UCI ProTour
2007 UCI ProTour
Sport	Road bicycle racing
Founded	2005
No. of teams	20
Country(ies)	Europe
Most recent champion(s)	Alejandro Valverde Team CSC Spain

The UCI ProTour is a competition under the International Cycling Union (UCI). Created by Hein Verbruggen, former president of the UCI, it comprises a series of road bicycle races and a number of 'ProTour' cycling teams, each of whom are required to compete in every round of the competition. This system was created for 2005 and in many ways replaces the UCI Road World Cup series, which ended at the end of the 2004 season (although the World Cup did not include any stage races). Image File history File links Soccerball_current_event. ... The 2007 UCI ProTour is the third year of the UCI ProTour system. ... Image File history File links UCI_Pro_Tour. ... Bicycle racers at the 2005 Rund um den Henninger-Turm in Germany Road bicycle racing is a popular bicycle racing sport held on roads (following the geography of the area), using racing bicycles. ... // Athletics Mens 100 metres - Asafa Powell of Jamaica sets a new world record of 9. ... Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (born April 25, 1980 in Las Lumbreras, Murcia) is a Spanish cyclist. ... Riders from Team CSC in Danmark Rundt, August 2006. ... Entrance of UCI headquarter at Aigle (Switzerland) Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) is a professional cycling union that oversees cycling events in the international community. ... Bicycle racers at the 2005 Rund um den Henninger-Turm in Germany Road bicycle racing is a popular bicycle racing sport held on roads (following the geography of the area), using racing bicycles. ... A cycling team is a group of cyclists who join a team or are acquired and train together to compete in bicycle races of any kind, whether they are recreational or professional. ... The 2005 ProTour was the first year of the newly-introduced UCI ProTour system, in which the ProTour teams are guaranteed, and obliged to, participate in the series of ProTour races. ... The UCI Road World Cup was a season-long road bicycle racing competition comprised to ten one-day events. ... A stage in road bicycle racing is a part of a multi-day event, such as the Tour de France or the Giro dItalia. ...

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 Road World Cup races, such as Paris-Roubaix, Ronde van Vlaanderen and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. From 2008 the South Australian Tour Down Under will become the first ProTour to be held outside of Continental Europe and within the Southern Hemisphere. In road bicycle racing, a Grand Tour refers to one of the three major European professional cycling stage races: Tour de France - Tour of France Giro dItalia - Tour of Italy Vuelta a España - Tour of Spain Collectively they are termed the Grand Tours, and all three are similar... For other uses, see Tour de France (disambiguation). ... The Giro dItalia, also simply known as the Giro, is a long distance road bicycle racing stage race for professional cyclists held over three weeks in May or early June in and around Italy. ... The Vuelta a España bicycle race is one of the three Grand Tours of Europe. ... Begun in 1896, Paris-Roubaix, third of the ten UCI World Cup races, has become the most famous single-day bicycle road race. ... The Tour of Flanders (Dutch: Ronde van Vlaanderen) is a road cycling race held in Flanders, Belgium. ... Liège-Bastogne-Liège, often called La Doyenne (the oldest woman), is one of the five Monuments of the European professional road cycling calendar, and the oldest. ... Motto: United for the Common Wealth Other Australian states and territories Capital Adelaide Governor Marjorie Jackson-Nelson Premier Mike Rann (ALP) Area 1,043,514 km² (4th)  - Land 983,482 km²  - Water 60,032 km² (5. ... The Tour Down Under is a cycling race held in Adelaide, South Australia, and the surrounding area. ... southern hemisphere highlighted in yellow (Antarctica not depicted). ...

Licensing

The ProTour licences are given to 20 teams, to which sponsors must commit 4 years of sponsorship. The exception is the Phonak team, which was given only a two-year licence due to previous doping allegations. Team Phonak in a Team time trial event at the Giro del Mediterraneo. ...

