All leading teams to leave ProTour series

All teams are to leave the International Cycling Union's elite ProTour series, the 17 teams on the Tour de France said yesterday.

"It has been decided unanimously not to renew the ProTour licences for the 2009 season," the teams said in a joint statement.

The ProTour, which started in 2005 under the jurisdiction of the UCI, guaranteed the top teams a place in the leading races.

The Astana team, who were not invited to the Tour de France, are set to join the move.

"If everybody decides so, I can't imagine Astana will not follow," Astana chief press officer Philippe Maertens told Reuters.

Pat McQuaid, president of the UCI, the sport's governing body, said the dissidents were facing exclusion from the international federation.

"We'll deal with that according to the regulations. They face exclusion from the international federation," McQuaid told Reuters.

"It is something we are going to discuss."