UK Cycling in the top flight

Cyclingnews.com reports (UCI confirms USA, Great Briton's top allocations for worlds) that while France and the Netherlands will only be able to field 6-man teams in the 2009 World Championships, the UK will field a full team of 9 riders.

Team sizes are determined by the UCI using some arcane method that Cyclingnews.com don't share with the reader.  However, it's undoubtedly linked to ranking performances.  France and Netherlands gain their places via the Europe Tour, as indicated by the table below:

Qualified nations by the World Classification

1 Spain (9)
2 Italy (9)
3 Australia (9)
4 Germany (9)
5 Russia (9)
6 Luxembourg (9)
7 Belgium (9)
8 Great Britain (9)
9 Norway (9)
10 United States of America (9)

Qualified nations by the UCI Africa Tour

1 South Africa (6)
2 Tunisia (3)

Qualified nations by the UCI America Tour

1 Colombia (6)
2 Venezuela (6)
3 Argentina (3)
4 Brasil (3)
5 Canada (3)

Qualified nations by the UCI Asia Tour

1 Kazakhstan (6)
2 Iran (3)
3 Japan (3)

Qualified nations by the UCI Europe Tour

1 France (6)
2 The Netherlands (6)
3 Slovenia (6)
4 Poland (6)
5 Ukraina (6)
6 Denmark (6)
7 Portugal (3)
8 Estonia (3)
9 Austria (3)
10 Switzerland (6)
11 Slovakia (3)
12 Croatia (3)
13 Hungria (3)
14 Sweden (3)
15 Serbia (3)
16 Latvia (3)

Qualified nation by the UCI Oceania Tour

1 New Zealand (3)

Qualified Countries by the UCI World individual Ranking

Nations which have one rider in the first 100 at World Individual Ranking

Czech Republic (3)
Ireland (3)
Belorussia (3)

Nations which have one rider classified in the World Individual Ranking

Lituania (1)
Finland (1)

Nations qualified by the individual ranking of the UCI Continental Circuits

Namibia (1)
Cuba (1)
Chili (1)
Costa Rica (1)
Ecuador (1)
Uruguay (1)
Bulgaria (1)

You've gotta feel for the teams with one rider, in competition with the 9-rider fields.  And it would be nice to see Cavendish leap out of the pack to take the rainbow jersey!