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What are the budgets of the WorldTour cycling teams in 2024?

Mathew mitchell.

• Published on November 29, 2023
• in Men's Cycling

Cycling teams often keep their actual budget figures under wraps, making it challenging to ascertain precise financial details. While Richard Plugge from Jumbo-Visma recently hinted that they might rank around 5th or 6th in terms of budgets this season, such statements are usually shrouded in ambiguity. Determining exact budget figures is a bit like navigating through a maze of smoke and mirrors, and any estimates we provide come with a margin of error. We’ve seen reports that the new Decathlon sponsorship of AG2R La Mondiale has increased their budget by a little bit already for 2024.

The UCI informs teams about their percentile ranking when it comes to disclosing budget information, giving team managers a rough idea of where they stand compared to their counterparts. However, this information remains closely guarded, resembling a well-kept secret within the cycling fraternity.

A cycling team’s budget encompasses various expenditures related to its day-to-day operations. These include:

Salaries for Riders and Staff: A substantial chunk of a team’s budget is typically earmarked for compensating riders and support staff. This not only covers the riders themselves but also extends to coaches, trainers, mechanics, and other essential personnel.

Travel and Accommodations: Professional cycling outfits embark on extensive journeys during the racing season, incurring significant expenses. Teams are responsible for footing the bill for airfare, hotels, and other travel-related costs for both riders and staff.

Equipment and Gear: To stay competitive, cycling teams must invest in top-quality bikes, helmets, apparel, and other equipment for their riders. Acquiring premium gear can be a substantial financial commitment.

Race Fees and Incidental Costs: Participation in races entails covering entry fees and various incidentals such as food and transportation expenses. These costs are an integral part of a team’s budget planning.

Marketing and Advertising: Many cycling teams enjoy sponsorships from companies seeking to promote their products or services through team associations. Consequently, teams may allocate a portion of their budget towards marketing and advertising initiatives to showcase their sponsors effectively.

Miscellaneous Expenses: Beyond the major categories, there are numerous miscellaneous expenses that can accumulate swiftly. These include expenses related to team uniforms, medical needs, and insurance coverage.

It’s important to note that the budgets of WorldTour cycling teams can exhibit significant disparities, influenced by factors such as team size, sponsorship deals, and their performance in the professional cycling arena. The intricacies of these financial aspects remain veiled in secrecy, leaving fans and pundits to make educated guesses about the financial muscle behind their favourite teams.

2024 WorldTour team budgets ranking

• UAE Team Emirates: Estimated budget of €55 million to €60 million.
• Ineos Grenadiers: Estimated budget of €50 million to €55 million.
• Jumbo-Visma: Estimated budget of €50 million to €55 million.
• Lidl-Trek: Estimated budget of €30 million to €35 million.
• Soudal-QuickStep: Estimated budget of €25 million to €30 million.
• Bahrain Victorious: Estimated budget of €25 million to €30 million.
• Bora-Hansgrohe: Estimated budget of €25 million to €30 million.
• AG2R Citroën Team: Estimated budget of €25 million to €30 million.
• Movistar Team: Estimated budget of €20 million to €25 million.
• Groupama-FDJ: Estimated budget of €20 million to €25 million.
• Alpecin-Deceuninck: Estimated budget of €15 million to €25 million.
• Team dsm-firmenich: Estimated budget of €15 million to €25 million.
• Jayco-AlUla: Estimated budget of €15 million to €25 million.
• Astana Qazaqstan Team: Estimated budget of €18 million to €25 million.
• EF Education-EasyPost: Estimated budget of €18 million to €22 million.
• Cofidis: Estimated budget of €15 million to €20 million.
• Arkéa-Samsic: Estimated budget of €12 million to €20 million.
• Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux: Estimated budget of €12 million to €18 million.

It is important to note that these estimates are not official and can vary from year to year. Additionally, some teams may have additional sources of funding or sponsorships that are not reflected in these budgets.

Related Posts

WorldTour Team Budgets: A Glimpse into the Financial Powerhouses of Procycling

The world of professional cycling is not only about riders conquering challenging terrains and sprinting to victory; it’s also a complex business where budgets play a pivotal role in determining a team’s success. While precise financial figures are often closely guarded, we can provide you with some estimated budgets of the top WorldTour teams in 2023. Let’s take a closer look at these financial powerhouses and their main sponsors. See the overview tables at the bottom of this article!

UAE Team Emirates (Budget: €50 million)

UAE Team Emirates, with a generous budget of €50 million, is one of the heavyweights in the WorldTour. Their main sponsor, the United Arab Emirates, consistently invests in cycling, with a focus on promoting the sport and tourism in the region. The team has been successful in recent years, boasting star riders like Tadej Pogačar.

Jumbo-Visma (Budget: €50 million)

UAE Team Emirates, with a €50 million budget, finds its financial counterpart in Jumbo-Visma. This dynamic team carries the backing of two prominent sponsors, Jumbo, a Dutch supermarket chain, and Visma, a Norwegian software company. Renowned for their prowess in Grand Tours and classics, Jumbo-Visma has been a force to be reckoned with in the world of cycling. However, the imminent departure of Jumbo in 2024 has thrown the team into the spotlight, sparking a whirlwind of speculation. Recent weeks have seen headlines dominated by potential scenarios, including talks of merging with Soudal – Quickstep, the prospect of Amazon entering the scene, and the latest buzz surrounding PON’s increased involvement within the team. The future for Jumbo-Visma promises to be a captivating chapter in the cycling world.

Ineos Grenadiers (Budget: €45 million)

Ineos Grenadiers, formerly Team Sky, has a budget of €45 million. The team’s main sponsor is Ineos, a British multinational chemicals company. Ineos has played a significant role in reshaping the team and supporting star riders like Egan Bernal.

Lidl – Trek (Budget: €35 million)

Lidl, a major German supermarket chain, co-sponsors the Lidl – Trek team with an estimated budget of €35 million. Trek Bicycle Corporation is a well-known American bicycle manufacturer. This partnership reflects the global nature of cycling sponsorship. *Note their budget increased just recently by Lidl stepping in just before the Tour de France.

BORA – hansgrohe (Budget: €28 million)

With a budget of €28 million, BORA – hansgrohe is a competitive force in the WorldTour. BORA, a German manufacturer of cooktops and extractor hoods, and hansgrohe, a sanitary fittings manufacturer, are the team’s main sponsors.

Soudal – Quick-Step (Budget: €26 million)

Belgian company Soudal, specializing in adhesives and sealants, sponsors the Soudal – Quick-Step team. Their budget stands at an estimated €26 million. The team is known for its successes in classic races and sprints.

Bahrain – Victorious (Budget: €25 million)

Bahrain – Victorious operates with a budget of €25 million. Bahrain, the team’s title sponsor, is dedicated to promoting the sport and the country as a cycling destination. The team boasts strong climbers and has made its presence felt in Grand Tours.

AG2R Citroën Team (Budget: €23 million)

AG2R Citroën Team, with an estimated budget of €23 million, is backed by AG2R La Mondiale, a French insurance and pension company, and Citroën, a prominent French automobile manufacturer.

