Team Promotion vs Relegation

We are heading into the second half of the season and by the end it will be revealed which teams will have a WorldTour license and which will not.

How does it work?

The points of a team are the sum of the those held by the top 20 riders in the team each year. These points are gained from GC wins with a grand tour GC win giving more points than a GC win at the Arctic Race of Norway. The top 18 teams will be given a WorldTour license meaning they do not need to be invited to take part in the bigger races such as grand tours.

Is there a problem with the system?

Bigger teams with more money can buy the better riders and have a stronger team in whichever race they turn up to. This means that they have a much higher chance of winning and gaining the bigger points compared to small teams with less funding. As well as this in smaller races with only one or two WorldTour teams there is less competition for the bigger teams.

Current top 18

UAE Team Emirates - XRG

Team Visma Lease a Bike

Lidl Trek

Soudal Quick-Step

INEOS Grenadiers

Red Bull - BORA - Hansgrohe

Alpecin - Deceuninck

Groupama - FDJ

Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team

Bahrain - Victorious

EF Education - EasyPost

Lotto

Movistar

Israel - Premier Tech

Team Jayco AlUla

XDS Astana Team

Team Picnic PostNL

Intermarche - Wanty

Two current PRT teams are in the top 18, Lotto and Israel - Premier Tech meaning that there are two teams which are set to lose their license unless they can pick up more points quickly, Cofidis and Arkea - B&B Hotels.

The chart clearly shows how dominant UAE Team Emirates are and if they don't compete in any more races this season they will still safely have that WT status for 2026. They have a margin of 28,949 points over Visma in second, the gap to 18th in the standings is 69,578. To put that into some perspective the points awarded for winning the General Classification at the Tour de France is 1300 points.

At this point it would be more fair to let Tadej Pogacar be his own team, that way there would be more competition and considering how Pogacar has contributed about 30% of his teams points in the standings it would be fine. If we took him as his own team he would be sitting in 14th position and Intermarche Wanty would be in 19th place. Even doing that, UAE would still be in first place showing how important good riders are, the only way you can really get good riders is if you have the money.

In conclusion, UAE are the best team and the points system relies on a team having good riders meaning they have to have money. Therefore, sponsorship is important.