RCS invites continental teams for women's races, but is that still allowed?

Those looking at the start list of the UAE Tour Women won’t immediately notice anything unusual. Yet, the race has caused quite a few raised eyebrows in the women's peloton over the past few days. That's because three continental teams are starting, even though according to UCI rules, that should not be allowed. So what’s the situation exactly?

This past winter, the UCI tightened the participation criteria for races in the Women's WorldTour. All teams in the Women's WorldTour now have an obligation to start at La Vuelta Femenina, Giro d'Italia Women, and Tour de France Femmes, Then they are only allowed to skip one Women's WorldTour race per season. Additionally, continental teams are generally no longer permitted to compete in Women's WorldTour events, in an effort to make the women’s structure more closely mirror the men’s.

The UCI faced significant criticism at the time, including from continental teams like DD Group (now Citymesh-Customm) and Coop-Repsol (now Hitec Products-Fluid Control), who feared for their survival if they could no longer showcase themselves in the Women's WorldTour.

Natascha Knaven-Den Ouden was also critical of the new UCI rules last year. She believed they were introduced far too quickly. She warned, among other things, about reduced budgets for continental teams, as their exposure has significantly decreased since January 1, 2026. Sponsors are therefore pulling out. "That means those teams will race less, and young riders will have fewer opportunities to develop properly."

"The professionalization of women's cycling shouldn’t be about copying the men's peloton, but about equity, where the UCI looks at what women’s cycling needs to reach the same level as men’s cycling, taking into account differences in starting positions, disadvantages, or constraints. Without equity or investments in the foundation, the top level of women’s cycling will dry up and the Women's WorldTour won’t be sustainable for long," Knaven-Den Ouden adds.

"You can already see this in the Women's WorldTour. The market dynamics aren’t fully there yet. Teams are getting smaller rather than bigger due to financial pressure: salaries are increasing faster than budgets, and in 2026 we’ll have significantly fewer WorldTour riders than last year. Compared to 2021, there are 25% fewer continental teams. The Netherlands doesn’t have any at all anymore, due to financial pressure."

Are continental teams still welcome?
Nevertheless, the UCI seems intent on pushing ahead with its plans. The new UCI rules effective January 1, 2026 clearly state that continental teams are no longer welcome in the Women's WorldTour, but there’s fine print. If thirty days before an event the number of confirmed teams is below the minimum (15 teams or 90 riders) and all WorldTour and ProTeams have been invited, the UCI may permit a race organizer first to invite a continental team from the host country, followed by a continental team from another country.

In practice, it is almost never the case that fewer than fifteen teams start a race in the Women's WorldTour. Since teams in the Women's WorldTour have a mandatory start from 2026 (with one joker allowing them to skip a WorldTour race), most races in the Women's WorldTour will ‘simply’ feature thirteen or fourteen WorldTour teams, supplemented by one or two ProTeams.

This week, the UAE Tour Women fields all fourteen Women's WorldTour teams at the start, plus three ProTeams—St Michel-Auber-Preference93, VolkerWessels, and Cofidis—meaning that, according to UCI rules, no continental teams should be allowed. Yet continental teams Vini Fantin-BePink, Top Girls Fassa Bertolo, and Hitec Products-Fluid Control have traveled to the Emirates this week to compete in their WorldTour race.

RCS intends to keep issuing wildcards to continental teams
Inquiries with RCS reveal that the organizer also plans to invite continental teams this year for races like Strade Bianche, Milan-San Remo, and the Giro d’Italia Women.

Teams themselves are in the dark: are they allowed to race WorldTour events in 2026 or not? Martin van Steen, who mediates between teams and organizers with CyclingService, suspects there is an interim solution that the UCI has not yet communicated. "RCS can say they will invite continental teams, but they still have to wait for a ruling from the UCI. So far, there is no confirmation," says Van Steen. "But there is a loophole in the regulations: what if only fourteen teams have registered a month before the race? Can the race organizer then invite as many continental teams as possible?" This might be the loophole the UAE Tour Women is exploiting, though he can’t say for sure.

Incidentally, Flanders Classics announced last week the wildcards for several major Flemish races. These did not include any continental teams. The organizer might be waiting on a final UCI ruling before deciding whether to invite some continental teams, who are living between hope and fear. Surely to be continued.