When the UCI announced the birth of women's ProTeams starting in 2025, perhaps the issue was handled too hastily by the same major international cycling body towards the continental teams (the opening was the GP Liberazione, photo Spalletta). By their own statement, through the president Lappartient, the intention is to guarantee greater professionalism and economic security to an ever-increasing number of athletes, thus avoiding new “Zaaf Cycling cases”.
At first This innovation should have taken place in 2026, but bringing forward a similar operation by a year may not be a good thing for everyone.It is also worth remembering that, unlike in men's cycling, there are only two team divisions in women's cycling. While the WorldTours have almost identical organizations among themselves (and among the men), in the Continental teams there are significant disparities in the structures between the teams themselves.A concrete example of different continental teams are teams like AG Insurance-Soudal Quick-Step, Ceratizit-WNT e Laboral Kutxa Euskadi who have applied to become WorldTour teams next season (the first two should become so) thanks to considerable budgets
Many questions, few answers
But would other teams be able to make the leap to the professional ranks desired by the UCI in just twelve months? Looking at our own country, would the Italian continental teams be ready to acquire the license for the higher category? Or, has a new dedicated calendar been devised? And the questions could go on and on.
It is not known whether the UCI conducted a general survey among the continental teams to find out their opinion before taking this decision., but it seems that a meeting is scheduled for January to better explain (for the first time) everything. In the meantime, we wanted to hear the opinions of the Italian team managers who had a Pavlovian reflex as soon as we brought the topic to their attention.Today we start with Lucio Rigato, Walter Zini, and Giovanni Fidanza.
Sponda Top Girls
The impression, not so unexpected, of general discontent is tangible. Lucio Rigato, head of the Top Girls Fassa Bortolo, is reportedly evaluating the possibility of closing at the end of 2024 and it becomes a raging river when we delve into the story.
«Mine was a joke made in a certain context – explains the Treviso team manager – and I don't feel like quitting, but if the UCI changes things then I have to think about it seriously because I'll almost be forced to.If I have to spend a certain budget without having certainties about the calendar, invitations and regulations for us continental teams, then I'm really done. I don't agree with the creation of the ProTeams, which was conceived without considering us and without communicating anything to us. I suppose there will be minimum economic requirements and I heard that a budget of one million two hundred thousand euros might be needed, but here in Italy it's already difficult to find just two hundred thousand.Even though it's growing rapidly, women's cycling has made strides in recent years that are too big and premature for its structure, but the UCI doesn't realize this. For me, they're only looking after their own interests.
«If they copy throughout the male system – continues Rigato in his analysis – for example, we at Giro Women's cycling we will no longer be able to participateAlready today, we're seeing unequal treatment from some major race organizers between WorldTour and continental teams. We have to hope they accept our request and then pay for our food and accommodation. The continentals can't kill them. They're the youth teams' training grounds for the strongest teams. Otherwise, what's the point of having so many rookies, sophomores, and juniors if they can't shine on the continental teams? I'd hope for some help from our federation. Maybe I'm too old for certain things to be okay. I'm 70 years old with fifty years of experience, and honestly, I'm not very confident about the future in general."
Seen from BePink
The mood doesn't change much when calling into question Walter Zini, team manager of the BePink-Gold, worried that the continental business could disappear or be drastically reduced. The Milanese manager certainly sees some aspects that should have changed even before, and others he can already imagine.
«Seeing it like this – explains Zini – I fear that within 4-5 years there could be an implosion caused by the lack of a proper generational turnoverAlso because, until now, there has never been a regulation on the value of an athlete's registration when they move from continental teams to a WorldTour team. And that revenue was eligible for reinvestment. However, I know they'll make this rule official starting in 2024. And let's hope they change the points rule, because at the moment they follow the athletesNow they've always forced us to start from scratch every time the girl with the highest score leaves. Anyway, we'll see if they'll think about a broader calendar for continental or U23 teams and at the same time participation restrictions for WorldTour teams in some races».
The BePink coach hypothesizes that, based on the parameters required by the UCI, a minimum budget of seven hundred to eight hundred thousand euros could be needed, and that four to five ProTeams will be created. "The total must include guaranteed minimum wages, a larger staff, and additional resources. This is a situation that is currently becoming difficult to achieve in Italy. We could take inspiration from what Eneicat did, where Basilico went, who joined forces with Burgos-BH (male professional, ed.). But I don't think they'd be interested in a similar operation here."
The opinion of Isolmant
The first round of our survey stops with Giovanni Fidanza, team manager of the Isolmant-Premac-Vittoria, who hopes for a reform carried out with sense although he also complains about the lack of official communications from the UCI.
«We will have to understand what parameters they want to introduce – comments the father of Arianna and Martina employed by Ceratizit – but I hope they are feasible and that they don't exaggerate with us continentalsAt the very least, I hope they can make corrections along the way. The women's movement has grown a lot, but it still needs to consolidate properly, especially among the continental teams. That's why I think it was a reckless decision. Everything has to be appropriate for the girls we work with. The crux of the matter will be the calendars, with related invitations and regulations.
"This is certainly not good news for our sponsors," Fidanza concludes, "because it would mean they would no longer have the visibility they had before. It's true that we could work with juniors, but perhaps our investors might no longer be interested and would see it as a step backwards.Be careful, because if this reform doesn't help us make leaps forward, we'll quickly return to the situation of many years ago."