Movistar Team (Budget: €23 million)

Movistar Team, with a budget also estimated at €23 million, is sponsored by Telefónica, a Spanish telecommunications giant. The team has been known for its strong performances in stage races.

Team DSM – Firmenich (Budget: €22 million)

Team DSM – Firmenich, with an estimated budget of €22 million. The team has a focus on developing young talents with a unique approach.

Groupama – FDJ (Budget: €21 million)

Groupama, a French insurance company, co-sponsors the Groupama – FDJ team. Their budget is estimated at €21 million. The team is known for nurturing French talent.

EF Education-Easypost (Budget: €20 million)

EF Education-Easypost operates with a budget of €20 million. EF Education First, an international education company, sponsors the team, reflecting the team’s global vision and commitment to education.

Astana Qazaqstan Team (Budget: €19 million)

Astana Qazaqstan Team, with a budget of €19 million, has consistently represented Kazakhstan in the WorldTour. The team focuses on developing Kazakh talents and is known for its aggressive racing style.

Alpecin-Deceuninck (Budget: €18 million)

Alpecin, a German hair care brand, and Deceuninck, a Belgian manufacturer of PVC windows and doors, co-sponsor the Alpecin-Deceuninck team with an estimated budget of €18 million.

Team Jayco AlUla (Budget: €18 million)

Team Jayco AlUla has an estimated budget of €18 million. Jayco, an Australian recreational vehicle manufacturer, is the primary sponsor, and AlUla, a region in Saudi Arabia, supports the team’s ambitions.

Cofidis (Budget: €17 million)

Cofidis, a French consumer credit company, sponsors the Cofidis team with an estimated budget of €17 million. The team has a strong focus on sprinters and classics.

Intermaché – Circus – Wanty (Budget: €15 million)

Intermarché, a French supermarket chain, Circus, a Belgian e-commerce platform, and Wanty, a Belgian steel construction company, co-sponsor the Intermarché – Circus – Wanty team with an estimated budget of €15 million.

Team Arkéa Samsic (Budget: €13 million)

Team Arkéa Samsic operates with an estimated budget of €13 million. Arkéa, a French banking and insurance company, and Samsic, a French facility management group, are the team’s main sponsors.

Please note that these budget figures are approximations and can vary from year to year based on sponsorships, partnerships, and other financial arrangements. Nonetheless, they provide insights into the financial power of WorldTour teams and their sponsors’ commitment to the sport.

Big shoutout to the r/peloton community, especially Adryy8 and Innor, for helping me come up with fairly accurate estimates for each team!

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The average salary in the World Tour is 449,000 Euros, as revealed by the UCI; average team budgets also disclosed

The values associated with cycling have always been an enigma. This remains true when it comes to cyclists’ salaries, but the UCI has provided details about the budgets of WorldTour teams.

Total World Tour Budget

Naturally, everyone had to submit a budget to the international cycling association before 2024, and the Flemish newspaper Het Nieuwsblad managed to obtain it, giving a good idea of how much money is involved in cycling.

Not directly by team, but the totals. These numbers show that the total budget of the eighteen WorldTour teams combined is 499 million Euros.

Average Team Budgets

The budget for WorldTour teams has been increasing for a few years, rising from 379 million Euros in 2021 to the current 499 million Euros.

The average budget of a WorldTour team is 28 million Euros. This picture is somewhat distorted as there are some major teams that significantly exceed this value (UAE Team Emirates, INEOS Grenadiers, Visma-Lease a Bike, and recently also Lidl-Trek).

Of this budget, 72% goes to the team (where athletes receive the majority). 13% is allocated to logistics-related matters and the remaining 55 staff members (on average) per team (likely including flights but also Training Camps).

Average and Median Salaries

The average salary of a WorldTour cyclist is 449,000 Euros. This picture is also a bit distorted because it includes big winners like Primoz Roglic and Tadej Pogacar, who earn millions and elevate these figures.

When we look at the median salary, excluding the big stars of the World Tour, this value is significantly reduced. The UCI has reported that the median earnings would be around 220,000 Euros.

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Ineos Team Budget

The accounts for the Ineos Grenadiers team have been published, the chance to look at the budget for a World Tour team. Having rounded up the accounts of several other World Tour teams there’s also a quick but incomplete comparison.

€50.1 million was the budget for the year ending December 2020, as the cropped screengrab from the latest set of accounts from Tour Racing Limited shows. It’s down by €678k on 2019, the first time the team budget has fallen.

Given Covid-19, the shrunken calendar, reduced travel and cancelled training camps you’d expect expenditure to have fallen in this exceptional season; the surprise is it didn’t fall more. Other teams had to slash budgets, some slashed rider wages. They made two big signings in Richard Carapaz and Rohan Dennis; out went Wout Poels.

2020 was still a mixed season for Ineos, the first year since 2014 when they didn’t win the Tour de France, even if apparently Michał Kwiatkowski and Richard Carapaz’s shared stage victory generated a lot of valuable publicity. But they got the Giro with Tao Geoghegan Hart and Filippo Ganna’s world championship win was largely an Ineos project.

This note from the account shows where the budget comes from, sponsorship as in cash received from Ineos, but also from other sponsors like Pinarello, Castelli and others who pay to associate with the team and to supply them. There is also “value in kind” which is accounting jargon for goods give instead of cash. In the Team Sky days the accounts broke down this revenue into more sources. Teams do get income from other sources such as expenses from race organisers, prize money and appearance money payments for any star riders are often handled via the team and presumably this is shoved into the “sponsorship revenue line”.

Otherwise there’s not much else to note from the accounts. The notes show the team had 39 employees and a wage bill of €3.7 million but this is for staff rather than riders, who are instead hired as contractors selling their service, rather than employed in the traditional sense. Cycling teams have few assets, there’s little point owning property or financial assets and so the balance sheet is usually not much interest; the accounts show they took on some new leases for property and vehicles and that’s about as big as it gets. It’s a rare look into the budget of a team but there’s not much beyond the top line number.

For comparison here are the top line budgets from other audited World Tour team accounts from the year ending 2019, plus Cofidis. It’s only a selection but the French and Belgian squads do file accounts, while others are not public; often numbers that do the rounds on other websites are wrong because the numbers for the teams that do publish accounts are wrong which suggests the figures for teams that don’t must be mistaken too. Still the likes of UAE, Jumbo-Visma and Bahrain should be more than €20 million. Also headline comparisons are just that, there’s nuance when comparing international businesses with tax a big one: put simply a Euro spent in France doesn’t go as far .

Ineos has had the biggest budget in the World Tour for many years and by a long way but right now we’re seeing the proof that money can’t buy success. Budget correlates strongly with performance but it doesn’t guarantee it and Ineos may be the strongest team in stage races across the season but they don’t have the best rider for the Tour. UAE have Tadej Pogačar under a long term contract and have signed Spanish teenager Juan Ayuso on a similar deal too. Sky/Ineos tried to sign Remco Evenepoel but he is linked to Quickstep for years to come. 18 year old Marco Brenner has a four deal at DSM. Bora-Hansgrohe are planning something similar with the Belgian junior Cian Uijtdebroeks. Mining the Under-19 ranks can deliver but not all diamond juniors turn out to become flawless pros, some riders can be physically mature for their age and don’t progress; for others the mental side is difficult, the job doesn’t turn out to be what they hoped for. So it can be an expensive option on future talent, spending millions to gradually bring a rider on who may not make it and if they do reach their peak… a team like Ineos can wait for the five year deal to expire and sign them they’re at the ripe old age of 23. Besides Ineos already have Tom Pidcock and also Carlos Rodriguez and both are being given plenty of leeway and time, Pidcock is racing offroad while Rodriguez is combining racing with studying at university.

