2010 Tour Teams?

by John.. on Dec 4, 2009 11:40 PM EST

Cyclingnews has a short article on the 2010 Tour and how it will be difficult to get an invitation to the tour. The article quotes Christian Prudhomme stating new teams like Radio Shack, Sky, and the new line-up at BMC making it a difficult decision to choose among qualified teams.

What confused me was the discussion of the ProTour. The article says that there are 16 teams guaranteed an entry into the tour because of the ProTour. It then says:

Squads not given an automatic berth include Radio Shack, Team Sky, BMC Racing, Vacansoleil, Saur Sojasun, Katyusha, Garmin-Transitions, Cervélo and Skil-Shimano.

I don't understand why Radio Shack, Sky, Katyusha, and Garmin are not guaranteed entry into the Tour if they are in the ProTour. Even if only the top 16 teams from the previous year are guaranteed entry into the Tour, Katyusha ended the year 10th and Garmin 11th in the team rankings.

In the article Prudhomme indicates they will invite 20 to 22 teams. If anyone can shed some light on the automatic entries that would be helpful - of course, helpful to begin the speculation of who will get invited to the Tour and who will not.

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see

http://www.cyclingfans.com/node/554

by lucybears on Dec 5, 2009 3:04 AM EST reply actions

Also see

http://www.podiumcafe.com/2009/11/1/1110197/tour-de-france-2010-who-gets-the

by tedvdw on Dec 5, 2009 5:48 AM EST reply actions

I'm confused also....

From what I understand there were 18 Pro Tour teams when an agreement was made in September of 2008 that all 18 would be guaranteed entry to the Tour de France for the next 4 years. Since then, Gerolsteiner and Credit Agricole have folded, which leaves 16 teams guaranteed a place. Am I right so far?

However, Fuji-Servetto were one of thos 18 teams at the time, but they weren’t in the Tour in 2009. Does this mean that they’re not guaranteed entry in 2010? I don’t understand…..

http://www.irishpeloton.com/

by irishpeloton on Dec 5, 2009 8:40 AM EST reply actions

They were banned due Ricco and Piepoli

by Frinking on Dec 5, 2009 5:50 PM EST up reply actions

So are they gonna be back next year the way Astana were back after 2007? Is that the UCI's policy? 1 year off for a doping violation?

http://www.irishpeloton.com/

by irishpeloton on Dec 6, 2009 6:03 AM EST up reply actions

Nothing to do with UCI (historic calendar)

that looks like the pattern.

by Monty. on Dec 6, 2009 6:05 AM EST up reply actions

Sorry, I meant to say ASO, not UCI

http://www.irishpeloton.com/

by irishpeloton on Dec 6, 2009 8:35 AM EST up reply actions

The Giro wanted to ban them too

but they got rulings in their favour from CAS. I forget the exact wording, but the Tour organisers said something like “they brought shame on the race, so we don’t want them this year” which CAS ruled was OK, but the Giro people just said “we don’t want them” which wasn’t. That’s why Vacansoleil got bounced at the last minute from MSR.

by Monty. on Dec 6, 2009 6:05 AM EST up reply actions