UCI recommends provisional license for Lampre

The Lampre team, which has been denied a ProTour license because of “serious administrative non-compliances,” may be able to start next week’s Tour Down Under at the request of the UCI ProTour Council.

The Council has asked the group’s licensing commission to grant the Italian team a provisional license so the team can start the Australian race. The provisional license would expire March 31 if the team does not comply with licensing requirements by then.

“It is in cycling’s utmost interest and especially the riders and the entire team staff, that the UCI has intervened by putting forward a proposal for a provisional solution that it has submitted to the Licences Commission,” the UCI said in a press release issued Wednesday.

The Licenses Commission will meet Friday and decide whether to accept the proposal.

FILED UNDER: News / Road TAGS: Lampre / Tour Down Under / UCI / UCI ProTour

Steve Frothingham

VeloNews.com editor Steve Frothingham joined the gang in bike-crazy Boulder in early 2008. He is the former executive editor of the trade magazine Bicycle Retailer & Industry News. He also was a reporter and editor for The Associated Press, where he covered three presidential primaries in politics-crazy New Hampshire. His racing career began on a BMX track in 1980 and reached its zenith with several miserable road races as a category 2 in the early 90s. He subsequently retreated to cat. 3, where he has had a consistently mediocre (at best) record ever since, in road, mountain bike and cyclocross events. Follow him on Twitter at @steve_froth

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