Pogačar and Egan Bernal are likely to race the Vuelta together but it’s next year’s Tour that looks like the big contest and UAE will want to strengthen their squad for next year, they’ve managed this year but just and had to pull Brandon McNulty from the Giro. It did seem João Almeida was going to Bora-Hansgrohe but maybe it’s UAE now. For all Ineos’s struggles in this Tour, they’ve won the Catalunya, Romandie, Dauphiné, Suisse and of course the Giro but they’ll be looking at their squad, they used to unload older riders, now a third of the team is over 30 and there’s a rebuilding project for the medium term here too.

Lastly budget isn’t just for recruiting talent, retention matters. On other teams a rider might be tempted to play their own cards mid-race in the hope they can raise their market value and get a bigger contract elsewhere. A well-funded squad like Ineos can offer bigger contracts than they’d get elsewhere to start with and this buys loyalty and reliability and helps explains why some riders are happy to be workers here rather than lead another squad.

• Ineos accounts via companieshouse.gov.uk
• Exchange rates at 31 December 2020: €1 EUR = GB£ 0.89 = US$1.22

28 thoughts on “Ineos Team Budget”

Interesting stuff, thanks for posting it. Gotta wonder what the UAE budget is currently? And how much more it’ll be for 2022? Have you data to show (what I think) is the massive increase in spending by Sir Dave’s team since they began? 50 f__king million euros now? For that they got a Giro win in the past two seasons..is that enough? Ganna IMHO is as much or more a product of the Italian national team operation than INEOS, one of their increasingly rare success stories. It will be interesting to see how UAE develops as they add more and more big-name, expensive riders ala SKYNEOS. Will it be King Pogacar with others only in supporting roles or will they let someone else try to win a GT? Meanwhile, how long with the fracking king keep shoveling money into Sir Dave’s coffers if his team doesn’t dominate Le Beeg Shew anymore?

i don’t think comparing ineos to sky c. 2013-2018 is the right comparison, maybe c. 2009-2012 where they built the team that dominated. i get the sense they’re working out how to get bernal and carapaz into the wiggins-froome-thomas style of leadership and refined talent. additionally, cycling in new lieutenant stype talent as the old guard nears retirement is tricky business.

i get the feeling ineos is in the transition and will probably be hitting pretty hard in 2022 or 2023.

“Have you data to show (what I think) is the massive increase in spending by Sir Dave’s team since they began?” – Forgive me if INRNG has updated post your comment, but isn’t that what the first bar chart shows?

Correct, sorry I didn’t look close enough at that graph 🙁 It’s an amazing increase in spending, too bad we can’t know what all the others are spending.

With a budget that size surely they could fund a women’s team?

I think it’s being or been looked at, someone connected once mentioned this but the social media post vanished, it shouldn’t have been leaked. But if it is happening it’ll be announced well ahead, it’ll take time to build up.

But not all teams have to do this, it’s good to have some original women’s teams rather than cloned men’s squads. It also depends on what the sponsor wants, demographics, eg a good choice for Dutch supermarket; but maybe not what a petrochemicals billionaire wants.

I don’t doubt that is was thoroughly planned, but from the outside, it felt like the Jumbo women’s team was set up in about 5 seconds – and that we knew of Vos joining 5 seconds later! It felt like the equivalent of a producer yelling ‘get Spielberg on the phone’ at Sundance.

Depending on how you want to drive up hype, maybe drip-feeding info to keep the story alive could be a good thing PR-wise?

It also feels like big teams get criticized quite a bit for not having a women’s team or giving money to women’s cycling. I don’t know if the objective would be the extra publicity from women’s sport (not many races, even fewer headlines) or rather to appear progressive and generous to (mens) cycling fans and hope people have an easier time forgetting about the fracking chemicals.

I agree Anonymous, they can probably just look under the seat cushions and in the team cars and motorcoaches and find enough pounds and Euros to fund a decent womens WT team!

“Often numbers that do the rounds on other websites are wrong because the numbers for the teams that do publish accounts are wrong”

Are the various rider salary figures making the rounds generally accurate? E.g.: https://cycling.today/who-are-the-highest-paid-cyclists-in-2020-here-is-the-top-20/

“…some riders are happy to be workers here rather than lead another squad.” 2.5M can bring a lot of happiness. C.f. Kwiato, who must be happier with 2.5M than potentially dozens more pro wins elsewhere.

Salary numbers are not published of course, so they’re even more hard to know and this same list seems to float around all sorts of websites, it gets copy-pasted and we can’t work out the source. Then there’s salary and often image rights, bonuses, it’s more complicated than one number. But I’m pretty sure one headline number is wrong so some of the numbers must be ballpark guesses.

I realise its missing all the squads backed by Middle Eastern Oil states but the gap in that bar graph is shocking.

I hereby start the pointless and ill informed speculation that Cav, for all his fulsome praise of Quick Step this year, will be off back to INEOS for one last big payday next year, and INEOS/Rawlings will willingly pay it for the kudos of setting a British record for TDF wins. Because lets face it not even a fit Bernal will be a match for Pog in next years TDF, and all the Dauphines, P-Ns and Romandies in the world do not float the boat for a billionaire sugar daddy.

The budget gap is odd, what exactly is expected in return for such generosity I wonder? Maybe Froome’s dominance led the new owner to think that Grand Tour wins were directly correlated with cash. I would say it’s good that at the end of day they have the money to invest in the wellbeing of their staff, but if much of the outlay is to consultancies/agencies it’s difficult to conclude that they are doing that.

The team sponsorship is, in effect, marketing expenditure from the parent company. Ineos is apparently made of “around 20 separate business holdings “, I wonder if each contributes a portion to the cycling team? The UAE team reported in December 2019 that its cycling team generated over $400m worth of marketing value for less than a 20th of the cost. Since then, they’ve had the Tour win in 2020 and are on the cusp of a second victory. Whilst the success of the riders obviously affects the marketing return that the team generates, the entire venture is a very cost-effective means of marketing expenditure for Ineos. “Sports washing” as some may say in Ineos’ case.

Cavendish could also decide to retire on a career-high, in green on the podium of the Champs-Elysees after his 35th+ stage win after a comeback nobody expected…

On the financial subject, just saw that Cycling Tips sold out to the ravenous OUTSIDE conglomerate, make sure you get a good price out of these plutocrats when they come for INNER RING ! I have a cycle tour company they could buy, but I really don’t need the money badly enough to see it gobbled up along with Velonews, Peloton and the rest. It’s gonna be like Coke, Fanta or Dasani…if you’re into cycling they’re gonna get your money (or whatever) any way you look at it.

