One-Cycling promoters just got a big bump by the Mallorca stage cancellation last week and today's Besseges mess
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Great, so RCS is on board with the plans. They are starting to get a decent group of races for it.the Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) will sponsor the the maglia rosa.
The 2 names will be One Cycling e SURJ Sports Investment
Great, so RCS is on board with the plans. They are starting to get a decent group of races for it.
Thank God ASO is so powerful. The least bad player and with the longest term stakes in the game.
But what will Flanders Classics do?
But what will Flanders Classics do?
ASO should smell the long term sand storm and take Marseillaise, Besseges, Provence, HautVar-Maritimes, Drome-Ardeche, VentouxChallenge, MercanTour etc, under their wings
Why would they want to own even more races that bring in a loss?
This week I read on my colleagues at Wielerflits that the Saudi PIF – the Public Investment Fund – will become the main sponsor of the Giro. That is, to put it mildly, not a news that I am surprised by. It is an open secret that behind the scenes of cycling, hard work is being done on the project ‘One Cycling’, an initiative with Saudi money that should lead to a kind of Champions League of cycling.
Reforms are almost as old as cycling itself and quite a few projects that promised to thoroughly redesign the sport have never gotten past the embryonic phase. We are thinking of the World Series of Cycling, which started out promisingly with money from the Rothschild Group, but then fizzled out like a candle. Velon is more or less the same story: set up on a grand scale, but today not much more than an X account that posts images and data from the bike.
It must be said: One Cycling is far beyond the castle in the air phase. With SURJ Sports Investment, a subsidiary of the aforementioned PIF, there is a financial backer who is prepared to invest 300 million in the sport over a period of three years. The teams that commit themselves can expect an extra million per year in this way – under certain conditions. Believe me: there is not one who can refuse such an amount, unless it is UAE Team Emirates.
Compared to golf and football, the investment of the Saudis is a tip, but in cycling it is big enough to get all the parties involved around the table. The major organizers are at least prepared to listen. Even the UCI is part of the discussions. They saw all previous initiatives in Aigle as so-called ‘Break Away Leagues’, in which the teams, following the example of the Premier League in football, more or less withdraw from the omnipotence of the federation. I am told that the UCI is not really in favor of ‘One Cycling’ either, but the progress is that they have not yet spoken out publicly against it.
The starting point of ‘One Cycling’ is the same as that of all its predecessors: ‘All the best riders in all the best races.’ The intention is to arrive at a tight calendar of existing and new races. It should make cycling more logical and marketable for a large audience. Let us hope that with this project, cycling can regain a foothold in the United States. Too much of the world is currently a blind spot for racing.
If I am correctly informed – Jurgen Foré and Bessel Kok are following up ‘One Cycling’ for us – then the Tour and the Vuelta are not currently part of the discussions. RCS is committed to the Giro, Milan-Sanremo and Lombardy. In an ideal world, ASO will come on board with Paris-Roubaix, but that is not the case at the moment.
One Cycling has been running for three years now and a lot of progress has been made in the initial phase. But as always: the more parties come around the table, the slower the process. Meanwhile, it is the Echternach procession: three steps forward, two steps back.
I read that Soren Waerenskjold did not want to start in the Saudi Alula Tour this year for ‘ethical reasons’. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but that does not mean I have to agree with it. I am a supporter of the principle that money does not stink. The Saudis are in all sports, why should cycling turn away from it? If Soren Waerenskjold reads the newspaper every day, he will have to cancel many races from his program these days.
. I am a supporter of the principle that money does not stink
Belgian newspaper wrote that UAE hasn't decided yet. It obviously wouldn't fare well for the league that the two biggest cyclists of the past spring season wouldn't be part of it when it starts next year.![]()
La Super League de cyclisme en bonne voie mais sans Pogacar et van der Poel ?
Véritable serpent de mer dans le football, la Super League pourrait aussi voir le jour en cyclisme. Le monde du vélo pourrait basculer dès l'année prochaine.www.dhnet.be
Jayco, UAE, and others do not want to join One-Cycling
The Gulf country would guarantee participating teams one million euros per year (editor's note: €250,000 for women's teams).
Belgian newspaper wrote that UAE hasn't decided yet. It obviously wouldn't fare well for the league that the two biggest cyclists of the past spring season wouldn't be part of it when it starts next year.
Depends on how everything would evolve in 5-10 years. It's not like they would themselves start arranging races during TDF or Roubaix. If the league gets bigger, eventually ASO will come to the table anyway.and ASO
Depends on how everything would evolve in 5-10 years. It's not like they would themselves start arranging races during TDF or Roubaix. If the league gets bigger, eventually ASO will come to the table anyway.
Depends on how everything would evolve in 5-10 years. It's not like they would themselves start arranging races during TDF or Roubaix. If the league gets bigger, eventually ASO will come to the table anyway.
Money. If the league actually takes of, and earns more money, they'll want to be a part of it.Why exactly? What's the benefit for ASO to actually come to the table? The teams behind OneCycling aren't skipping the Tour yk.
And why would it make more money than what ASO would already be able to get if they want to? Yk ASO has the Tour right, they have all the power. If they want to sell their race to the Saudi's for 1Billion they probably could (if we forget about the French government at least). If they want to put their race behind paywalls in every country bar France they already could... It doesn't make sense. It makes sense for every race to be "sold" in a package, but not for the one race that's bigger than all of them combined.Money. If the league actually takes of, and earns more money, they'll want to be a part of it.
I can’t look into the future, maybe they are able to market it better? There are enough David v. Goliath stories in the world.And why would it make more money than what ASO would already be able to get if they want to? Yk ASO has the Tour right, they have all the power. If they want to sell their race to the Saudi's for 1Billion they probably could (if we forget about the French government at least). If they want to put their race behind paywalls in every country bar France they already could... It doesn't make sense. It makes sense for every race to be "sold" in a package, but not for the one race that's bigger than all of them combined.
Just curious about realized revenues through increased tourist volume for races and TV revenue. I certainly don't know but as a person watching bike racing for a few years, availability both on network and social media streams I would guess that general bike racing viewership has increased many thousands of percent in last @10 years.I can’t look into the future, maybe they are able to market it better? There are enough David v. Goliath stories in the world.
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La Super League de cyclisme en bonne voie mais sans Pogacar et van der Poel ?
Véritable serpent de mer dans le football, la Super League pourrait aussi voir le jour en cyclisme. Le monde du vélo pourrait basculer dès l'année prochaine.www.dhnet.be
Jayco, UAE, and others do not want to join One-Cycling