The world governing body UCI said it had granted a new licence to Team Sky for the 2010-2013 seasons.

Pat McQuaid, the President of the UCI, said: "It's a good thing.

"There is no current British team in the Pro Tour so it's an extension of the globalisation of the sport."

Team Sky will share management with the British track team which topped cycling's medals table at the Beijing Olympics.

The new Radio Shack team being assembled by Lance Armstrong must wait to see if it can join the Pro Tour.

The UCI said in a statement its licence commission would decide on other teams' applications "in the near future."

McQuaid said the UCI would monitor developments with the seven-time Tour de France winner's mentor Johan Bruyneel.

He is expected to manage the Radio Shack squad after his bitter split with Kazakh-backed Astana for which Armstrong rode this season.

McQuaid said: "The licence commission probably wants more clarification on what the exact situation is there."

The Pro Tour included 14 stage races and one-day classics in 2009, including the Dauphine Libere in France and Amstel Gold race in the Netherlands.

It will add the Grands Prix of Quebec and Montreal next season after both races were granted four-year licences.

From 2011, Pro Tour membership will also give teams a big advantage in gaining entry to the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia.

McQuaid said the UCI was finalising talks with organisers of the sport's biggest events to ensure entries will be given based on world ranking points collected in Pro Tour races.

Team Sky has announced the signings of highly regarded Edvald Boasson Hagen, a 22-year-old from Norway, and the experienced Spaniard Juan Antonio Flecha.

It also has been strongly linked with Bradley Wiggins, the triple Olympic gold medallist, whose fourth-place finish at the Tour de France in July, just 37 seconds behind Armstrong in third, equalled the best by a British rider.

Team Sky is widely expected to kick-off their season at the Tour Down Under in Australia in January. 

McQuaid said Sky met all the UCI's requirements of guaranteed financial support, a strong anti-doping policy and high quality riders.

He said: "It's a very large backup team that they have that supports the team that brought all those gold medals on the track.

"The Sky team will push it further and advance that whole sports science support.

"We are getting rid of the doping problem in the sport and we need to ensure there are other correct and legitimate ways that athletes can perform at the highest level."


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