I don’t know if this qualifies as selling out Larry – not sure exactly, but I doubt anyone made enough on this purchase to sail away into the sunset on a 90-foot yacht being served caviar from a band of adoring groupies.

As Inrng can undoubtedly relate, the market for online cycling news outlets is hardly a booming trade. Let’s be happy for Wade and the group over there – although I think Wade sold his stake previously.

Lol – sorry, I also just saw your comment about Coke/Fanta/Dasani – not exactly an apples-apples comparison. These are billion dollar brands… CyclingTips’ purchase is a tiny fraction of that.

I actually sent congratulations to Wade on this, but IMHO Pinarello sold-out to some petro-sheiks, same for Colnago and most recently Columbus/Cinelli while OUTSIDE gobbles up the cycling enthusiast press at a rapid rate. As to “sell-out” I find it interesting that CT and VN have recently had “tin-cups” out there begging readers to fund their operations with promises of how great it all will be if the readers pony up the loot…now they’ve cashed in it seems. I can’t see it as anything but a loss for the readers as it’s hard not to see consolidation on the horizon OR you get the Coke, Fanta, Dasani equivalent – the label might be different but the same people get the money no matter which one you choose. I wouldn’t hold it against Mr Inner Ring if he cashed-in/sold-out since I suggested it 🙂

Whoa! Steady there. We need to see the small print about the UGC buy-out terms before we get all keen on this. Who knows, we could all be expert commentators about some other subject entirely if the right offer was made.

I thought Pinarello was sold to LVMH, or was it the Walmart Hire? Well, not that these are any better.

CT merged with BikeExchange in December 2015, and was then sold to Pinkbike in March 2019. Not really certain if Wade had any part in the sale to Outside.

Geez, it’s worse than I thought! Whoever they are I hope the guys who put the work/equity in them in the beginning at least get a nice paycheck from the sell-out/cash-in because I don’t see the plutocrat/oligarchs at OUTSIDE doing anything but “consolidation” which IMHO means taking a big swing of the axe at a lot of jobs. Wonder what the guys who fled VN to CT when it was gobbled up feel like now that the monster’s come for their new jobs too? Is CyclingNews next or does OUTSIDE already own that too?

Cyclingnews belongs to a UK company called Future. It’s interesting as Future used to be magazines and then websites and it still does this but it’s increasingly moving into a consumer direction, it bought a price comparison company recently. It’s why the CN pieces often have affiliated links and articles about “Amazon Prime Day” and “Black Friday Deals” etc and if there’s an article about a rider or team there are links to buy the bike, kit or something related.

As for Outside buying Velonews and Cycling Tips it’s interesting to note that Specialized, via its investment arm, now owns a slice of these sites, it has invested in Zwift too.

In addition to Specialized, Lance Armstrong’s Venture Fund is also part owner.

Given how punishing it is in France to have highly paid staff with high tax rate plus effective payroll tax i wonder how french teams can compete. Do they register the teams in another country or somehow have the riders register in another country to escape it. If they do pay full tax rates then i solute them for the success they manage because it must be difficult to afford many high paid riders. It must make it difficult to have a good back office setup with the budget so stretched.

It’s pretty much the full rate for the French teams, there’s none of the foreign registration. Teams do shop around jurisdictions, for example Astana is mean to be Kazakh but run out of Luxembourg which is no advert for trying to run a business in Kazakhstan. Quickstep is a Belgian team and I’ve got their Belgian accounts for the numbers above, but run through a Luxembourg office because they can, while rivas Lotto-Soudal can’t because they’re sponsored by their national lottery and so have to be 100% Belgian.

With the French effective payroll tax, do they only apply to riders based in France riding for a French team? Say Pinot riding for FDJ?

Or do they apply to not France domicile riders riding for a French team as well? Say GVA riding for AG2R?

If the latter does not apply, would that explain French team’s enthusiasm for foreign riders?

Normally it applies to all, so same for Cosnefroy or GVA, Gaudu or Küng.

It is expensive but it is stable. French could rely on the money paid into the system to keep paying riders last year and the top teams today have been going for a quarter of a century.

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The tour de france is mystifying; so is the business of cycling.

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The Tour de France, the most elite bike race in the world, kicks off this Saturday. 176 of the best cyclists in the world will race nearly 2,200 miles across 21 stages and climb over 170,000 feet of elevation into the clouds of the highest mountains in the Pyrenees and Alps. The effort involved can be mind-boggling. So can the business side of cycling.

The Regulator and the Promoter

There are numerous actors and entities involved in professional cycling and their complex interrelationships underlie races like the Tour.

The sport of cycling is regulated by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), a non-governmental, non-profit association, based in Switzerland, which is recognized by the International Olympic Committee as the governing body for cycling. The UCI, like all international governing bodies in sports, is governed by a complex hierarchy of committees and executives from around the world.

The UCI is responsible for organizing, regulating, and sanctioning cycling events of various kinds for both men and women of different ages all over the world. The WorldTour is the UCI’s elite professional men’s road cycling tour. Teams and riders participate in races on the WorldTour calendar and earn points and are ranked based on their performance. The Tour de France, as one would expect, is a major contributor to those rankings.

The Tour itself is put on by the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), a French sports marketing and event management organization. The ASO’s crown jewel is the Tour de France but it organizes 29 other cycling events, including several important preparatory races for the Tour (such as the Critérium du Dauphiné), the Vuelta a España (another Grand Tour), as well as the Paris Marathon. It also operates the week-long Tour de France Femmes for women in August.

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To be clear, the ASO and UCI are separate entities with sometimes divergent interests. The ASO organizes nine of the 35 races on the WorldTour calendar and understandably seeks to maximize interest and revenue associated with its events, most of which take place in France. Of particular note, the ASO controls and sells the broadcast rights to the Tour to networks around the world. While the specifics of those deals are not clear, they certainly bring in tens of millions of dollars a year to the ASO. Perhaps not surprisingly, the ASO and UCI have long-standing disputes over who controls the sport and reaps any related financial benefits.

Aside from the Tour, the remaining WorldTour events are organized by a variety of parties, including the UCI and organizers in the many countries where races take place.

The WorldTour calendar does not include any events in the United States. The Tour of Utah (2004-19), Tour of California (2006-19), and USA Pro Cycling Challenge in Colorado (2011-15) were former races that attracted some of the best riders in the world. Nevertheless, the organizers ultimately found them financially unsustainable.

The next group worth mentioning are the teams. To the uninitiated, it might be confusing that cycling has teams, since only a single rider can win a race. However, teams are just as essential to victory in cycling as they are in soccer, football, or any other team sport.

Professional cycling teams consist of approximately 30 riders, eight of whom are chosen to be a part of the Tour de France roster. The composition of that roster will depend on the team’s goals. A handful of teams will have a rider they believe capable of winning the Tour de France’s General Classification (GC), signified by the yellow jersey. So the roster will be constructed toward that goal, including by stocking the roster with elite climbers and other riders (collectively known as domestiques) who can support the leader in a variety of ways.

The best teams protect their elite riders by encircling them and keeping them near the front of the race to minimize the chances of crashes. Elite domestiques will lead their stars up the mountains, breaking the wind and chasing down any attacks from competitors.

