http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/11250.0.html
Take that bitches says the UCI.The UCI warned the director of the Vuelta a España on Tuesday that the grand tour faces being downsized, according to the Spanish daily El Pais.
UCI ProTour executive committee coordinator Alan Rumpf told Vuelta director Victor Cordero in a letter that the three-week format was under threat.
And Rumpf said that they were considering running both the Tour of Germany and the Vuelta in September, and shortening the latter.
"The three weeks of the Vuelta are under debate," Rumpf said in the letter, extracts from which were published in Tuesday's El Pais.
"The commission is considering modifications to the calendar for the 2009 season and you must be aware that these changes could be put forward by 2008.
"You know the interest the Tour of Germany has in running in September, like the Tour of Spain, which would in some way satisfy many teams who take part in the Tour of Poland afterwards."
This year's Tour of Germany ran August 1-9, with the Tour of Poland following September 4-10.
Rumpf said that some of the 20 teams in the ProTour "had made it known that they wanted to be freed of the obligation of competing in the Vuelta."
Then-UCI president Hein Verbruggen introduced the ProTour two years ago. However, since its introduction, the UCI has been at odds with many race organizers, including those of the three major, three-week tours - the Giro d'Italia, the Tour de France and the Vuelta - over the issue of the Pro Tour.
The biggest complaint is that the format of the ProTour - which consists of having the biggest teams racing in an elite calendar of more than 20 races per seasons - is too restrictive.
Cordero told AFP that the grand-tour organizers would resist any change to the format.
"It is not in the interests of the UCI to endanger the Vuelta. It's part of the heritage of cycling. The entire country follows it. We will follow the same line of conduct at the Tour and the Giro," added Cordero.