Pro Tour divorce consumed

"After months of fruitless discussions with the UCI, which UCI chose not to pursue after the summer, and following a one-week ultimatum for the events which they stage, the UCI has indeed decided to break off discussions on ways to include in the Pro Tour the races staged by RCS Sport, ASO, and Unipublic," they said in a statement.

The rift goes beyond the Tour, Vuelta, and Giro. Their parent companies own 11 Pro Tour events, including Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix.*

Long before the inception of the Pro Tour last year, the three major Tours made it clear that they would not give up the final say on the running of their races.

They agreed on a temporary basis to take part in the inaugural season in 2005 but the differences remain. They notably refuse to pay a Pro Tour license fee.

Participation in these events would be negotiated with teams without any obligation either for teams to take part or for organisers to admit any particular team.

Already from 2006, a $100 000 euros bonus would be paid to each team taking part in three three major tours the same year in addition to sums paid currently.

Another proposal by the three major tours was the rebirth of the 'Trophy of the Three Major Tours' - launched for the first time in the mid-eighties.

"A total purse of two million euros - including 600,000 euros for the winner - will go to teams having fared the best in the three major tours on the basis of standings in the various rankings of the three events." Tour president Clerc added

The events owned by the Tour, Giro, and Vuelta will invite the top 14 teams from last year's Pro Tour rankings as well as eight wildcards to each of their races.

Of the current Pro Tour teams, that would mean no automatic berth for Lampre, Bouygues Telecom, Eulskatel, Française des Jeux. With AG2R recently admitted to the Pro Tour, it's as of yet unclear whether Liquigas - 15th in last year's rankings - would gain automatic entry after the folding of 13th ranked Fassa Bortolo.

From 2007, the Trophy of the The Three Major Tours rankings would determine invitations in "what the UCI itself has termed a 'separate' calendar in the world calendar," Clerc said.

The criteria for team entry also poses a problem for the big three. At present the UCI base their entry list according to the Pro Tour rankings of the previous season.

When asked if the divorce could potentially kill the sport, Clerc responded "we just want to continue organising our races to the benefit of all the participants."

"We want the best athletes in the best races, we want an open circuit" he added.

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