Would bring automatic Tour de France entry

Having been forced to seek wildcard entries to the top races, particularly the Grand Tours, the Skil-Shimano team is hoping to land a UCI ProTeam licence in 2012 and therefore gain automatic entry to the Giro, Tour de France and Vuelta.



It rode the latter this season, winning a stage with Marcel Kittel, but got that entry solely thanks to the organisers. The team wants greater stability in the future vis-à-vis riding such races and, according to Wielerflits, is carrying out the process of chasing up such a licence.



Two licences have been freed up by the ending of the HTC Highroad and RadioShack teams. The latter will transfer its sponsors across to Leopard Trek plus some of its riders.



The GreenEdge team is however chasing a new licence for next year and due to its strong signings plus good relationship with Cycling Australia, it is thought likely to get the nod.



That leaves one extra slot which Skil Shimano hopes to fill, although many other teams will also be trying to either acquire or retain licences. French squads FDJ, Europcar and Cofidis are thought to be applying, and so too the new Lotto-Ridley formation. It will seek to hold onto the licence it currently possesses under the Omega Pharma – Lotto banner.



Geox may also be applying, although the future of the team was recently said to be uncertain. The backers were weighing up whether or not they will continue in the sport, despite a multi-year commitment laid out last year.



The UCI is likely to announce the WorldTour teams in November.