"No questions asked" - Pinarello Q36.5 would pounce on World Tour opportunity as UCI licence decision looms for under-pressure teams
Cycling
Pinarello Q36.5 would snatch up a World Tour licence if it was offered to them today, but may have to wait until the 2029 season until that becomes a reality. Sitting 12th in the the team rankings after the first of the three-year relegation cycle, the Swiss team are in a great spot.
Buoyed by Tom Pidcock's strong form both at the end of the 2025 season and throughout 2026, the team have brought in a raft of reinforcements for next year, in a move that could not only help them retain their place but climb towards the top ten teams in cycling.
The Pro Team are heading into the third year of its ambitious push to join the World Tour. Initially fronted by the arrival of Pidcock, the team have brought in Giulio Ciccone, Mauro Schmid, Pavel Bittner and AJ August among others in their attempts to ramp up their UCI points haul.
Already an automatic invite to Grand Tours and UCI stage races, sports director Doug Ryder explained why the team would be up for jumping straight to World Tour should a licence become available.
Picnic PostNL and Jayco AlUla were the two top tier teams who missed the deadline to apply for their World Tour ticket next season. Jayco cited a bank guarantee issue but confirmed their intention to complete the process. Dutch team Picnic are in a slightly more precarious position.
Picnic PostNL
Would Pinarello choose to step up immediately?
The team were still finalising a technical partnership for 2027 at the end of last month but have also made moves for next season - including the signing of five riders over the past week. The UCI will publish its final list of registered teams on 8 December.
If either team were to not to attain the licence. In theory, it's possible that the licence could be offered to a Pro Team as the 18th World Tour team. Additionally, the UCI could not award a new licence and 17 World Tour teams would be confirmed for 2027.
Things are already in the green for Pinarello, but Ryder thinks that the team would see major advantages to asn immediate jump up to cycling's top tier.
“Look, if it was presented to us, we would sit down together as a management team and look at all the pros and cons," Ryder said on the Domestique Hotseat.
"I mean none of us wants anything to happen to them [Picnic PostNL] because we need teams and we need them as a team as well in the sport. But, should it be presented to us? Absolutely, would we take it. No questions asked. I don’t think we would turn it down."
Ryder discussed the possibility of the UCI not awarding a new licence for 2027 in the case that one becomes available, citing that organisers would then avail of additional wildcard picks.
Ryder on UCI licences
“But I think the UCI might potentially retain a licence until the next cycle. It's up to them if they wanted to do that, and that would also be fine.
"It gives the event organisers another wildcard team that they could choose to bring into their races, which is also good for the sport and good for the race organisers potentially."
Riding the World Tour would afford the Swiss team to confidently map out their schedule in advance, which could ironically provide financial savings despite the additional requirement of attending more races where a Pro Team could potentially pick and choose their wildcard participations.
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“For sure, it’s better to be in the World Tour. The stability, that pressure that comes off an annual performance target on your back. It gives you a better opportunity to plan. It actually even reduces operational costs in a team.
“You know that you’re guaranteed to be in these events, so that you can make better decisions without making potentially some ad hoc and last-minute decisions. It does help in recruitment, it does help in giving stability to riders. So it takes the pressure off mentally, operationally, and that's a good thing.”
Gavin QuinnCycling Journalist
Gavin Quinn is a cycling journalist and ultra-distance cyclist with a BA in Journalism from Dublin City University. Formerly the Press & Communications Officer for Cycling Ireland, Gavin has worked inside the national team at the World Championships and has reported for the Irish Mirror, Mirror UK, and The42.
His expertise is backed by elite-level access, having interviewed stars like Sam Bennett and Ben Healy, as well as immense personal endurance. In 2025, he completed a 12,000km solo cycle from Ireland to Vietnam, following a 4,600km tour across Europe. From the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix to the gradients of the Tourmalet, Gavin’s writing focuses on the "romance and brutality" of the sport. Having visited 50+ countries, he brings a global, cultural perspective to his coverage of the pro peloton for CyclingUpToDate.
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