The teams applying to be part of the WorldTour from 2026 have been revealed by the UCI, including Tom Pidcock's Q36.5 Pro Cycling.
20 men's teams are attempting to join the WorldTour, and 16 women's teams for the Women's WorldTour; there are 18 and 15 slots for each, respectively. The UCI will publish the successful lists on 10 December 2025, with 20 others applying to be men's and women's ProTeams.
WorldTour team licences will be set for the next three years, with those top-level squads having access to all the biggest races; the applications are assessed on ethical, financial, organisation and administrative criteria, but also sporting.
For the men's WorldTour, for instance, the top 18 UCI point-scoring teams from the last three seasons are given priority. The review process for WorldTeams and ProTeams is now ongoing: "The UCI is currently assessing the compliance of these applications with regulatory requirements, in collaboration with the external audit firm PwC."
15 of the current 18 men's WorldTour teams were announced by the UCI as applying for WorldTour status again, with Arkéa-B&B Hotels and Intermarché-Wanty ceasing to exist in their current formats from the end of this year. Throwing their hats in the ring, as it were, are ProTeams Lotto, Uno-X Mobility, Cycling Academy (formerly Israel-Premier Tech) and Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling.
Based on points, Lotto (with their merger with Intermarché pending), Cycling Academy and Uno-X Mobility should be promoted, with Arkéa, Intermarché and Cofidis dropping out. However, notable by their absence in the UCI list are Jayco AlUla, who have signed riders for 2026, and there have not been concerns over their future, so late paperwork is likely.
It is also notable that Q36.5 Pro Cycling are listed as Pinarello-Q36.5, with the team currently using Scott bikes, although Pidcock uses Pinarello for off-road racing.
Meanwhile, 12 of the current 15 Women's WorldTour teams have applied for 2026-2028; CERATIZIT are to cease operations, while Liv Jayco AlUla and Roland-Le Dévoluy are not listed, due to complete paperwork not being submitted.
Based on UCI points, the 15 new WorldTour teams should include ProTeams VolkerWessels and EF Education-Oatly, although VolkerWessels have not applied to be a ProTeam. Roland would be the WorldTour team to miss out, with Cofidis submitting an application to be at the top table.
The UCI missive reads: "Teams that did not submit all the essential documents by the 15 October deadline, are included in the above count but are not included in the list below. However, they still have the possibility to rectify their situation before the end of the registration process, which would enable them to be registered for the 2026 season.
"In accordance with the UCI Regulations and subject to other applicable provisions, riders from these teams may terminate their contracts early, but this right will lapse if their team is subsequently registered."
Women's WorldTour applicants
AG Insurance - Soudal
Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto
Cofidis Women
EF Education–Oatly
FDJ United-SUEZ
Fenix-Deceuninck
Human Powered Health
Lidl–Trek
Movistar
Picnic PostNL
SD Worx–Protime
Visma-Lease A Bike
UAE Team ADQ
Uno-X Mobility
Men's WorldTour applicants
Alpecin-Deceuninck
Bahrain Victorious
Cofidis
Cycling Academy
Decathlon CMA CGM
EF Education–Easypost
Groupama-FDJ United
Ineos Grenadiers
Lidl-Trek
Lotto Cycling
Movistar
Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling
Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe
Soudal Quick-Step
Picnic PostNL
Visma-Lease A Bike
UAE Team Emirates XRG
Uno-X Mobility
XDS Astana Team
