Today the UCI has announced the first list of WorldTour teams for the 2017 season. 17 of the expected teams have made the cut but the application of the TJ Sport team which is currently known as Lampre-Merida, is still under review.

For months, there has been a lot of discussion about the WorldTour licenses for the 2017 season. With the plans to reduce the number of teams to 17 and 18 teams applying for a position in the elite division, a fierce battle for WorldTour points ensued, with Bora-hansgrohe, Bahrain-Merida and Dimension Data set to fight for the 17th and final spot behind the 16 best of the existing WorldTour teams.

With the decision to extend the number of licenses from 17 to 18, the drama has disappeared and today the UCI officially awarded the licenses to 17 of the teams that have applied. As expected, 15 of the 16 existing WorldTour teams have made the cut and the new teams Bahrain-Merida and Bora-hansgrohe have also been given the nod.

The surprise is the fact that the application of TJ Sport – the team known as Lampre-Merida which will be based in China in 2017 – is still under review. The UCI have said nothing about the reason for their omission from the list but history shows that one or more teams often miss out in the first round of license approvals due to small administrative errors.

The UCI also issued the list of the Pro Continental teams for 2017. The list includes the new team Aqua Blue Sport from Ireland and Cycling Academy, Manzana Postobon, Veranda’s Willems and WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect (the current Wallonie-Bruxelles team) which will all make the jump from the continental level. Furthermore, Bardiani, Caja Rural, CCC Sprandi, Cofidis, Delko Marseille, Direct Energie, Fortuneo-Vital Concept, Gazprom-Rusvelo, Nippo-Vini Fantini, Roompot, Sport Vlaanderen (the current Topsport Vlaanderen team), Novo Nordisk, Unitedhealthcare, Wanty-Groupe Goert and Wilier Triestina will all continue in the pro continental division.

Androni Giocattoli and Verva ActiveJet that both rode as pro continental teams in 2016, have not been a license and their application is still under review. No official information about the reason has been given.

The Soul Brasil team which is currently known as Funvic have seen their registration procedure get suspended. The team recently had their third positive doping test within a period of three months and face a provisional suspension.

UCI President Brian Cookson said: “This is an exciting time and I am really looking forward to the arrival of new partners on the 2017 UCI WorldTour. The confidence shown by both new and existing sponsors confirms the growing interest in men’s professional road cycling’s major competition. With new teams and a global calendar enhanced with new races, the forthcoming season promises to be more exciting than ever.”

For those teams still under review, the UCI will make an announcement in due course.

WorldTour teams

- AG2R LA MONDIALE (ALM – FRA)
- ASTANA PRO TEAM (AST – KAZ)
- BMC RACING TEAM (BMC – USA)
- BORA – HANSGROHE (BOH – GER)
- CANNONDALE DRAPAC PRO CYCLING TEAM (CDT – USA)
- TEAM DIMENSION DATA (DDD – RSA)
- QUICK - STEP FLOORS (QST – BEL)
- FDJ (FDJ – FRA)
- LOTTO SOUDAL (LTS – BEL)
- MOVISTAR TEAM (MOV – ESP)
- ORICA – BIKEEXCHANGE (OBE – AUS)
- BAHRAIN-MERIDA (TBM – BRN)
- TEAM KATUSHA ALPECIN (KAT – SUI)
- TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO (TLJ – NED)
- TEAM SKY (SKY – GBR)
- TEAM SUNWEB (SUN – GER)
- TREK SEGAFREDO (TFS – USA)

Pro Continental teams

- AQUA BLUE SPORT (ABS – IRL)
- BARDIANI CSF (BAR – ITA)
- CAJA RURAL – SEGUROS RGA (CJR – ESP)
- CCC SPRANDI POLKOWICE (CCC – POL)
- COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS (COF – FRA)
- DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE KTM (DMP – FRA)
- DIRECT ENERGIE (DEN – FRA)
- FORTUNEO – VITAL CONCEPT (FVC – FRA)
- GAZPROM – RUSVELO (GAZ – RUS)
- ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY (ICA – ISR)
- MANZANA POSTOBON (MZN – COL)
- NIPPO – VINI FANTINI (NIP – ITA)
- ROOMPOT – NEDERLANDSE LOTERIJ (RNL – NED)
- SPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE (SVB – BEL)
- TEAM NOVO NORDISK (TNN – USA)
- UNITEDHEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL CYCLING TEAM (UHC – USA)
- VERANDA'S WILLEMS CRELAN (VWC – BEL)
- WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT (WGG – BEL)
- WB VERANCLASSIC AQUA PROTECT (WVA – BEL)
- WILIER TRIESTINA (WIL – ITA)