{"id":80427,"date":"2025-08-20T15:20:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T15:20:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/80427\/"},"modified":"2025-08-20T15:20:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T15:20:08","slug":"cofidis-and-uno-x-fight-for-the-last-worldtour-license-uci-ranking-analysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/80427\/","title":{"rendered":"Cofidis and Uno-X fight for the last WorldTour license | UCI Ranking Analysis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two months to go until the end of the triennium and the outlook for the relegation battle remains uncertain. Picnic and Astana have managed to escape the danger of relegation, but Cofidis (19th in the ranking) still has a chance of remaining in the WorldTour thanks to the highly probable merger between Intermarch\u00e9 and Lotto, which would free up a license. The French team is being closely pursued by Uno-X, which could fulfill its dream of promotion to the WorldTour.<\/p>\n

2023-2025 UCI Ranking<\/p>\n

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As you can see in the graph, Astana has confirmed its comeback after starting the season with a deficit of almost 5,000 points. Also, Oscar Onley\u2019s brilliant Tour (1,370 UCI points) has guaranteed Team Picnic\u2019s survival. Both teams have overtaken Intermarch\u00e9 and left Cofidis and Uno-X behind.<\/p>\n

The poor results of Intermarch\u00e9 (worst WorldTeam of the year) and Lotto (24th in the annual ranking) have encouraged the desired merger of both teams. They currently have two of the lowest budgets among elite teams and with the merger they want to meet the demands of the WorldTour. As reported by Escape Collective<\/a>, \u201cthe average team budget on the WorldTour grew 40% in the four years from 2021 through 2024, from \u20ac20 million to \u20ac28 million.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the Belgian press, the new team will use Lotto\u2019s license. This is a sensible move, as it is not 100% sure that Intermarch\u00e9 will meet the sporting criteria to remain in the WorldTour (it could be overtaken by Cofidis and Uno-X). This means that current Intermarch\u00e9 riders, such as Biniam Girmay, would be free to sign with another team for next season.<\/p>\n

If the merger does not go ahead, Intermarch\u00e9 would have to manage with a 1,142-point lead over Cofidis and 1,404 over Uno-X. If, as seems likely, Intermarch\u00e9 joins Lotto, the real battle for the last WorldTour license would be between Cofidis and Uno-X. The French team still has a 262-point lead, but Uno-X has already made up 2,500 points this season. For the remainder of the season, Cofidis can take advantage of plentiful points in La Vuelta, but Uno-X\u2019s riders could be fresher for the final races in October.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The last Tour de France was dramatic for Cofidis, with Coquard\u2019s 7th place in a stage and Buchmann\u2019s 30th place in the GC as the best results, for a total of 155 points in the whole Tour. On the other hand, Uno-X earned 1,315 UCI points, thanks to Tobias Halland Johannessen\u2019s 6th place in the GC and Jonas Abrahamsen\u2019s stage victory. Abrahamsen also won the Circuit Franco-Belge two weeks later.<\/p>\n

In addition to being the worst team in the Tour, Cofidis was also the fourth worst team in the Giro, which highlights its struggles in major events. In fact, it has only earned 40.6% of its points in the WorldTour, the worst ratio among the elite teams.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

During the August transfer window, Cofidis signed young climber Jamie Meehan, who had initially joined as a trainee. Trainees\u2019 UCI points do not count for the WorldTeam, so Cofidis decided to sign him with immediate effect after he finished 3rd in a mountain stage of the Tour de l\u2019Ain.<\/p>\n

If Cofidis is relegated from the WorldTour, its riders (such as Fretin, Aranburu, and Teuns) could terminate their contracts, although that does not concern General Manager C\u00e9dric Vasseur. \u201cOn paper, riders can leave, but if a rider leaves a team, that also means they have the same conditions, and with the results some riders are getting this year, I just wish them good luck,\u201d Vasseur told Daniel Benson<\/a>.<\/p>\n

2025 Ranking<\/p>\n

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In the ranking so far this season, UAE continues to dominate ahead of Visma. Uno-X also stands out in tenth place, ahead of half of the WorldTeams. The Norwegian team has made particular progress in the big races. It has already scored 1,200 more points in the WorldTour than in the entire previous season (4,088 compared to 2,888). Among the teams that have performed worse than usual, we find Groupama-FDJ, after a disappointing season for Gaudu, Kung or Madouas.<\/p>\n

In the interactive chart below, you can see the UCI points of all the riders of the 24 big teams currently. Astana and Uno-X have enjoyed great depth in their squads, with 13 riders above 400 points (only UAE has more riders above 400 points), while Ark\u00e9a, Picnic, and Q36.5 have been very dependent on their leaders, with Vauquelin accounting for 41% of Ark\u00e9a\u2019s points, Onley for 38% of Picnic\u2019s, and Pidcock for 38% of Q36.5\u2019s.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

2026 Wildcards<\/p>\n

To allocate wildcards for the next season, the annual ranking of teams that are ProTeams in 2026 is taken into account. Right now, Uno-X has secured wildcards for the 2026 WorldTour calendar, in case it fails to achieve promotion. Elsewhere, the situation is uncertain due to the merger between Intermarch\u00e9 and Lotto, as well as the possible closure of Ark\u00e9a.<\/p>\n

Below Uno-X, there are less than 1,000 points separating Tudor, Ark\u00e9a, Cofidis, and Q36.5, which has closed the gap with Rory Townsend\u2019s victory in Hamburg. Q36.5 would be the team that benefits most from Ark\u00e9a\u2019s disappearance, as it could obtain wildcards for the 2026 WorldTour. In the event that Cofidis is relegated, it could be left without invitations if it is overtaken by Q36.5 and Ark\u00e9a continues as a ProTeam.<\/p>\n

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Starting this 2025 season, the UCI is allowing an extra team (up to 23) in the Grand Tours to accommodate emerging projects such as Uno-X, Tudor, and Q36.5. With two teams folding and one more wildcard available based on sporting merit, Tudor and Q36.5 would be in a privileged position to continue growing over the next three years. It is quite likely that they will remain among the top three ProTeams each year and enjoy the privileges of the WorldTour calendar without the obligations of WorldTeams.<\/p>\n

The other battle for invitations is between the three Italian ProTeams, which are around the top 30 in the annual ranking. ProTeams outside the top 30 will not be eligible for wildcards for next season\u2019s Grand Tours. If Solution Tech manages to enter the top 30, it would knock out Bardiani or Polti, greatly increasing its chances of being invited to the Giro. As for the Spanish ProTeams, Euskaltel-Euskadi will finish outside the top 30, missing out on La Vuelta for the second consecutive year.<\/p>\n

Regarding the new ProTeams (George Hincapie\u2019s new team and MBH Bank Ballan CSB), they \u201cwill be considered based on the addition of the points scored at the end of the previous season by their 20 best riders.\u201d It is likely that none of them will be eligible for Grand Tour wildcards next year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two months to go until the end of the triennium and the outlook for the relegation battle remains…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":80428,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-80427","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80427\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}