British Continental women's team Lifeplus-Wahoo are hoping to step up a tier next season and become a ProTeam from 2025.
The new tier will be introduced for the first time next year, serving as a second professional division of women's cycling teams, and bridging the gap from Continental to WorldTour.
Speaking to Cycling Weekly, Lifeplus-Wahoo general manager Tom Varney confirmed the ambition. "That’s the aim for us," he said. "It'll be our tenth year next year also, and I think we deserve to be at that level. We have to finalise a few things and see exactly what the regulations say, but the aim is to be there."
To meet the ProTeam criteria, teams will have to register with the UCI, rather than just their national federation, providing a bank guarantee and committing to pay a minimum salary to riders.
The UCI originally planned to introduce the new tier in 2026, matching the men’s structure, but brought it forward in view of the "current boom" in women's cycling.
Varney understands Lifeplus-Wahoo are one of four Continental teams worldwide to request more information from the UCI, and the only one of the current six British Continental teams.
"We would like to differentiate ourselves from the other UK teams, but also the other 30-odd, 40-odd Conti teams around the world," the Lifeplus-Wahoo boss said. "We would like to see some progress commercially within the UK. I think we've seen a lot of growth in women's sport: football, rugby, cricket. I think it's about time that we saw some of that level of commercial success in cycling."
Currently, there are no British women's WorldTour teams, meaning there are none at professional level. "I think the UK riders, and the juniors that we see coming up, deserve something to aim for," Varney said. "We don't have a team on par with those that we see in the WorldTour and the countries that are leading the way, and I think the UK deserves that."
This season, Lifeplus-Wahoo have had to adjust their plans after finding out they had not been invited to the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, despite having taken part in the opening two editions. Varney received the news from social media. "I think it's definitely a shame," he said. "Of course, it was never guaranteed for us to be there. We’ve always had a plan A and a plan B, but it’s been a little bit of a blow."
Lifeplus-Wahoo will take part this weekend in the three-stage Ford RideLondon Classique. The team will then line up, alongside the other five British Continental women's teams, at the Tour of Britain Women next month.
