The Dark Lords are not happy...

Katusha have waited a whole day before reacting with "anger and surprise" at the UCI refusing them Pro Team status.

Well, they have a point - their rider Rodriguez was the Pro Team number one rider this year, beating even Bradley Wiggins with 692 points: and Katusha as a team were ranked second.

How on earth can the UCI justify not giving them a Pro Team licence for next year?

The Dark Lords of Katusha are not happy.... they are even claiming that this action effectively puts Russia out of the World Tour, as just about all the Russian riders in the peloton are in Katusha.

And this decision has come just five weeks before the start of the season - honestly, what is going on with the UCI? There's a phrase in the UK, "unable to organise a piss-up in a brewery" which is beginning to seem rather appropriate for the UCI.

(Note for non UK readers: "piss-up" = drinking session, ie getting pissed (drunk):  brewery = place where beer is made, ie you'd think that any moron would be able to organise one in the other. End of note.)

So what's going on, then? Did someone make a mistake? Will there be a retraction? Will Argos be unceremoniously shoved out to make room for Katusha? Will - *shocked intake of breath* - Stinkoff be the ones to be demoted?