96% of the invitations from WorldTour race organisers in 2022 have been granted to MPCC member teams. One entity prevents the 100% from being reached: RCS Sport.
At the end of each season, the MPCC produces an infographic summarising the selection of invitations to events on the WorldTour calendar, in order to differentiate between those that were sent to MPCC member ProTeams and those that were not.
For many years, the MPCC has set itself the target of having all WorldTour race organisers give 100% invitations to MPCC teams. For the past four years, this percentage has remained above 90%, but the target has still not been reached in 2022.
Out of 162 wild cards, 156 were offered to teams that are members of our movement and 6 to teams that are not. These invitations concern UAE Tour, Strade Bianche, Tirreno Adriatico, Milano-Sanremo, Giro d’Italia and il Lombardia.
These events are run by RCS Sport, the only WorldTour organiser that does not consider membership of the MPCC, which voluntarily commits teams to stricter anti-doping regulations in order to improve the image of cycling, to be a prerequisite for participation in its events.
This is despite the fact that only two of the 17 teams in the ProTeam division are not members of the MPCC: Eolo-Kometa and Gazprom-Rusvelo, a structure that ceased its activity during the season.
The MPCC congratulates the 15 member ProTeams for their strong commitment to strengthening the credibility of our sport. 100% of the WorldTour invitations can only be allocated to teams that are members of our movement if all ProTeams join us or if all organisers make the granting of their invitations conditional on this membership. This year again, the two other major organisers of the WorldTour – A.S.O and Flanders Classic – have shown the way forward.
A week ago, the UCI unveiled a list of structures that have applied for a ProTeam licence in 2023. Bolton Equities Black Spoke, Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team, Team Corratec and Tudor Pro Cycling Team have applied for a licence that would allow them to be invited to WorldTour races, but these four teams are not currently members of the MPCC.
