Waugh serves as the independent auditor that certifies each team is set up to meet the established USAC and UCI rules. They’ll look to be sure each contract contains the necessary elements of legality, confirm each team abides by the U28 rule at all times, that the percentage of Americans is correct, etc.
In the interest of fairness to all the registering teams, Waugh & Goodwin, LLP charges a flat rate of $800 for the pre-season UCI registration. Each time a team is re-audited during the season, the cost is $125 per rider added to the roster.
USA Cycling charges Continental and Women’s teams to cover the cost of managing the team registration process, acting as a liaison with the UCI, providing rule books upon request, adding and dropping riders, coordination with USADA and other anti-doping agencies, general administration and serving as a knowledgeable resource to teams in regard to interpretation of USAC and UCI rules. History has dictated that the amount of USAC staff resources required to manage the UCI teams is directly related to the number of UCI events and teams in the United States in the current season.
Each rider must have a license issued by the national federation in the country they reside in. This means that if you have a foreign (non U.S. citizen) rider who lives and competes in the United States, he must purchase his Professional license from USA Cycling*. Our international license fees are much less expensive than many countries, although there are certainly exceptions.
All team support staff (director sportif, assistant director sportif, mechanic, soigneur, team doctor) must own a UCI Support License in order to participate in or work at a UCI calendar event. The national federation in the country where the staff person resides must also issue these licenses. It is very important that the team manager, director sportif, and director sportif adjoint are properly licensed and listed on the UCI website. You will find that many commissaires will not allow a person other than the UCI registered director sportif to drive a vehicle in the caravan nor represent the team at tepam meetings.
* UCI rules specify that it is the federation where a rider lives, not the federation of the rider’s citizenship, that issues licenses. It is assumed that if you have a foreign rider on your team, that rider will be residing in the United States for more than half the year. That makes it our responsibility, per UCI rules, to issue the license. However, some federations provide an insurance product that may be superior to what the rider can obtain here. For that reason, some riders need to retain the license of their home federation. This creates problems for us due to our need to adequately track riders and maintain them in the USADA pool. For this reason, any foreign rider on your team who plans to maintain his international license from his home federation will have to purchase a USA Cycling domestic license at a minimum. This is a last resort, however. It is much preferable that all your riders have USA Cycling professional licenses.
No. Riders must purchase their licenses or you can purchase them for them. Your USAC fee will pay for the printing of two additional copies of each license, as well as any reprints necessary during the year, but only after the original copy is paid for by the rider.
No. There are no requirements for minimum salary, but the team must still enter into a contract with each rider to spell out their support in whatever form is being offered. If you do pay your riders a salary, the only method acceptable to the UCI is to wire the money directly into their bank accounts. The specifics of this must also be stated in the contracts.
No. Only riders who have earned USA Cycling Road Category 1 status or the corresponding status of a foreign rider’s federation are allowed to be added to a UCI Continental Team (Cat 1 or 2 for a women’s team). No upgrades will be done for the sole purpose of adding a rider to a team. In other words, we do not upgrade riders because you want them on your team. We do not upgrade riders because a rider “needs” to be category 1. Please choose your riders accordingly.
When a rider is dropped from a UCI Continental team, he is entitled to an international license representing his new club/team to be issued at no cost. We will switch the rider over from a pro license to an international amateur license once we have the information from him or her as to what the new team/club should be.
No. Each UCI event is by invitation only. A UCI race organizer must meet UCI rules when extending invitations to their events, and since these rules include a minimum number of non-American teams, there may not be enough space in certain races for each American Continental team. Depending on the level of race, the organizer will be choosing between UCI Pro teams, UCI Professional Continental teams, UCI Continental teams, national teams, and regional/club teams. Each team must contact the race organizer. The only races a continental team is guaranteed entry into is the USA Cycling Professional Road National Championships and the USA Cycling Professional Criterium National Championships.
Yes. All riders in USA Cycling events are subject to doping control, both by the UCI, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). This could include unannounced, out of competition tests. Any rider in USADA’s “No Advance Notice” testing program must ensure that he or she maintains the proper and updated quarterly location forms with USADA. It is important for the Continental team managers to monitor their riders’ compliance in this program. Three unexcused missed tests in an 18-month period will be a two-year suspension by USADA.
USA Cycling does not test nor adjudicate any doping violations. Testing and adjudication are carried out by the respective agency. USA Cycling will carry out any sanction. It is the team’s and rider’s responsibility to know the rules and the list of prohibited substances. This information is on the
UCI website and the
USADA website.
Fines issued to members of a UCI Continental or Women’s team participating in a UCI race will be invoiced directly to the team by the UCI. If a fine goes unpaid after the racing season, USA Cycling will pay the fine from a team’s bank guarantee prior to refunding the guarantee. You should be very wary of any request to pay a fine on site at a UCI race, as it is likely you will also be invoiced later in the season. Unfortunately this practice has occurred in many races in other countries, especially those in South America.
For any non-UCI race in the United States, the team manager or rider will receive a fine sheet from the Chief Referee. This fine should not be paid on site. When the Chief Referee turns in a fine sheet, we log the fine into our database, which sends an email to the rider informing them of the fine and telling them they have 10 days to pay it. If payment is not received within the 10 days, they are automatically suspended and an email is sent informing them of that. Please keep track of your riders' fines, as all of this is handled automatically from our end once we receive the notice of the fine from the Chief Referee.
No. As a UCI registered Continental Team, you are obligated to race with only your registered riders.
Mixed teams are not allowed for elite races on the UCI calendar. Therefore your riders have three choices.
- They can ride UCI races with your team.
- They can ride a UCI race as part of the USA national team if your team is not participating.
- They can ride domestic races in the United States.
The rules for women’s races are a bit more relaxed. For level 2 races (1.2 or 2.2), mixed teams are allowed.
For non-UCI races, your riders can participate in any race that is designated for professional riders, usually pro/1 combinations. Men may not participate in USA Cycling's amateur road, time trial, or criterium national championships, as these are restricted to riders who are not on a UCI team. Professional riders may not participate in events that are designated cat 1 only, or cat 1-2, unless the race also clearly indicates pro. A race director has the right to offer amateur categories only at their discretion. Professional riders are not eligible for state road and time trial championships. Also, riders on UCI teams are Elite riders by definition, so any of your riders who are 30 and over may not enter masters races either domestically or internationally.
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