The WorldTour Forum should also reveal details of changes to the points awarded by the UCI for races after the impact of the last few months of polemics and survival races have had on the sport.
New safety measures are also expected, perhaps with an outside company in charge of safety checks.
While most teams have completed their annual registration with the UCI and are planning for the 2023 season, the future status of the Israel Premier Tech and French B&B Hotels teams has yet to be determined and it remains unclear at what level and which races they will compete in 2023.
According to Cycling News, a number of teams traveled to Switzerland this week to finalize the paperwork necessary to secure WorldTour and pro team status in front of UCI auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers and UCI officials.
Under UCI rules, teams must submit rider contracts, bank guarantees, and most other documents by October 15; the UCI will confirm WorldTour and pro team status in December, one month before the Tour Down Under begins in Australia. The UCI will confirm World Tour and pro team status in mid-December, one month before the Tour Down Under starts in Australia.
Teams that fail the initial assessment, like B&B Hotels, will be penalized and subject to last-minute appeals as they struggle to secure sponsorship to sign Mark Cavendish or step up.
Jérôme Pinot had to seek special dispensation from the UCI and the DNCG (the team's supervisory body in France) to extend the final deadline of November 30 in order to await decisions from at least two title sponsors.
Israel Premier Tec and Lotto Soudal are set to be demoted from the World Tour, with Alpecin Deceuninck and Arkea Samsic expected to take their place after finishing in the top 18 teams in points earned over the past three seasons.
Lotto Soudal and Total Energy, which will become Lotto Doustony in 2023, are expected to finish as the highest ranked professional team and earn an automatic invitation to the 2023 Grand Tour and Classics. Israel Premier Tech was ranked lower in 2022 and only appears to have earned an automatic invitation to the Classics.
However, Israel Premier Tech team owner Sylvain Adams promised to fight relegation and blasted the UCI and the World Tour licensing system in interviews with Cycling News and VeloNews.
He still seems to want the UCI to concede and allow 20 teams to participate in the 2023-2025 World Tour. If that does not happen, Israel Premier Tech will be relegated to WorldTour status and earn wildcard invitations to Grand Tours and other races.
Scandinavian pro team Uno-X, ranked 21st in 2022, has applied for WorldTour status anyway and hopes to learn from the process going forward.
Team manager Jens Haugland revealed that he thought Uno-X deserved at least an invitation to the 2023 Grand Tour and went as far as Switzerland to appeal.
"In 2023, we are fourth in the ProTeam ranking for the second year in a row," Haugland said. For a newly established professional team based in Oslo and consisting only of Norwegian and Danish players, I think this is quite a good result," he wrote on his travel blog.
"I mean, one is the standard of a licensed sport and the other is getting a spot in the Grand Tour. I would like to see a system that ensures that Uno X can participate in the Grand Tours. Given our performance, identity and vision, we deserve it. We want a system that will ensure that Uno X will be part of the Grand Tour. We deserve it."
Haugland emphasized that his team meets all of the registration criteria except for sports performance and ranking.
"In many ways, this is a review of who we are and what we are trying to achieve. You might make fun of Uno X applying for a license with a ranking of 21st. But those are five criteria, not one. At least the other 4 are 100% compliant. If we don't apply, we don't stand a chance of hearing yes. We learn the process. We apply, apply, and apply again and again until we get the license.
Scandinavian cycling deserves a bigger stage. It may not happen yet, but it will happen. Both women's and men's World Tour teams."
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