Romandie organizer talks absent WorldTeams: 'You have to share the calendar a bit'

The Tour de Romandie, despite attracting stars like Pogačar and Roglič, has seen a significant absence this year, with four WorldTeams opting out. Uno-X Mobility, Lotto Dstny, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, and Alpecin-Deceuninck all leveraged UCI regulations allowing them to bypass the event. This collective decision highlights a growing trend of teams strategically managing their schedules, even for prestigious WorldTour races, rather than fulfilling their full obligations.

This unprecedented level of WorldTeam absenteeism at a historically significant WorldTour stage race underscores increasing calendar pressures and team resource allocation challenges. With the UCI's updated regulations allowing for a limited number of skips, teams are clearly prioritising specific objectives, whether that's Grand Tour preparation, Classics campaigns, or simply managing rider fatigue and budget. The Romandie organiser's comment about "sharing the calendar" reflects a simmering tension between race organisers and teams over the sport's increasingly crowded schedule.

Ultimately, while the star power remains, four WorldTeams giving Romandie a miss suggests the UCI's 'skip' rule is being utilised exactly as intended: to ease the burden, or perhaps, to create new ones for organisers.