A couple days ago the UCI helpfully announced that seven new teams had been invited to join the Pro Tour. I spent about an hour trying to find the remaining nine, starting (foolishly) with the UCI Pro Tour website, to no avail. But Cycling News has come through with the final list, including two last inclusions, bringing the total to 18:
- AG2R - La Mondiale (Fra)
- Astana (Kaz)
- BBox Bouygues Telecom (Fra)
- Caisse d'Epargne (Spa)
- Cofidis (Fra)
- Euskaltel-Euskadi (Spa)
- Française des Jeux (Fra)
- Garmin-Slipstream (USA)
- Katyusha (Rus)
- Lampre-N.G.C. (Ita)
- Liquigas (Ita)
- Team Milram (Ger)
- Quick Step (Bel)
- Rabobank (Ned)
- Fuji-Servetto (Spa)
- Saxo Bank - IT Factory (Den)
- Silence-Lotto (Bel)
- Team Columbia (USA)
No real surprises here. Credit Ag and Gerolsteiner are gone. CSC is Saxo; Saunier Duval is Fuji; Katyusha and Garmin are newcomers. Wasn't 18 the number several of us were suggesting about three years ago, when Pat McQuaid went nuclear on the grand tours and added Astana and Barloworld?