The UCI rankings have taken a large deal of attention and importance this season with the promotion/relegation battle, however the rankings can deal blows to some other teams in the coming years if a current proposal is to be accepted.
A discussion has been opened in June in the Professional Cycling Council (PCC) which has proposed the establishment of criteria in which teams could receive Wildcards to receive Grand Tour wildcards. This would see only the Top50 teams eligible for 2023, Top40 for 2024 and Top30 for 2025. That however would limit the countries' teams from racing, as is the example of Burgos-BH and Euskaltel-Euskadi who would be excluded from contention for the Vuelta a Espana.
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In future seasons this could also harm other teams at both Giro d'Italia and Tour de France, seeing as only 10 teams could request wildcards (assuming all 18 World Tour teams, and the 2 automatic ProTeam wildcards would be accepted). Naturally, the news did not fall well for all teams, having launched a counter-proposal.
It is reported by Relevo that this included the extension of a Grand Tour peloton from 176 to 200 riders which would allow three more teams to receive wildcards - however taking a step back in the modern decision to shorten the size of the peloton. It has also been argued that this would be harmful for many teams which have not taken the rankings into consideration until now. The final decision is set to be known at the end of the ongoing month.
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