Now that PCC voted for extra Grand Tour wildcards, will UCI verify the exception to rules? Final verdict on Monday!

There is only a bit more than a month left until the Grande Partenza of Giro d'Italia, this year in Albania. Yet we still don't know which ProTeams will be at the start. Besides Israel - Premier Tech with its automatic invitation, there are still four serious candidates for the three available wildcards.

And since the situation is similar also over at the Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana, the request has been submitted by race organizers to allow for an extra wild card to be handed out this season, something that understandably wasn't met with appreciation of WorldTour teams.

The matter is more than pending and in order to get closer to final verdict, UCI's Professional Cycling Council (PCC) met on Wednesday to vote on whether this joint request should be granted. Most of the council members voted in favor. Next Monday, the UCI Management Committee will decide whether they will actually ratify the request.

The vote in the PCC was initiated by the AIOCC, the association of race organizers. Remarkably enough, the subject was supported by the AIGCP, the association of professional teams. This while the WorldTeams were jointly against the idea of extra wildcards.

It is said that the objections of the supporters were ignored by the AIGCP voting party. In the vote, twelve interest groups (six of which were UCI members) were allowed to choose whether or not to grant an extra wildcard to the organizations of major tours.

A majority of the PCC voted in favor. The UCI also announced in a press release that in addition to the AIOCC and AIGCP, the riders' representatives will also put this topic on the agenda. Next Monday, the UCI Management Committee (the highest body in cycling) will announce whether the request from the PCC will actually go ahead.