credible cycling.
For 2024, the number of invitations to World Tour races for MPCC teams has varied, a sign that women’s professional cycling is still looking for a good balance. While the races run by Amaury Sport Organisation, such as Paris-Roubaix Femmes and Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes, and those organised by Flanders Classics, like the Tour of Flanders and Ghent-Wevelgem, have reached 90% or even 100% of « MPCC wildcards », others are still a long way off. We hope that these organisers and non-member teams will become involved in the fight against doping to support the development of women’s cycling.
Out of the 227 invitations issued for the 27 races on the Women’s World Tour calendar in 2024, 63% were given to teams that are members of our movement. While the number of MPCC teams may seem low, these same teams are competing at a very high level. At the same time, we are calling on Women’s World Tour teams who share our values but are not yet members to join us. With the promotion of Emily Brammeier* to the position of vice-president at our last board meeting, the MPCC confirms its commitment to follow the development of women’s cycling, always under the banner of responsibility and fairness in sport.
* Emily Brammeier is Head of Communications for Team DSM Firmenich-PostNL and an individual member of the MPCC.