After 2005, the Fassa Bortolo and Domina Vacanze teams folded and the vacant places were given to AG2R Prévoyance and Team Milram respectively. Following the 2006 season the designated principal sponsor for the Phonak Hearing Systems team, iShares, pulled its support as a results of the Floyd Landis doping scandal and the team was disbanded. The Unibet.com Cycling Team received Phonak's ProTour license, and the Swiss/Kazakh-based Astana Team received the license previously owned by Manolo Saiz and his Liberty Seguros-Würth. 2005 Rund um den Henninger Turm Fassa Bortolo (2000-2005) was a professional road bicycle racing team founded in 2000 and lead by Giancarlo Ferretti. ... Domina Vacanze is a professional road bicycle racing team from Italy. ... AG2R Prévoyance (UCI Team Code: A2R) are a French cycling team which did not take part in the inaugural UCI ProTour 2005, having to make do with being invited to compete in French races, such as Paris-Nice, Paris-Roubaix or the Tour de France. ... Team Milram is a professional cycling team participating in the 2006 edition of the UCI ProTour race series, taking over the ProTour licens of the Domina Vacanze team. ... Team Phonak in a Team time trial event at the Giro del Mediterraneo. ... iShares is the brand name of the exchange-traded fund (ETF) family pioneered by Barclays Global Investors. ... Floyd Landis (born October 14, 1975) is an American cyclist. ... MrBookmaker. ... The Astana Team (UCI Team Code: AST), is a professional road bicycle racing team sponsored by the Astana group, a coalition of state-owned companies from Kazakhstan - including Air Astana - named after its capital. ... Manolo Saiz is the manager of the Spanish professional road bicycle racing team Liberty Seguros-Würth team, formerly known as team ONCE. Manolo Saiz (on the far side) of the Liberty Seguros-Würth team riding in the team car. ... The Liberty Seguros-Würth cycling team is sponsored by Liberty Seguros, an insurance company under the wing of Liberty Mutual insurance. ...

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 Road World Cup series which ran until 2004. Year 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The UCI Road World Cup was a season-long road bicycle racing competition comprised to ten one-day events. ...

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: Formula One - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ...

• The Grand Tours were not part of the UCI Road 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. In road bicycle racing, a Grand Tour refers to one of the three major European professional cycling stage races: Tour de France - Tour of France Giro dItalia - Tour of Italy Vuelta a España - Tour of Spain Collectively they are termed the Grand Tours, and all three are similar...

The ProTour has been criticized for not having a system in place for a timely upgrade and downgrade of teams from/to the lower-tier UCI Continental Circuits. The UCI Contintental Circuits are road cycle racing competitions under the auspices of the International Cycling Union (UCI). ...

UCI versus Grand tour organisers

Originally, UCI and the organisers of the Grand Tour had been unable to come to terms on the 2006 UCI ProTour, with the result that the status of both the Grand Tours and some of the other races organised by the organisations behind the Grand Tours are unclear. A deal was finally reached on April 7. See the main article 2006 UCI ProTour for a list of races. April 7 is the 97th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (98th in leap years). ... The 2006 ProTour is the second year of the UCI ProTour system, in which the ProTour teams are guaranteed, and obliged to, participate in the series of ProTour races. ...

For the 2007 UCI ProTour season, the ASO, RCS and Unipublic, organisers of the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana respectively, remain at odds with each other. The primary reason is that grand tour organisers would like to have more freedom to invite popular national teams (e.g., UCI Professional Continental teams) and are attempting to exclude some UCI ProTour teams such as Unibet.com. The teams' organisation, the International Professional Cycling Teams (IPCT), has demanded a meeting between the UCI and the Grand Tour organisers to settle the dispute. MrBookmaker. ... The IPCT (International Professional Cycling Teams) was created in 2006 by 17 of the 20 UCI ProTour teams. ...

List of current UCI ProTour teams

Code	Official Team Name	Country	Website
AGR	AG2R Prévoyance	France	ag2r-cyclisme.com
AST	Astana Team	Switzerland	team-astana.eu
BTL	Bouygues Télécom	France	equipebouyguestelecom.fr
GCE	Caisse d'Epargne	Spain	cyclisme-caisse-epargne.fr
COF	Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone	France	equipe-cofidis.com
C.A	Crédit Agricole	France	credit-agricole.fr
CSC	Team CSC	Denmark	team-csc.com
DSC	Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	United States	team.discovery.com
EUS	Euskaltel-Euskadi	Spain	fundacioneuskadi.com
FDJ	Française des Jeux	France	fdjeux.com
GST	Gerolsteiner	Germany	team-gerolsteiner.de
LAM	Lampre-Fondital	Italy	lampre-fondital.com
LIQ	Liquigas	Italy	teamliquigas.it
MRM	Team Milram	Italy	team-milram.de
PRL	Predictor-Lotto	Belgium	davitamon-lotto.com
QSI	Quick Step-Innergetic	Belgium	qsi-cycling.com
RAB	Rabobank	Netherlands	rabobank.nl (Dutch)
SDV	Saunier Duval-Prodir	Spain	saunierduvalteam.com
TMO	T-Mobile Team	Germany	t-mobile-team.com
UNI	Unibet.com Cycling Team	Sweden	unibetcycling.com

