Until the end of 2004, the
Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) maintained both the
UCI Road World Rankings, which awarded results for all its sanctioned races, and the
UCI Road World Cup, which was awarded on the basis of performance in ten selected one-day events. Both were replaced from the 2005 season by the
UCI ProTour and
UCI Continental Circuits. However, disputes between the UCI and
ASO, the organisers of the
Tour de France and other classics, and eventually with the organisers of the Tours of
Italy and
Spain, meant that by 2008 the ProTour was devalued as a ranking method, as only one of the
Monument events, and three other
classics, remained under the auspices of the UCI. As a result, the UCI World Ranking was introduced, merging performances from both the ProTour and other prestigious events. At the start of 2011, the ProTour and World Ranking were fully merged again. The ranking system was re-branded as the 'World Tour', whilst 'ProTeam' was retained as a registration category for professional teams. All ProTeams gain automatic entry to World Tour events. Despite finishing second in the team rankings in 2012, were initially refused a place in the top tier for 2013. After appeal to the
Court of Arbitration for Sport, they were reinstated in February 2013, having already missed the
2013 Tour Down Under. Although the UCI had earlier asserted that the reinstatement of Katusha would result in demotion of another team, they eventually announced that there would be 19 ProTour teams for that one season. In 2015, there are only 17 teams, as there was no applicant for the 18th slot. For the
2017 season the UCI added 10 new events to the calendar, bringing the total number of events to 38. The new events are:
Tour of California,
Tour of Qatar,
Abu Dhabi Tour,
Tour of Turkey,
Dwars door Vlaanderen,
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad,
Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race,
London–Surrey Classic,
Eschborn–Frankfurt City Loop and
Strade Bianche. In 2019, the
Three Days of De Panne (a one-day race, although its name retains a description of its former format) was added to the tour, and the Abu Dhabi Tour, having merged with the 2.HC ranked
Dubai Tour, was rebranded as the
UAE Tour. The World Tour ceased to be a ranking series, replaced in this regard by the
UCI World Ranking. == Events (since 2019) ==