Cycling’s governing body, the UCI, has launched a wide-ranging consultation with a view to improving the way the sport of professional road cycling is set out and organised, and mining more of its potential.
The aim, says the UCI, is to “develop the sector’s organisational model in order to strengthen its long-term appeal”.
It comes at a time when the sport is still finely balanced, with Visma-Lease a Bike searching for a new sponsor, the Lotto-Intermarché merger leaving riders adrift and other teams collapsing. The UCI clearly wants more stability for professional cycling, and to make it something sponsors can invest in for the longer term – future proof, essentially.
“Media coverage and revenues generated for stakeholders do not yet fully reflect its potential,” the UCI said in a statement. “There is considerable room for improvement, provided that a concerted, balanced approach is developed that is adapted to future challenges, while preserving the historical strengths of the discipline.”
The UCI’s new strategy follows comments by Visma-Lease a Bike boss Richard Plugge last month in which he said that cycling’s business model required attention by teams, organisers and the UCI.
“It is up to the UCI to change the business model, maybe using examples like Formula 1. There are many examples that are better than what we have in cycling,” said the Dutchman
Asked why reform could work now when it has failed before, he replied, “Cycling is in a downward spiral. Whether you like it or not, the urgency becomes bigger every day. Not only teams, but also organisers are getting in trouble. Even relatively big teams are getting in trouble. So you have to make sure cycling makes a big change.”
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The most recent attempt at wide-ranging reform was the Saudi Arabia-backed One Cycling project. Four years in the making, it was ultimately rejected last year by the UCI as being “incompatible with the governance and regulatory framework of the UCI as well as lacking sporting coherence”.
Letters of consultation have been sent out to cycling’s main stakeholders: organisers (the AIOCC), teams (the AIGCP) and riders (the CPA). Any other relevant parties have also been asked to contribute individually.
Views are being sought on issues ranging from pro cycling’s economic model, the calendar, rules of participation, fan engagement, safety, and the credibility of results, with a deadline in place of 30 April.
Following the consultation period the UCI will discuss the results in detail with the stakeholders with a view to creating a sport that, it says, will be “more attractive and sustainable”.
“Road cycling is an extraordinary sport that has thrilled crowds around the world for well over a century,” said UCI president David Lappartient in the statement. “In a context where the role of cycling in society is increasingly recognised, our sport still has considerable potential for development.
“The consultation launched today aims to bring together stakeholders of road cycling to reflect jointly on its evolution. It is only together, under the auspices of the UCI, that we will take our sport to the next level: for greater stability, more growth and improved overall appeal.”
