Promotion and relegation battle takes over women’s peloton as WorldTeam licenses up for grabs

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After the drama of the battle for promotion and relegation in the men’s peloton at the end of last year, it is time for the women’s turn in 2023.

Three years after the WorldTeam System was established for the women’s peloton, the teams at the top must fight for their survival.

There are 15 spots available and each one is technically up for grabs, however, realistically, there are only a handful of spots that could change hands at the end of this season. In the past three years, licenses have been awarded primarily on four non-sporting criteria, but in 2024, points have become a key requirement to obtain a WorldTeam license.

Women’s WorldTeam licenses were awarded for the first time in 2020, with eight teams taking the top spot. Provided they can meet the WorldTour’s non-playing requirements, such as a minimum wage, teams will be guaranteed a four-year tenure in the newly created upper tier.

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The WorldTeam allocation has gradually moved upwards and Fenix–Dessinck has moved up to last place before this year. The full WorldTeams quota came a year later than the UCI expected, but it set up an exciting competition for this season.

Unlike the Men’s World Team relegation fight, a team’s survival will come down to points earned over just two seasons. It would not be until 2026 that the WorldTeam license would be extended to three years, which would mean that all three years’ points would be counted towards the total.

With the half-way mark in this first competition to stay in the WorldTour, some clear divisions are starting to emerge and those who are at risk and those who are safe are already clear.

Unless something dramatic happens, the worldteams in the current top 10 should be safe. Those teams are Trek-Segafredo, SD Works, Team DSM, FDJ Suez, Movistar, Canyon-SRAM, UAE Team ADQ, Jeco-Alula and Jumbo-Visma.

The battle for the world ranking is slightly complicated by the presence of development teams in the standings. Walker–Travel & Service finished the season as the eighth best team, but have been taken over by the UAE team and will now race as an official development team.

Currently, women’s cycling is run at two levels, while men’s is run at three levels. This means Development Teams can mix it up with WorldTeams and end up in a place that will still see them get promoted.

However, UCI rules require these teams to race on continental licenses and therefore cannot be promoted. So, while the newly rebranded UAE Development Team is likely going to finish in the top 15, it may not get a WorldTeam license.

That frees up at least one more potential WorldTeam license for 2024, good news for those scraping for the bottom third of the top-15. Teams in the demotion bubble include EF Education-TIBCO-SVB, new entry Fenix-Deceuninck, and Liv Racing TeqFind.

However, they are unlikely to go down unless their season is particularly bad. All three squads have put in some strong signs over the winter as well, which should help them pick up the points needed to keep them at the top.

work to do

The three teams most at risk of losing their licenses at the end of this season are Israel-Premier Tech Roland, Uno-X and Human Powered Health. All three joined the WorldTour last season and fell outside the top 15 in the world rankings, finishing the season ranked 19th, 25th and 27th.

Human Powered Health had a disappointing result of being the last Women’s World Team in the world rankings, earning only 914 points for the entire season. Most worryingly for the US squad and the two other languishing teams, there were others who not only finished high but expressed interest in moving on.

Ceratizit-WNT and Soudal Quick-Step-AG Insurance both applied for WorldTeam licenses for the 2023 season. They will both eventually miss out on Alpesin-Deseuninck (then called Plantur Pura), but at least Soudal Quick-Step has already indicated its intention to reapply and it is likely that Ceratizit-WNT will have one There will be more effort.

Others may also come on board, so none of Israel-premiere tech Roland, Uno-X and Human Powered Health will be able to rest on their laurels to stay on top.

The Uno-X hasn’t raced yet this season, but Human Powered Health and Israel-premier Tech Roland both traveled to Australia this month to try and score points at the Tour Down Under and Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race .

While Israel-premier Tech took nothing more out of the Tour Down Under with only 38 points to add to their tally, Human Powered Health got off to a strong start fighting their way for survival. New signing Daria Pikulic won the opening day, while Nina Buijsman and Henrietta Christie scored top-10 finishes on the next two days.

Christie’s seventh-place finish in GC earned him the most races and helped propel Human Powered Health from 27th to 20th in the world rankings for two years. There’s still a long season to go and lots of places to improve if either team wants to keep their WorldTeam license, but this is a particularly strong start from Human Powered Health.

After the one-day Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race this weekend, the women’s UAE Tour will see a lot more teams racing for the first time, but it’s the Classics later in February and March where we’ll get a better idea of ​​who’s who Good going and who has work.

Whatever happens, the fight for promotion and the fight against relegation will be the thread that ties the entire season together.

Teams in bold = current WorldTeam license holders. * = WorldTeam Development Squad