Other teams are formed around sprinters who try to win flat stages and win the green (points) jersey. Here too the team is tremendously important. In the closing miles of flat stages, the teams with the best sprinters push to the front, often hitting speeds of 40-50 miles per hour. The team’s riders will “lead-out” the sprinter by giving their maximum effort before dropping off and unleashing the sprinter toward the finish line. The Manx sprinter Mark Cavendish has 34 all time Tour de France stage wins, tied for the most all time, in large part due to the incredible lead-out teams he has had in his career.

If your team has neither a GC rider or a sprinter, it might try to win the King of the Mountains polka dot jersey or to win individual stages via creative and aggressive racing strategies.

There are 18 WorldTour teams and 17 ProTour teams. ProTour teams have smaller budgets, staffs, and schedules than their WorldTour counterparts. Beginning with the 2022 season, every three years the two lowest performing WorldTour teams are relegated to the ProTour and the top two ProTour teams are promoted to the WorldTour.

The idea of a “team” though is often remarkably in flux. Teams are identified by their corporate sponsors, which fund the vast majority of a team’s budget, ranging from about $ 10 to $40 million . Sponsorship contracts with teams are often only one or two years and renewals are closely tied to team performance. Consequently, on an annual basis, some teams are desperately looking to retain or find new sponsors in order to keep the team going another year or to avoid being relegated. Inevitably, some teams fold or merge with other teams. Team finances have historically been so shaky that the UCI Regulations require each WorldTour team to obtain a guarantee from a bank to fund its operations.

Additionally, the teams conduct some joint efforts through an organization known as the Association Internationale des Groupes Cyclistes Professionnels (AIGCP), discussed further below. Nevertheless, the AIGCP has no role in organizing races and has minimal influence. Moreover, teams operate out of numerous countries and thus often have cultural differences of opinion on various issues (doping being a notable historical example).

Finally, we get to the riders. Cyclists are represented by the Cyclistes Professionnels Associés (CPA), a non-profit association, but not a labor union under the law of any country.

The CPA negotiates “ Joint Agreements ” with the AIGCP setting forth some minimum terms and conditions of employment, including various insurance coverages. Cycling is a physically grueling sport, where the term “ suffering ” is a point of pride. Unfortunately, most cyclists are not terribly well-paid for their efforts.

The current agreement sets the 2024 minimum salary for a WorldTeam rider at € 68,957 (about $74,300) for veterans and € 55,793 ($60,100) for rookies. ProTeam veterans and rookies are entitled to a minimum of € 55,279 ($59,600) and € 46,234 ($49,800), respectively.

Of course, the stars of the sport make considerably more. Two-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar earns a reported € 6 million ($6.47 million) from his team, UAE Team Emirates.

Yet, like the AIGCP, the CPA has little control over the sport, with minimal leverage to negotiate with the ASO or UCI. Indeed, the height of rider authority has been the occasional instance in which the riders “ neutralize ” a race stage due to unsafe conditions, meaning that they collectively agree to ride to the finish line at a moderate pace without contest.

Pogačar is favored to win this year’s Tour, with steep competition expected from fellow Slovenian Primoz Roglic of Bora-Hansgrohe and Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard (also a two-time Tour winner) of Visma-Lease a Bike if he is able to overcome recent injuries. Otherwise, some of those involved in the Tour will win more than others.

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USA Cycling Announces 2024 Olympic Road Cycling Team

A slate of familiar professional worldtour road riders is joined by professional triathlete taylor knibb..

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USA Cycling has announced the five athletes who will be racing the road race and and time trial at the Paris Olympic Games next month. Chloé Dygert and Taylor Knibb will take on both the women’s road race and time trial. On the men’s side, Brandon McNulty and Magnus Sheffield will participate in both events, while Matteo Jorgenson will compete in the road race.

Dygert (Canyon-Sram) earned her place on the team after winning the 2023 UCI Time Trial World Championships. She comes in with Olympic experience already, having won a silver medal on the track in 2016 in Team Pursuit, and a bronze medal in the same event in the Tokyo Games. She will be competing in Team Pursuit again this summer.

“It’s truly a blessing,” Dygert said. “I am truly blessed to be selected for my third Olympic Games in USA colors.”

This will be Dygert’s second time competing in the Olympic road race and time trial. She finished 31st in the road race and 7th in the time trial in Tokyo, after returning from a career threatening injury less than a year before.

Taylor Knibb is also an experienced Olympian, but in triathlon, not cycling. She won a silver medal in the mixed relay triathlon event in Tokyo. She earned her spot on the 2024 Olympic road race team last month by winning the US time trial national championship race in Charleston, West Virginia, besting some of the nation’s top road racers who compete in the top ranks of cycling.

While the time trial is familiar to Knibb, the road racing will be more of a challenge, one that she’s fully aware of.

“Cycling has a very steep learning curve, and I am simultaneously excited and nervous for what lies ahead,” she said.

In addition to the road race and time trial, Knibb will also be competing in triathlon again, making her a rare two-sport athlete.

“I’m very honored, grateful, and excited for the opportunity to represent Team USA with USA Cycling. It would not have been possible without the support of my amazing family, friends, coaches, manager, sponsors, and USA Triathlon.”

McNulty leads strong team of WorldTour Olympic newcomers

Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) earned his spot on Team USA after winning the US time trial national championship last month by nearly a minute. He will compete in both the time trial and road race.

McNulty had a memorable Olympic debut in Tokyo, lasting to the end of an attritional road race and attacking with eventual gold medal winner Richard Carapaz with 25km to go. McNulty couldn’t hold on after Carapaz surged again with 6km to go, but came home for an impressive sixth place.

“That top result – sixth in the road race – just  motivates me all the more,” McNulty said. “The race was super aggressive, I relive it all the time. At home in Arizona and Girona, I’m already training with 100 percent focus on Paris. My goal? Bring back a medal!”

The other two spots in the men’s road events are taken up by Olympic debutants in Magnus Sheffield and Matteo Jorgenson.

Sheffield (Ineos Grenadiers) has been having a strong year in the time trial, podiuming several times in individual time trial stages, including last month at the Giro d’Italia on stage 7. He has also put up some impressive road race results, including sixth at the Tour of Flanders.

“It feels like a dream come true,” said Sheffield. “Going to the Olympics was one of my biggest goals growing up. I’m  incredibly proud to represent the U.S. in Paris as well as all the people that have helped me along  the way. I don’t think it will fully sink in until I’m there.”

Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a bike) is in the midst of a major breakthrough season, having won Paris-Nice earlier in the season and Dwars door Vlaanderen during the spring classics campaign, showing he’s a threat in stage races and one-day events like the Olympics alike. Jorgenson will be competing in just the road race.

“The Olympics were always a part of my childhood,” Jorgenson said. “I remember spending entire summers watching sports I had never heard of and admiring the athletes. For sure it had a big effect on me and was one of the reasons I decided to pursue a career as a pro athlete. Being able to race in Paris, especially following the best year of my career, is a dream come true.”

