Organisers of the Tour de France have announced that the world’s most famous road cycle race has been withdrawn from the UCI WorldTour calendar for 2017.
Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) released a statement to the effect that it would pull all of its events from the WorldTour, including the Vuelta a España, Critérium du Dauphiné, Paris-Nice, Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and La Fleche Wallonne.
According to the press release, ASO cited recent UCI reforms that reduced the WorldTour to a “closed sport system” as the reason for the decision.
The ASO events have been registered on the UCI hors catégorie calendar for 2017.
“More than ever, ASO remains committed to the European model and cannot compromise the values it represents; an open system giving first priority to the sporting criterion.”
The decision could have ramifications for Africa’s Team, Dimension Data, which earned its first WorldTour licence for the 2016 season.
