Lifeplus Wahoo aim for pro ranks
Continental squad hopes to mark 10-year anniversary with Proteam status
British Continental women’s team Lifeplus Wahoo are hoping to step up a tier next season and become a Proteam from 2025. e new tier will be introduced for the rst time next year, serving as a second professional division of women’s cycling teams, and bridging the gap from Continental to Worldtour.
Coming off the back of the squad not gaining an invite to this year’s Tour de France Femmes, general manager Tom Varney conrmed the ambition. “at’s the aim for us,” he said. “It’ll be our 10th year next year also, and I think we deserve to be at that level. We have to nalise a few things and see 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.
e 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.”
is season, Lifepluswahoo have had to adjust their plans after nding out
“We would like to differentiate ourselves from other UK teams”
they had not been invited to the Tour de France Femmes, despite having taken part in the opening two editions. Varney received the news from social media. “I think it’s de nitely 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.”