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USA Cycling Announces Olympic Games Paris 2024 Road Cycling Team

Dygert, Knibb, McNulty, Sheffield, and Jorgenson will represent the United States in the Road events in Paris.

On Friday, USA Cycling announced the athletes who will compete in the Time Trial and Road Races at the Paris Olympics.

The 2023 UCI Road World Championships was one of the major opportunities for athletes to punch their tickets to Paris. Chloé Dygert (Brownsburg, Ind.; CANYON//SRAM Racing) earned her spot for the Games after winning the 2023 UCI Time Trial World Championships, qualifying her for both the Time Trial and Road Race. Last week, USA Cycling officially announced her selection for the Track Cycling team , as well. Dygert will compete in the Time Trial (July 27), the Road Race (Aug. 4), and the Team Pursuit (Aug 6-7).

The 2024 USA Cycling Time Trial National Championships was the final chance for riders to qualify for the Olympics. The flat course in Charleston, W.V. was designed to closely emulate the Paris course, ensuring that the winner at U.S. Pro would be well-suited for the Olympic Games.

In the Elite Women’s race, professional triathlete superstar Taylor Knibb (Washington, D.C.; Trek Factory Racing) claimed victory in Charleston, qualifying her for the second and final Olympic spot, having already qualified in Triathlon. Knibb was the first American athlete to qualify in two sports at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

For the men’s team, reigning National Champion Brandon McNulty (Phoenix; UAE Team Emirates) was the race favorite in Charleston. He won by 58 seconds, qualifying him for his second Olympic Games, where he will race the Time Trial and Road Race. At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, McNulty ignited the Road Race with 25km to go attacking with eventual race winner Richard Carapaz of Ecuador. Carapaz attacked with 6km to go and rode to the line, while McNulty finished with the chase group, taking sixth place.

Team USA earned three men’s spots where all three athletes will compete in the Road Race and two in the Time Trial. Joining McNulty are Magnus Sheffield (Pittsford, N.Y.; Ineos Grenadiers) and Matteo Jorgenson (Boise, Idaho; Team Visma – Lease a Bike) both making their Olympic debuts in Paris. Sheffield was selected for both the Time Trial and Road Race, while Jorgenson will focus his efforts solely on the Road Race.

Sheffield has established his place among the world’s best in the Time Trial, racing to several podium finishes this year. In his first race of the year, he finished a mere 16-seconds off the Time Trial World Champion Remco Evenepoel at the Volta ao Algarve. Both McNulty and Sheffield delivered American dominance at this year’s Tour de Romandie Stage 3 Time Trial finishing first and second. In May, Sheffield went on to make his Grand Tour debut at the Giro d'Italia, finishing third in the Stage 7 Time Trial.

Jorgenson will compete in the Road Race after his exceptional rides this year. In his first year riding with Team Visma – Lease a Bike, he became the third American ever to win Paris-Nice, a race that’s been held every year since 1933. This race marked another historic moment with Olympian McNulty finishing on the podium in third. Additionally, Jorgenson secured a victory at Dwars door Vlaanderen with a decisive solo attack in the final kilometers of the race.

The Paris 2024 Olympic Games run from July 26 – August 11 with cycling competing every day of the Games. The Individual Time Trials will be contested on Saturday, July 27, with the women’s race starting first at 8:30 am ET. The Men’s and Women’s Road Races will be held on Saturday, August 3 and Sunday, August 4, respectively.

2024 U.S. Olympic Road Team:

Chloé Dygert (Brownsburg, Ind.; CANYON//SRAM Racing) - Time Trial & Road Race

Taylor Knibb (Washington, D.C.; Trek Factory Racing) - Time Trial & Road Race

Brandon McNulty (Phoenix; UAE Team Emirates) - Time Trial & Road Race

Magnus Sheffield (Pittsford, N.Y.; Ineos Grenadiers) - Time Trial & Road Race

Matteo Jorgenson (Boise, Idaho; Team Visma – Lease a Bike) - Road Race

Chloé Dygert (Brownsburg, Ind.; CANYON//SRAM Racing):

“It’s truly a blessing. I am truly blessed to be selected for my third Olympic Games in USA colors. Thankful for those who go above and beyond behind the scenes to make sure I’m the best I can be on and off the bike. We will see you in Paris.”

Taylor Knibb (Washington, D.C.; Trek Factory Racing):

“I’m very honored, grateful, and excited for the opportunity to represent Team USA with USA Cycling. It would not have been possible without the support of my amazing family, friends, coaches, manager, sponsors, and USA Triathlon. Cycling has a very steep learning curve, and I am simultaneously excited and nervous for what lies ahead.”

Brandon McNulty (Phoenix; UAE Team Emirates):

"I was really excited to go to the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo. That top result – 6th in the road race – just motivates me all the more. The race was super aggressive, I relive it all the time. At home in Arizona and Girona, I'm already training with 100% focus on Paris. My goal? Bring back a medal!"

Magnus Sheffield (Pittsford, N.Y.; Ineos Grenadiers):

“It feels like a dream come true. Going to the Olympics was one of my biggest goals growing up. I’m incredibly proud to represent the U.S. in Paris as well as all the people that have helped me along the way. I don’t think it will fully sink in until I’m there.”

Matteo Jorgenson (Boise, Idaho; Team Visma – Lease a Bike):

“The Olympics were always a part of my childhood. I remember spending entire summers watching sports I had never heard of and admiring the athletes. For sure it had a big effect on me and was one of the reasons I decided to pursue a career as a pro athlete. Being able to race in Paris, especially following the best year of my career, is a dream come true.”

Tanner Putt – USA Cycling’s Director of Road:

“I am thrilled to join the 2024 USA Olympic Road Team for my first Olympic Games this summer. It’s a tremendous honor to work alongside these athletes and represent our nation at the world's largest sporting event. The men and women selected have demonstrated dominance in their respective disciplines and are strong contenders for medals in Paris. Go Team USA!”

For downloadable photos of athletes, click here .

USA Cycling Olympic Hub:

Stay up to date on all things Paris 2024, here .

This Article Updated June 21, 2024 @ 10:55 AM

For more information contact: [email protected]

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Canadian cyclist Derek Gee carries momentum into upcoming Tour de France debut

Ottawa native fresh off 3rd-place finish in 8-day criterium du dauphine stage race.

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Ottawa's Derek Gee is headed to his first Tour de France, alongside fellow Canadians Hugo Houle and Guillaume Boivin on the Israel-Premier Tech team.

Gee is coming off a third-place finish in the Criterium du Dauphine, an eight-day stage race considered a key warm-up for the Tour. It marked his first WorldTour general classification podium.

"I'm unbelievably excited to be lining up at my first Tour," Gee said in a statement. "It's truly a childhood dream to race the Tour de France, and I can't wait to experience the atmosphere of the biggest race in the world.

"The dream would be to win a stage and try to follow what Hugo and Mike [Woods] have done for Canada at this race in the last few years."

An emotional Houle won Stage 16 of the 2022 Tour, pointing to the sky as he crossed the finish. Houle dedicated the win to younger brother Pierrik, who died in December 2012 when he was hit by a drunk driver while jogging. He was 19.

