Uno-X knocks out Cofidis with victory in Veneto and can now truly dream of WorldTour status

Cofidis had already been in a fierce battle with the pro-continental Uno-X in recent weeks. The Norwegian team had a great 2025 and was in a position earlier than expected to dream of WorldTour status from 2026. After this season, the rankings from the past three seasons will be taken into account, and 18 teams will receive a WorldTour license for 2026-2028.

Cofidis had secured a license for the highest level of cycling in 2020 and was among the top 18 teams in the UCI Team Ranking at the end of 2022. As a result, the French team was awarded a WorldTour license for the period 2023-2025. It started well, but 2024 and 2025 were less than satisfactory.

Despite Cofidis having the right to start in all WorldTour races over the past three seasons, including the Grand Tours and five Monuments, pro-continental teams with big ambitions sprang up. Tudor and Q36.5 joined later, but Uno-X Mobility competed at full throttle for the full three seasons. And the Norwegian team jumped ahead of Cofidis earlier this season.

While Cofidis scored more than 10,000 UCI points in 2023, in the following two seasons, that total did not exceed 8,000. Ion Izagirre finished third in the Japan Cup on Sunday, bringing his team closer to Uno-X, but they responded with a fifth-place finish by Søren Wærenskjold, who was called back from vacation, in the Chrono des Nations.

And so, after three years of racing, the difference between Uno-X Mobility and Cofidis on Sunday afternoon was only 208 points. A difference that could be overcome if Cofidis won the Veneto Classic. And then no Uno-X riders would be allowed to finish in the top fifteen. Oh yes, and of course, there was also a stage winner to be determined, but that was of secondary importance.

It was already clear before the final hour of racing in northern Italy that it would all go wrong for Cofidis. A strong group of eleven had broken away from the rest, including two Uno-X riders, Fredrik Dversnes and Sakarias Koller Løland. Dylan Teuns defended Cofidis' interests. Also on board? Florian Vermeersch (UAE) and Diego Ulissi (Astana), among others.

With 10 kilometers to go, we still had the unpaved and so-called Diesel climb ahead of us, with 1.2 kilometers at a steep 10 percent gradient. At first, it was Davide de Pretto who seemed to be going for a solo breakaway on behalf of Jayco AlUla, but when he had to dismount on the cobbled climb, Ulissi took off. However, he made a mistake on the descent. Conclusion: sprint! And who won? Uno-X, with Sakarias Koller Løland!

A perfect statement for the UCI ranking. Uno-X can now hope for WorldTour status, as nineteenth on the list and with the Lotto-Intermarché merger imminent. Cofidis will become pro-continental from 2026 anyway, but is among the top three in the ProTour from 2023 to 2025. That's why the team can comfort itself with the right to start in all WorldTour races.