The UCI has selected seven of the eight top-tier women's world teams for the new two-team system that will start in 2020. Mitchelton Scott, home to world champion Annemiek van Fruten, is not included in the list of top-tier teams.

The UCI announced in August that eight teams had applied to become Women's World Teams, and Mitchelton-Scott was among them; the UCI said that the team's application file is still being evaluated.

"Due to a slight delay in one of the documents required by the UCI, the men's WorldTour and women's WorldTour license approvals are still 'under review,'" a Mitchelton Scott representative told Cycling News. 'The dossier has since been submitted and meets all the criteria. We expect to receive confirmation within a few days."

For the first time since the reform of women's cycling, seven teams have achieved Women's World Team status: Canyon-Slam, Alée BTC Ljubljana, CCC-Liv, FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope, Movistar Team Women, Team Sunweb, Trek-. Segafredo's seven teams.

The 2020 season will mark the launch of a new two-tier team system that will change the landscape of professional women's cycling: teams at the two levels will be classified as World Teams and Continental Teams.

Given the new financial requirements, which include a minimum salary of €15,000 (employed) or €24,600 (self-employed) and benefits such as social insurance and maternity leave, there has been much controversy and speculation about how many women's teams would be able to make the jump to the top level.

Teams must also be able to offer a four-year sponsorship guarantee.

The Boels Dolmans, currently the #1 ranked women's team in the world, submitted an application but was rejected because they could not offer a four-year guarantee.

The team's title sponsors, Boels Rentals and Dolmans, announced at the UCI Road World Championships in September that they would end their sponsorship of the team after the 2020 season. The team is looking for new financial support and hopes to become part of a world team in the future.

Over the next three years, the UCI aims to gradually increase the number of women's World Teams to 15 and set a minimum pay scale comparable to the men's Professional Continental, which is currently set at €30,855.

As part of the new women's professional cycling reform, the structure of the event will also change. Previously, there was only one category that included 46 UCI women's teams; the top 15 teams in the UCI world ranking were automatically invited to the Women's World Tour, but these teams are no longer obligated to accept an invitation.

The introduction of a new two-tier system and calendar called the UCI Pro Series, which includes four classes - UCI Women's World Tour, UCI Pro Series, Class 1, and Class 2 - means that top-ranked women's world teams will be required to compete in Women's World Tour events This means that the top class Women's World Teams will be required to compete in the Women's WorldTour event. Organizers may invite Continental level teams based on their UCI ranking to fill the remaining slots.