Woods, who finished third behind Houle that day, went on to win Stage 9 of the 2023 Tour.

Israel-Premier Tech is after more of the same in this year's race, a 3,498-kilometre trek that starts June 29 in Florence and ends July 21 in Nice.

• Canadian rider Derek Gee celebrates podium finish in Criterium du Dauphine

"The main goal is to win a stage," said sports director Steve Bauer, a fellow Canadian who raced in the Tour nine times between 1985 and 1995. "It's a clear goal that certainly 21 other teams have as well. We have a strong, balanced and versatile team with riders able to shine in different terrains, giving us potential to be competitive throughout the race as the Tour evolves stage by stage. The competition will be fierce, but I believe in the group we are bringing to this Tour."

"The Tour is never easy, but we know we have guys who can win," added Bauer.

Canadian connections

He should know. Bauer fourth overall in 1988, winning Stage 2 and spending five days in the leader's yellow jersey. In 1990, he wore the yellow jersey for nine consecutive days.

Israel-Premier Tech has plenty of other Canadian connections.

Canadian-Israeli entrepreneur Sylvan Adams is one of the team's owners. Canadians Jean Belanger, president and CEO of Premier Tech based in Riviere-du-Loup. Que., and Kevin Ham are also partners in the team.

Canadians Paulo Saldanha is the team's performance director. Israel-Premier Tech is also home to Canadian rider Riley Pickrell.

Gee won Stage 3 of the Criterium du Dauphine earlier this month, earning the right to wear the yellow leader's jersey in the general classification. He became the first Canadian to wear the leader's jersey since David Veilleux, who won the first stage in 2013 and held onto the lead for three days.

• Canadian cyclists Derek Gee, Riley Pickrell injured in separate crashes in Belgium

Houle finished 64th overall behind Gee. The 33-year-old from Sainte-Perpetue, Que., will be making his sixth straight appearance in the Tour.

It's a fourth consecutive Tour ride for the 35-year-old Boivin, from Montreal.

Gee was promoted to Israel-Premier Tech's WorldTour squad from its academy in May 2022. He signed a new long-term deal in June 2023 following his breakout performance at the Giro d'Italia.

Giro's 'super combative rider'

Competing in his first Grand Tour race, Gee finishing second four times and fourth twice in the 2023 Giro. He placed 22nd in the final general classification standings and was runner-up to Italy's Jonathan Milan in the points race and France's Thibaut Pinot in the King of the Mountains standings.

The Canadian was also honoured as the Giro's "super combative rider."

Israel-Premier Tech's other Tour riders are Germany's Pascal Ackermann, Denmark's Jakob Fuglsang, Latvia's Krists Neilands and Britain's Jake Stewart and Stevie Williams.

Stewart, making his Tour debut and Boivin are set to help Ackermann in the sprints, while Fuglsang and Neilands help in the mountains.

Williams, making his Tour debut, won the Tour Down Under and Fleche Wallonne earlier this season.

Ackerman is also making his Tour debut but already has stage wins in the Spanish Vuelta and Giro d'Italia.

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"I am pleased with our roster for this year's Tour," Adams said in a statement. "It was one of the toughest team selections we have ever had to make which speaks of the depth of our rider roster. Ultimately, our performance team was unanimous in making these selections, knowing we wanted a team geared toward hunting for individual stages, rather than a high placing on GC [general classification].

"For the third consecutive year, our roster will boast three Canadians, cementing our position as both Israel's and Canada's home programs."

Woods, who crashed out of the Giro, is healthy again and will race in the Spanish Vuelta, the third Grand Tour. He is due to compete in the Canadian Road Championship this weekend in Saint-Georges, Que.

Due to the Paris Olympics, the Tour will not finish in the French capital for the first time. This year's race will take the 176 riders through Italy, San Marino, Monaco and France.

The race features prize money of 2.3 million euros ($3.4 million US) with 500,000 euros ($731,640) going to the general classification winner.

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Will Jonas Vingegaard ride for the win at the 2024 Tour de France?

The two-time defending champion will take part, but his form is unknown after his crash in the spring and his goals remain unclear

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After weeks of uncertainty, we now know that Jonas Vingegaard will be on the start line for the Tour de France in under 10 days time in Florence. Visma-Lease a Bike confirmed their team selection ahead of next week’s Grand Départ on Thursday. 

But after Vingegaard spending the last eight weeks recovering from injuries sustained in his dramatic crash in the spring , the Dutch team has not made clear what exactly he will be targeting once the race gets underway in Italy. 

A third overall victory would seem to be an obvious answer, but as the team’s sporting director Merijn Zeeman pointed out on Thursday, his form is unknown due to being unable to race since the crash at Itzulia Basque Country in early April. 

"Of course, we don’t know how far he can go yet," Zeeman said in a press release on Thursday which only said Vingegaard would be looking to "fight for a good result". 

"His preparation has been less than ideal, to say the least," Zeeman added. "But he will be there, healthy and motivated."

Vingegaard’s form is not clear. However, the 27-year-old will arrive in Italy in his best possible condition - given the circumstances - and ready to race hard after weeks in training, part of that being in Tignes with the entire Visma-Lease a Bike Tour squad . 

His coach, Tim Heemskerk has previously highlighted that Vingegaard is far from being your average athlete in the peloton , which means he was already in peak physical condition prior to hitting the tarmac in April. 

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"We're dealing with a two-time Tour de France champion," Heemskerk said. "We know these guys are mentally really tough but also can recover really fast."

Vingegaard has long had a reputation as being a fighter and not someone who would simply throw in the towel. His former ColoQuick-Cult teammate Christian Moberg believes that he will not have been selected for the Tour simply to make up the numbers. 

Moberg told Cycling Weekly on Thursday morning that he didn’t see any lack of clarity regarding Vingegaard’s goals in France. The former rider-turned manager of ColoQuick said that he believes he will have been selected to fight for a spot on the podium in Nice, nothing less 

"He will go all the way to Nice to fight for the best position in the GC," Moberg said. "They will be confident in the third week. There is so much high altitude there and the time trial."

Moberg said that the only eventuality in which he could see a change of mindset towards targeting stages was if Vingegaard has already lost a significant amount of time by the end of the first week.  

"It will only be if Jonas is 20 minutes back after the first week that there could maybe be an opportunity for Matteo [Jorgenson] and a change of tactics," he added. "But in my opinion, I don’t think there is any question about what they are there for. They will go and try to win the Tour de France with Jonas.

"Selecting him for the Tour means they think he can ride well on the GC. The team will be going in with a clear goal."

Unlike others, Vingegaard has long been known as being a rider that prefers to avoid social media, instead keeping himself to himself as he trains for his goals each year. After coming back from such a traumatic crash, that mentality could now work in his favour more than ever as he gets set to line up in Florence in just nine days time. 

UAE may have the more in form riders , but Visma-Lease a Bike will be confident in Vingegaard’s fitness. Backed up by Sepp Kuss, Wout van Aert and Matteo Jorgenson amongst others, who knows what could happen once the race gets underway. 

Only the road will decide, a frequently used cliché in interviews. But on this occasion, that now seems to be more fitting than ever before as the Tour draws near.

