The UCI announced another change to its regulations to start in 2026, and while it will impact all WorldTour teams, it will have far greater ramifications for Women’s WorldTour teams.
The rule will prohibit teams from skipping most of the top events – with only one allowable absence per year. Teams can also no longer opt out of the same event more than once in the three-year registration cycle that determines which teams are in the WorldTour.
An announcement came on the weekend of the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, where six of the 18 men’s WorldTour teams who participated in the Tour Down Under opted to skip the second round in Geelong. Five of the 15 Women’s WorldTour teams were absent in both the Women’s Tour Down Under and Cadel Evans races.
For the men, participation is mandatory for the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta a España along with the five Monuments (Milan-San Remo, Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and Il Lombardia)
The UCI will also prohibit more than four UCI WorldTeams from being absent from the same event.
For the women, the required races are the Vuelta España Femenina, Giro d’Italia Women and Tour de France Femmes, but the other participation rules also apply.
Most of the men’s teams only miss one or two WorldTour events per season, with the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, Eshborn-Frankfurt and the Tour of Guangxi the most frequently skipped by teams. EF Education-EasyPost, Intermarché-Wanty, Team Picnic-PostNl and Jayco-AlUla are the only teams to have competed in all of the WorldTour rounds for the past two years.
However, the women’s teams miss many more of the WorldTour calendar, with even powerful squads like Team SD Worx-Protime choosing not to travel to Australia for the Tour Down Under and Cadels Evans races. Seven of the Women’s WorldTour teams skipped the end-of-season rounds in China, the Tour of Chongming Island and the Tour of Guangxi.
Other mid-season races have seen numerous Women’s WorldTour teams absent including Itzulia Basque Country, Vuelta Burgos and Tour de Suisse.
Follow the impact of the rule change with Cyclingnews as we survey teams and race organisers for their opinion.
