The UCI have announced that they expect to announce the new WorldTour teams in the first half of December. IAM are expected to join the elite division while the future of Astana is still uncertain.

In the first half of December, the International Cycling Union (UCI) will announce the names of the 2015 WorldTour teams. A spokesman has told cyclingnews.com that an announcement is likely to be made between December 8 and 10. Last year the UCI confirmed the successful registration of nine teams already on November 6 while the remaining teams followed in the next weeks. This time the UCI probably plans to announce all teams at the same time.

The IAM team is likely to be the new team on the block. The Swiss pro continental team is expected to take the spot that has been left vacant by the Cannondale team which has merged with Garmin-Sharp.

The biggest question mark is the Astana team. The squad of Tour de France winner Vincenzo Nibali has had two doping cases in 2014 - the Iglinskiy brothers Maxim and Valentin - while their continental team has had three cases.

Nibali's team manager Alexander Vinokourov attended a hearing on Nobember 6 where he answered questions regarding the anti-doping plicy of the teams. He has made it clear that he expect Astana to continue in the elite division despite the many doping cases.