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Tom has been writing for Cycling Weekly since 2022 and his news stories, rider interviews and features appear both online and in the magazine. 

Since joining the team, he has reported from some of professional cycling's biggest races and events including the Tour de France and the World Championships in Glasgow. He has also covered races elsewhere across the world. 

As well as on the ground reporting, Tom writes race reports from the men's and women's WorldTour and helps with coverage of UK domestic cycling. 

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UCI survey indicates dominance by big-budget teams curbs the enjoyment of cycling fans

Governing body publishes research into the appeal of road cycling

A survey commissioned by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has given a snapshot of fans' opinions on professional cycling, with 50 per cent of those who completed the online survey agreeing that “the outcome of road cycling events is predictable nowadays.” Aspects selected during the survey that were said to reduce the appeal of road races were rider radios/earpieces (48 per cent), the use of power meters (40 per cent) and the variations in budgets between teams (39 per cent).

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The UCI created the survey as part of a consultation procedure involving cycling’s stakeholders with the aim to better understand and so improve the appeal of road racing.

The survey was completed during the Tour de France by 22,364 fans from 134 countries, with many deciding to complete the survey after it was reported on Cyclingnews . 92 per cent were male, with 71 percent of them responding from Europe and 23 per cent from America. 53 per cent of those who responded fell into the 35-64 age category, indicating cycling's wider demographic and the difficulty of reaching young fans.

The results revealed that a large number of the participants are active cyclists: 62 per cent of them ride a bike for recreational purposes, with 27 per cent saying that they race and 21 per cent stating that they ride bicycles to get to work. It was no surprise that the vast majority of participants said they are “very interested in road races” and that 84% of them say they are “exciting to watch”, with 70% of fans believe that road cycling is “easy to understand” and two-thirds feel that the rules are “not too complicated”.

The overall picture of fans’ perception of the sport was generally good, with respondents associating cycling with positive words like “excitement”, “bravery”, “heroes” and “respect.” The top six rated riders – Peter Sagan, Julian Alaphilippe, Vincenzo Nibali , Philippe Gilbert, Alejandro Valverde and Mathieu van der Poel – were all male.

However 50 per cent agreed that the outcome of races is “predictable”. Fans believe that the enjoyment of road cycling lies first and foremost in the combativity of the riders and the characteristics and prestige of the race. The three aspects selected during the survey that reduce the appeal of road races were rider radios/earpieces (48 per cent), the use of power meters (40 per cent) and the variations in budgets between teams (39 per cent).

The UCI said that 71 per cent believe that the concentration of the best riders in a limited number of teams affects the spectators’ enjoyment. 76 per cent think the difference in team budgets has an impact on the appeal of road cycling.

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The official budgets of the teams are not made public but Team Ineos is widely considered to have the largest budget, possibly close to 40 million Euro in 2020, while other teams only manage to secure half of that figure and so spend less on rider salaries, team personal and performance.

Team Ineos/Team Sky have won seven of the last eight editions of the Tour de France but faced a tougher battle this July before Egan Bernal emerged as the overall winner.

UCI president David Lappartient has always denied any bias against the British team but believes it may be too successful for the wider good of the sport.

"They win, and they'd be wrong to do otherwise, but the public sees things differently, they want a show. Sky are like a football team that plays very well but without exciting its fans," he said in 2018.

"Team Sky has Geraint Thomas, Chris Froome and Egan Bernal, three riders who could finish first, second and third at the Tour de France. However, in the interest of cycling it is better if the best riders are in different teams."

Lappartient and the UCI have yet to explain how a salary cap would be structured and managed. 

Television coverage

Another point raised by the consultation, particularly outside Europe, was the difficulty of finding a media outlet offering coverage of their favourite races.

The questionnaire reveals that the vast majority of spectators follow races on TV (68%), most often on free-to-air channels, less via the internet (21%), mobile (6%) or tablet (4%). 65% of fans now use social media to share and follow cycling-related content.

Fans seemingly would like to be offered more varied content during race broadcasts, with more extensive information on the riders (67%), sequences shot in team cars (63%) and reports on their pre-race preparations (60%). In terms of data, 75% of fans say they would get more enjoyment out of watching races if they had data on the performances of riders.

“The consultation shows us that road cycling enjoys a positive image with the fans, regardless of which continent they are from, and that, generally speaking, they are satisfied with the sport and the coverage on offer,” Lappartient said when commenting on the survey results.

“They also told us, however, that there is room for improvement, such as making more information and data available during broadcasts and that serious thought should be given to aspects seen as potentially damaging to the appeal of road cycling (domination by a small number of teams or the use of radio communications for instance).

“We are continuing with our consultation work and process of reflection with a view to making road cycling even more attractive: the working group looking into this has already met once, and its members will meet again in the near future; in parallel, interviews with different stakeholders continue. A series of proposals will be drawn up on this basis and put before the Professional Cycling Council and the UCI Management Committee for their approval in 2020.”  

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Olympic champ Tom Pidcock romps to mountain bike World Cup win ahead of Tour de France

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CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland (AP) — Olympic champion Tom Pidcock rode away from Mathias Fluckiger to win the mountain bike World Cup race at Crans-Montana on Sunday in a strong performance ahead of his turn with Ineos Grenadiers in the Tour de France.

World silver medalist Loana Lecomte won the women’s race as she prepares for the Paris Games on home soil.

Pidcock, who overcame some trouble to narrowly win the short-track race Saturday, had no problem on the cross-country course in southwest Switzerland. He finished in 1 hour, 26.28 seconds, giving him more than a minute on the rest of the field.

In fact, Pidcock indicated that he took it easy after building a lead early in the race.

“I made a couple of mistakes after getting my gap. I’ve got big things coming up and I don’t think my teammates (on Ineos) would be too happy if I’d binned myself today,” Pidcock said.

Fluckiger, who finished second to Pidcock on the Olympic course in Tokyo, was 1:10 back in second place in a World Cup run on his home track. Luca Braidot outsprinted World Cup overall leader Nino Schurter in the mud for the bronze medal.

Pidcock has been spending more time on the mountain bike ahead of the Paris Games, where he is heavily favored to win a second consecutive gold medal. But the British multi-disciplinary star will be back on the road bike this week, preparing for the Grand Depart in the Tour de France on Saturday in Florence, Italy.

In the women’s race, Lecomte broke through with her first World Cup win of the season, giving her a big shot of momentum as she begins turning her attention to the Olympic races on July 28-29 at Elancourt Hill just outside of Paris.

“It’s good to be back,” she said. “I love this track. Even if we had a dry track, it’s a real mountain bike track, with a lot of technical sections, and very physical. I can’t wait to be back here for the world championships next year.”

Alessandra Keller of Switzerland was 46 seconds back in second place. Puck Pieterse of the Netherlands took bronze.

There is one more World Cup race before the Olympics on July 7 in Les Gets, France.

AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

Germany's Scholz says he will keep social agenda in budget deal

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Ukraine set for symbolic start of EU membership talks, along with Moldova

The European Union will open membership talks with Ukraine on Tuesday, giving the country a political boost in the midst of its war against Russia's invasion, although a long and tough road still lies ahead before it could join the bloc.