UCI_ProTour_2007
The 2007 UCI ProTour was the third year of the UCI ProTour system. Following a dispute and power struggle between the UCI and the organisers of the Grand Tours, ASO, RCS and Unipublic, a number of events were run as ProTour events, although without ProTour licences. Races counted towards the ProTour standings, although the organisers were not obliged to invite all 20 UCI ProTeams, notably not inviting Unibet.com.
After numerous doping scandals in previous years, culminating with Floyd Landis' doping scandal in the 2006 Tour de France, the Phonak team was disbanded when the new title sponsor, iShares, decided to cease sponsoring and pull out of cycling. As of December, 2006, the ProTour license abandoned by Phonak has been granted to the Unibet.com, and the Active Bay group of Manolo Saiz has lost its license, which was given to the Astana. The links between the ProTour and the organisers of the three Grand Tours (ASO, RCS MediaGroup and Unipublic) remain strained.
The 2007 Paris–Nice race was the focus of a dispute between (ASO) and the UCI. ASO have requested that the 2007 edition be downgraded from ProTour status to NE (national calendar status), therefore lacking UCI world-ranking points and threatening the participation of the ProTeams.[1] This was resolved to an extent though and Paris–Nice took place as the first ProTour race of the season, although without Unibet.com.
