Cycling: Lotto-Intermarché and NSN secure WorldTour license.

The International Cycling Union (UCI) has granted a World=Tour license, valid for three years, to Lotto-Intermarché, a team formed from the merger of two Belgian teams, as well as to NSN, which succeeds the controversial Israel-Premier Tech.

Lotto had secured promotion to the World=Tour, but ended up joining forces with Intermarché-Wanty, which also belonged to the top tier of international cycling, a merger project announced in October and confirmed this Wednesday among the 18 teams licensed for the next three years.

Allocation of the 14 UCI Women’s WorldTour licenses and 18 UCI WorldTour licenses for the 2026-2028 period, and registration of the UCI Women’s Pro=Teams and UCI Pro=Teams for the 2026 season https://famouspredict.com

— UCI_media (@UCI_media) December 10, 2025

Following numerous pro-Palestinian protests, particularly during the last Vuelta a España , Israel-Premier Tech changed its name to NSN and moved its headquarters to Switzerland, although it retains much of the structure from recent seasons.

The Dutch team Picnic-PostNL received its UCI license, but only for 2026, and must meet certain financial criteria to obtain an extension for the following two years.

Also promoted to the World=Tour, the Norwegian team Uno-X secured its license for the next three years, while the French team Cofidis, which was relegated, and Q36.5 submitted their applications, but, with the number of slots filled, they will continue as ProTeams.