AG2R Prévoyance (UCI Team Code: A2R) are a French cycling team which did not take part in the inaugural UCI ProTour 2005, having to make do with being invited to compete in French races, such as Paris-Nice, Paris-Roubaix or the Tour de France. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... The Astana Team (UCI Team Code: AST), is a professional road bicycle racing team sponsored by the Astana group, a coalition of state-owned companies from Kazakhstan - including Air Astana - named after its capital. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Switzerland. ... Bouygues Télécom (UCI Team Code: BTL) is a professional road bicycle racing team that competes on the UCI ProTour. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... The Illes Balears team car, with Pinarello Opera bikes on top, with Campagnolo parts. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Spain. ... Cofidis is a French professional road bicycle racing team sponsored by the insurance company Cofidis. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Crédit Agricole is the main sponsor of a French professional cycling team managed by Roger Legeay. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Riders from Team CSC in Danmark Rundt, August 2006. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Denmark. ... Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team (UCI Team Code: DSC) is a US-based professional road bicycle racing team. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Euskaltel-Euskadi is a professional road bicycle racing team. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Spain. ... La Française des Jeux is a French cycling team, sponsored by a French company that sells gambling games. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Rund um den Henninger-Turm (2005) Team Gerolsteiner (UCI Team Code: GST) is a German road bicycle racing team in the UCI ProTour. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Germany. ... Lampre-Fondital is an Italian road bicycle racing team competing in the UCI ProTour in 2006. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Italy. ... Team Liquigas (UCI Team Code: LIQ) is an Italian professional road bicycle racing team in the UCI ProTour. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Italy. ... Team Milram is a professional cycling team participating in the 2006 edition of the UCI ProTour race series, taking over the ProTour licens of the Domina Vacanze team. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Italy. ... Predictor-Lotto (formerly Davitamon-Lotto for 2005-2006) (UCI Team Code: DVL) is a Belgian professional cycling team sponsored by the Belgian lottery and Predictor, previously Davitamon (both products of pharmaceutical company Omega Pharma). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Belgium_(civil). ... “Quick Step” redirects here. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Belgium_(civil). ... The Rabobank team during the 2005 Rund um den Henninger Turm race. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Netherlands. ... Saunier Duval-Prodir rider David Millar preparing for stage 11 of the 2006 Tour de France Saunier Duval-Prodir Team (UCI Team Code: SDV) is a Spanish road bicycle racing team, located in Cantabria, which is part of the UCI ProTour. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Spain. ... Presentation of the 2006 team in Mallorca. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Germany. ... MrBookmaker. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Sweden. ...

ProTour Results

See UCI ProTour 2007 for reviews, points and results for the 2007 season.

See UCI ProTour 2006 for reviews, points and results for the 2006 season.

See UCI ProTour 2005 for reviews, points and results for the 2005 season.

Year	Top Ranked Individual	Top Ranked Team	Top Ranked Nation
2007	To Be Determined	Team CSC	To Be Determined
2006	Alejandro Valverde Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears	Team CSC	Spain
2005	Danilo Di Luca Liquigas-Bianchi	Team CSC	Italy

The 2007 UCI ProTour is the third year of the UCI ProTour system. ... The 2006 ProTour is the second year of the UCI ProTour system, in which the ProTour teams are guaranteed, and obliged to, participate in the series of ProTour races. ... The 2005 ProTour was the first year of the newly-introduced UCI ProTour system, in which the ProTour teams are guaranteed, and obliged to, participate in the series of ProTour races. ... The 2007 UCI ProTour is the third year of the UCI ProTour system. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Denmark. ... Riders from Team CSC in Danmark Rundt, August 2006. ... The 2006 ProTour is the second year of the UCI ProTour system, in which the ProTour teams are guaranteed, and obliged to, participate in the series of ProTour races. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Spain. ... Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (born April 25, 1980 in Las Lumbreras, Murcia) is a Spanish cyclist. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Spain. ... The Illes Balears team car, with Pinarello Opera bikes on top, with Campagnolo parts. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Denmark. ... Riders from Team CSC in Danmark Rundt, August 2006. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Spain. ... See also: UCI ProTour // 2005 ProTour Results 2005 ProTour Points System 2005 ProTour Individual Rankings 2005 ProTour Team Rankings 2005 ProTour Nation Rankings External Links Official Website ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Italy. ... Danilo Di Luca (born January 2, 1976) is an Italian professional road racing cyclist. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Italy. ... Team Liquigas (UCI Team Code: LIQ) is an Italian professional road bicycle racing team in the UCI ProTour. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Denmark. ... Riders from Team CSC in Danmark Rundt, August 2006. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Italy. ...

See also

• Partial listing of major road races in 2005
• Union Cycliste International (UCI)
• List of UCI ProTour records

This is a list of all the road bicycle races of 2005. ... Entrance of UCI headquarter at Aigle (Switzerland) Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) is a professional cycling union that oversees cycling events in the international community. ... This is a list of records of the UCI ProTour cycling competition. ...

External links

• Official UCI ProTour website
• Official Union Cycliste Internationale website
• www.cyclingnews.com coverage of ProTour collapse, a 1-April joke