UCI tries to stop Uzbekistan's Tashkent City team from participating in the Women's WorldTour after nationals scandal
Cycling
As reported by El Sterrato, the UCI is trying to leave the Tashkent City Women team uninvited to the 2024 Women's WorldTour. Below we explain the grotesque situation generated by the Uzbek team.
On October 19, the UCI made official the list of the 16 teams that submitted the documentation to register for next season's Women's WorldTour. These teams are: AG Insurance Soudal Quick Step, Canyon Sram Racing, Ceratizit WNT, FDJ Suez, Fenix Deceuninck, Human Powered Health, Lidl Trek, Team Jayco Alula, Movistar Team, Roland (formerly Israel Premier Tech Roland), Team SDM Firmenich, Blanco Pro Cycling Women team (the owner of the current Jumbo Visma Women), Team SD Worx, UAE Team ADQ, Uno-X Mobility and Laboral Kutxa.
Laboral Kutxa, which did not obtain the place on the road, could access it if the documentation of other teams does not meet the established requirements.
What has caught the eye, however, is the revelation that the UCI is taking a hard look at the calendar for the 2023 season. In an unprecedented twist, the UCI has decided that only the 2023 ranking will be taken into account when awarding invitations to the 2024 Women's WorldTour races. The first invitation has been awarded to Team Cofidis, which has had an exceptional year.
The second and final invitation is in question and this is where the controversy with Tashkent City Women arises. The Uzbek team has been criticized for alleged irregularities. A precedent has been highlighted in which the results of their May National Championships were annulled when it was discovered that they had not been held and that the results were fabricated. On that occasion, the UCI issued no sanction and seemed to overlook the situation. However, it is now getting serious about reviewing its participation in the Women's WorldTour 2024.
As part of this revision, the UCI has removed several category 1.2 races from the calendar with the aim of reducing the score required for Tashkent City Women to lose its invitation to the Tour de France, La Vuelta Femenina, El Giro Donne, Paris-Roubaix and other WorldTour events. In addition, Uzbekistan is required to have at least two women competing at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
claps 1visitors 1
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling forRafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
Loading
UCI debe estar haciendo muchos números para sacar el RK Mundial 2023 por equipos que otorga las licencias World Tour. Y para echar a Tashkent City de las carreras del máximo nivel. Así quedaría la cosa (por ahora): elsterrato.com/ranking-mundia… #WTWRace
Write a comment