Cycling’s world governing body, the UCI, and Tour de France organizers heralded a new era in the sport on Thursday by announcing an end to their four years of conflict.

The end to the conflict also concerns organizers of the other two major tours, the Tour of Italy and the Tour of Spain, who have also been at loggerheads with the UCI in recent years.

The UCI said: “This agreement marks the start of a new, positive era for the whole cycling family,” adding they would seek to end sanctions against the French federation early on Friday.

Organizers of the three major tours have been in conflict with the UCI since the establishment in 2004 of the ProTour circuit.

The Pro Tour series, the brainchild of former UCI chief Hein Verbruggen prior to his departure, has been on shaky ground following a split with major race organizers over unresolved issues.

The absence of such flagship races as Paris-Nice, the Tour de France, and a number of big one-day classics such as Paris-Roubaix has effectively left the Pro Tour racing calendar split into several categories.

In March earlier this year, the Paris-Nice was held as a French federation event outside the auspices of the UCI.

McQuaid hit back, threatening the riders and teams with sanctions if they took part. In the end, all of the teams invited took part.

UCI president Pat McQuaid spoke to AFP about this agreement. “It is based on the proposal which was announced in August concerning a world cycling calendar (with historic races and ProTour events) and a ranking system.

“The UCI is going to have a total revision of the system with its partners,” adding: “The most important thing, is that we work together. We are going to discuss the rules, the calendar, etc.”

McQuaid added the different families of cycling would find themselves in commissions to discuss the various problems.