McQuaid stands firm

McQuaid, who was to meet with team sponsors Monday, said that a split is the last thing the UCI wants, and with the possibility of a separate calendar kicking off as soon as 2007, the new head of world cycling said he won't sit idle.

"The UCI won't allow it to go that far. The UCI does not want the cycling family split," McQuaid told British newspaper The Guardian at the World Cup event in Manchester last weekend. In an interview with the French news agency AFP, he added that "next year they [the teams] will ride all the races. There's time therefore to reexamine the situation and see where we're going."

McQuaid told reporters that the major tours can stage whatever races they wanted but "certain things are only up to the UCI, including the creation of calendars, rules, trophies, and standings. No one else can do it and the UCI certainly won't tolerate it."

"We will work to ensure that the UCI's authority is not eroded. This competition they are setting up is against the regulations."

With the announcement that the 'breakaway group' would offer financial benefit for taking part in their races - 100,000 euros for each team participating in each of the three major races - McQuaid aired his concern.

"I would be very concerned about the future of cycling at the highest level if things continue in the direction which they could go," he said, adding that the major tours have "no long-term gameplan. It's going back 10, 15 years when teams no longer have the security of knowing whether or not they're taking part in races."

"[The organisers] are purely driven by money, the reason they are going in this direction is purely commercial," said the UCI president.