UCI discussing possible change in Points system - "It will not be a complete revolution in the system because we need to keep a certain balance"

Although it's been in place for three years, in 2022 the UCI Points Ranking has taken up a life of it's own when it comes to the debate it has brought from within the peloton and fanbase. There will not be meaningful changes for the upcoming cycle, but UCI President David Lappartient admits there may be some tweaks.

“There are some discussions regarding the points scale because that’s always something that we can modify, I’m not sure that there is a perfect system," Lappartient said in a press conference during the World Championships. "What is the right level between races so that we can all different opinions. We tried to find the best system, but you have to win races and you will win points."

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Currently, Lotto Soudal and Israel - Premier Tech seem set to relegate to Pro Team level, whilst Alpecin-Deceuninck and Arkéa Samsic will be riding at World Tour level. The system takes into account the points acquired from the past three seasons - 2020 to 2022 - and will attribute 3-year licenses to the 18 teams who've scored the most points. From 2023 to 2025 - unless something goes wrong - these 18 teams will be the World Tour outfits, with another change set at the end of 2025.

A lot of discussion has been had however due to how the points are distributed, with many complaining about the advantage that exists with focusing on one-day races. With two teams set to relegate and several others at risk for several months, many voices also from within Movistar Team, Team BikeExchange - Jayco, EF Education-EasyPost and Cofidis have criticized the system, with calendar changes frequent in order to assure they could bring the points in as efficiently as possible.

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“They have to be in proportion and if you put too many points in the different stages then you have an imbalance. The points size of the stage races will be so high in comparison with the classics,” Lappartient argued. “We have to find where we put the limit. We agreed together with the teams, the organizers, and the riders to see if we can have a look to make some adjustments. There are some to be discussed but it will not be a complete revolution in the system because we need to keep a certain balance."

Lappartient stressed also that it is crucial for those changes to be implemented now, to ensure unanimity between all teams regarding the system, and avoid further disputes in the future: “The system has to be improved before the beginning of the three-year cycle. We can’t change the points scale in the middle. This is what we are working on now probably for January."

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“We wanted the system to be an open system. That’s not the DNA of our sport and that was clearly a red line to avoid a war with the organizers," he continued. "The compromise with the stakeholders was to have this system with a three-year ranking and to keep only the top 18 teams. That means that it could be the same as the existing ones or it could be two new ones. There is no reason to keep the existing teams if they are not as good as the others."

“Of course, that’s not exactly the North American system where you have the franchises, but that’s not what the stakeholders wanted in cycling, they wanted an open system. It’s part of the sport, we have to accept the sport system," Lappartient said.

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Currently, almost 1000 points separate Lotto Soudal (19th place) and Arkéa Samsic (18th place). However, as the two teams that have the most UCI points in 2022 outside of the Top18 get automatic invitation to all World Tour events, it changes little for the Belgian team - and TotalEnergies will fill in the other spot. Israel - Premier Tech however is behind TotalEnergies, and likely will only receive invitation for the monuments with certainty. 

“If you postpone the system for one year then you have the teams who want to join the WorldTour that will claim that we changed the rules at the last minute and this will be challenged. When you modify the system, you have to think about the consequences. Then you would have a system where Alpecin and Arkéa will challenge the UCI if we change the system," Lappartient concluded.

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