UCI to create ProTeam category for women's cycling in 2025

The women's peloton will see a ProTeam category created in 2025. Initially, this creation was predicted for the year of 2026, but with the substantial growth within the sport, the governing body is now preparing to speed up the process and make it happen one year earlier.

In a big press release issued by the UCI, the focus was on the professionalization of women's cycling as well to changes to help a fair and safe sport. One of them stated the following: "In addition, the UCI Management Committee approved the creation of a second division of women's professional teams. This means that UCI ProTeams for women will appear from 2025."

This will essentially match men's cycling in that there are three professional categories in World Tour, ProTeam and Continental. Women's cycling current has only Women's World Tour and Continental, but this change will help more teams be able to reach a completely professional level.

"The introduction of this division, positioned between the existing UCI Women's WorldTeams (1st division) and UCI Women's Continental Teams (to become 3rd division), was initially scheduled for the 2026 season. However, in view of the current boom in women's cycling, and following consultation with stakeholders, the decision was taken to bring forward the launch by one year. This new initiative will also enable a greater number of female riders to benefit from a professional framework."