Former UCI President Brian Cookson has partnered with University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) and BeaconFell Limited to form an elite women`s cycling team in 2019. The team is expected to compete on the UCI Women`s WorldTour, according to a press release. `There has never been a better moment for an initiative like this,` Cookson said. `Over the last couple of years, the public have begun to show a real and hugely increased interest in women`s sport of all kinds.` Although partnerships are forming and the team is being developed, there is still a major sponsorship opportunity available, with the naming rights for the team still to be taken, as noted in the press release.ADVERTISEMENT `Our ambitious plan is that this will not just become the best Women`s Team in cycling, but that it will be a powerful tool for change in sport and in society - with a global roster of top women cyclists, the team will work with funders and sponsors to raise awareness of women`s health and fitness issues, in ways appropriate to each society`s culture, economy, and opportunities.` Cookson announced in November last year that he planned to develop a women`s team, after he lost his bid for the UCI presidency re-election to David Lappartient two months earlier. At that time, he said that he was not ready to disappear from cycling and was in the midst of setting up a structure for a women`s professional team at the UCI Women`s WorldTour level. He also said that the team would meet or exceed new high standards that were likely to be put in place by the UCI for a new two-tier structure for Women`s Teams, which he said was developed during his term as UCI President.
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