Zaaf Cycling Team sees UCI license taken away: "Does not currently meet the requirements for registration as a UCI Women’s Continental team"

The long-running saga of the Zaaf Cycling Team has now taken another turn for the worse as the UCI announce that they have officially revoked the team's licence to compete.

"Since Zaaf Cycling Team does not currently meet the requirements for registration as a UCI Women’s Continental team, the team has been removed from the list of registered teams," an official spokesperson for the UCI told Cycling News.

In total, eight riders have recently quit the team, alleging unpaid salaries as their reasoning, most notably Audrey Cordon-Ragot, who now rides for the Human Powered Health organisation after exemption was granted by the UCI for riders to try and find a new team despite it being outside the regular transfer window.

"As established by the UCI regulations, a UCI women's continental team must have at least 8 riders on the roster to be able to compete. The Continental Team license is handled by the national federations, but the one who has the power to withdraw the license is the UCI," a representative from the Spanish Cycling Federation told Cycling News. "Regarding the rest of the issues, we can only tell you that the Spanish Cycling Federation is in continuous contact and communication with the UCI, as well as with the riders and workers of the Zaaf team affected by this situation."