Yesterday Team Katusha was readmitted into the top tier of the cycling world as a result of the verdict by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which leaves the UCI with a major headache since the organization has already granted a WorldTour license to 18 other teams for the 2013 season.
Katusha ace Joaquim Rodriguez, evidently, is thrilled to find Team Katusha back in the ranks of WorldTour teams.
"I'll admit it, I was worried about my future, even if I knew I'd have ridden the Tour de France in one way or another,” the Spanish rider told Cyclingnews.com. Now my race programme won’t change. I'll ride Tirreno-Adriatico, then the Volta a Catalunya, go for a spell of training at altitude on Mount Teide, and then the Ardennes Classics."
"I hope another team doesn't have to go through what we've been through and so perhaps the best solutions is to allow 19 teams in the WorldTour," he said.
Rodrigues realizes the potential problems of enhancing the number of teams in races but hints that it might be the best solution to the current predicament. "That would be fair even if it caused some problems by raising the number of riders in the peloton and on the roads. It'd be worth it and much fairer all round."
The UCI is expected to announce its decision as to how to solve the present quandary within days. That decision is eagerly awaited by organizers and teams. Will another team lose its WorldTour license? Will the organizers have to reduce the number of wild cards for their races? Many questions remain unresolved.
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