The Professional Cycling Council (PCC) met yesterday in Montreux, Switzerland. This was the first meeting of the PCC in its new composition including stakeholders of women's professional road cycling.
The decision to include representatives from the sector was taken by the UCI Management Committee in August 2023 with the aim of supporting the professionalisation and development of women's road cycling. Until then, only those involved in men's professional road cycling (riders, teams and organisers) sat on the PCC.
The representatives of women's road cycling on the PCC are as follows:
for CPA (Cyclistes Professionnels Associés – the organisation representing professional cyclists) Women, Ms Alessandra Cappellotto (Director of CPA Women); alternate member: Ms Elisa Dalla Valle;
for UNIO (the organisation representing women's road teams), Mr Stephen Delcourt (President of UNIO and Manager of the UCI Women's WorldTeam FDJ - Suez) and Ms Esra Tromp (member of the UNIO Management Committee and Manager of the UCI Women's Continental Team EF Education - Cannondale); alternate member: Mr Sebastián Unzué Gravalos (member of the UNIO Management Committee and Manager of the UCI Women's WorldTeam Movistar Team);
for the AIOCC (Association Internationale des Organisateurs de Courses Cyclistes), representing the organisers of UCI Women's WorldTour events: Ms Sonia Martinez (AIOCC Deputy Secretary and representative of the Vuelta a Burgos Feminas) and Mr Wim Van Herreweghe (AIOCC Vice-President and representative of the Ronde van Vlaanderen – Tour des Flandres); alternate member: Mr Yannick Talabardon (Deputy Treasurer of the AIOCC and representative of La Flèche Wallonne Féminine);
for the UCI Athletes' Commission, representing female riders: Ms Ruth Edwards (member of the UCI Women’s WorldTeam Human Powered Health, elected by her peers for the 2021-2025 period).
A number of important issues concerning both men's and women's professional road cycling were discussed at this historic meeting.
On the financial front, in an extension of the reform of the organisation of professional road cycling in 2018, the principle of implementing a budget cap for teams was approved. This aims to preserve sporting fairness by avoiding excessive disparities between teams in terms of budget. A working group will be set up rapidly to present measures to the UCI Management Committee with a view to their application from the next renewal of teams’ UCI Women's WorldTour and UCI WorldTour licences (for the 2026 season).
With regard to the regulations, significant progress has been made in modifying the rules governing the registration and transfer of riders with the aim of promoting contractual stability. The new rules should apply from June 2024 for the 2025 season. The aim is to modernise the existing rules to create greater transparency, and to align the rules for all professional teams by promoting contractual stability and ensuring greater clarity and consistency in all situations involving the early termination of contracts. In addition, the introduction of a second division of women's professional teams (UCI Women's ProTeams) has been confirmed for 2025. Rules will be proposed at the next PCC meeting.
As far as the calendar procedure is concerned, the preparatory work for the approval of the 2025 calendar has begun, so that it can be approved at the next meeting of the PPC, scheduled for June.
In addition, the procedure and deadlines for the next renewal of registration for events on the UCI WorldTour and UCI Women's WorldTour calendars, for the period 2026-2028, have been approved. The relevant regulations will be presented at the next meeting of the PCC with a view to subsequent ratification by the UCI Management Committee. Evaluation criteria (sporting interest, strategic positioning, commercial elements, compliance with organisational rules) and weightings will be applied in order to redefine and rationalise the calendars of professional road cycling's flagship series.
Moreover, the key figures for the registration process of UCI professional teams (UCI Women's WorldTeams, UCI WorldTeams and UCI ProTeams) for the 2024 season were presented by the external auditor appointed by the UCI, PwC.
Lastly, the members of the PCC were pleased to learn of the progress made regarding SafeR (SafeRoadcycling), the independent body that includes all cycling’s stakeholders and is designed to improve the safety of men's and women's competitions on the UCI Road International Calendar.
The rich and productive discussions between the members of the PCC bear witness to the commitment of the stakeholders to the development of men's and women's professional road cycling, and to their good collaboration.