UCI hand Picnic PostNL limited one-year licence as WorldTour teams confirmed for 2026

Both Picnic PostNL's Men's and Women's teams have been granted a one-year licence with the UCI stating, "The UCI Licence Commission has decided to limit the duration of the licence to one year and to set conditions related to the financial criterion that must be met to permit its extension to the 2027 and 2028 seasons."

It remains to be seen what impact, if any, the news will have on the transfer saga involving Picnic PostNL's Oscar Onley. The Scot, who placed fourth on this year's Tour de France, has a contract with the team until the end of 2027, but he has drawn interest from Ineos Grenadiers, who are in the market for a Grand Tour leader.

Daniel Benson has reported that Onley had been excused from attending the first two days of Picnic PostNL's training camp, which got under way in Calpe on Wednesday.

Elsewhere, the UCI announcement formally confirms the merger of two of Belgium's biggest cycling teams, with Lotto-Intermarché granted a WorldTour licence for the 2026-2028 UCI cycle. 

Cofidis and Pinarello - Q36.5 had also applied for the WorldTour licence, but they were unsuccessful as there were 18 compliant applicants who had scored more UCI points in the previous cycle.

Lidl-Trek has switched its registration from an American team to a German team, aligning with the German sponsors, the supermarket chain Lidl, which had recently taken a majority stake, as Trek retains a key stake.

Meanwhile, there are set to be debuts at ProTour level for Toscana Nippo Rali, Modern Adventure Pro Cycling, and MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort.