After the AIGCP confirmed last month that no WorldTour teams would race the Worlds TTT in an attempt to boycott the UCI and their “abuse of power”, Cyclingnews has reported eight top tier teams will race in Qatar.

The incentive to ride decreases, as the UCI points on offer for winning (200) have been removed. This will allow some teams to opt out, as some teams would potentially have only ridden to try and secure points to allow them to continue at WorldTour level.

The UCI, who don’t usually fund teams getting all of their time trial equipment to the Worlds, are believed to be giving teams €2,000 to help ease costs of getting to the Middle East.