After Europcar were denied a WorldTour license for the 2015 season, the team may lose some of its key riders. Manager Jean-Rene Bernaudeau admits that he can't prevent riders from signing a contract with a WorldTour team.

Team Europcar manager Jean-René Bernaudeau saw his team miss out on a WorldTour license for 2015. The French team has financial problems and that was enough for the UCI License Commission to refuse their application.

“Impressive on an administrative level and very good from an ethical point of view  but a gap of 6% between our expected receipts and expenses made the difference," Bernaudeau tells L'Equipe .

According to the French manager, the French team operates with a small budget. "We work with just a little more than half of the average of the WorldTour budget of fourteen million euros. There are three Pro Continental teams with a bigger budget than we have. My riders are not paid what they are really worth," Bernaudeau explains.

One problem for Bernaudeau is the fact that riders may be free to leave the team. “Yes, if any of them have got offers, what do you want me to tell them?" Riders of Team Europcar are permitted to leave if they get an offer from a WorldTour team. The question is whether riders like

Thomas Voeckler, Pierre Rolland or Bryan Coquard will actively be seeking other options to be guaranteed a start in the biggest races.

The team has already lost out on its first invitation. After the team was downgraded from the WorldTour, the organizers of the Tour Down under have decided not to invite the team. Traditionally the Australian race has only allowed an Australian national team and Australian pro continental teams to compete alongside the WorldTour teams.