Fernando Alonso = Massive baby?

[King Boonen]

He always seemed petulant and stroppy whenever I saw him in F1, but this is ridiculous:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/report-team-alonso-asks-the-uci-for-worldtour-guarantees


I would love to see more sponsors coming into cycling, and the backing from the Dubai government is great, but not at the expense of selling licences to the highest bidder.

 

[Pricey_sky]

Surely if he signs the big name riders he wants then they will have enough points to guarantee a license anyway?

 

[Pack Fodder]

He always seemed petulant and stroppy whenever I saw him in F1, but this is ridiculous:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/report-team-alonso-asks-the-uci-for-worldtour-guarantees


I would love to see more sponsors coming into cycling, and the backing from the Dubai government is great, but not at the expense of selling licences to the highest bidder.

Is this really a case of Alonso wanting Formula One licensing procedures to operate in cycling also? I am not shocked at all that he wants some guarantees before he agrees to spend his money, even if that is not really how cycling works.

 

[M Sport]

This won't be the first ridiculous UCI rule or process that Alonso calls them on. I'm calling it now. The UCI will grant the license early.

 

[SKSemtex]

Is this really a case of Alonso wanting Formula One licensing procedures to operate in cycling also? I am not shocked at all that he wants some guarantees before he agrees to spend his money, even if that is not really how cycling works.

I am 100% with you on this one. It must be really hard to contract the top riders without the licence guarantee. I do not blame him at all. We are not talking peanuts here.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

It shouldn't be possible to buy the way into the first division without first operating in a lower division in the first place.

I mean why should some other team get booted out, just because Alonso comes around and waves some cash.

UCI needs to develop a better model and Alonso should start his team at PCT level.

 

[King Boonen]

He knew the rules long before this. He has people already working with him who are well aware of them. He just wants to waltz into the top division by chucking cash around. It's utterly ridiculous.


There are things he can complain about. The licence criteria should be completely transparent, the time period does seem excessively long and they need to have a better way of distributing WT points, but demanding guarantees that his team will be accepted before he even has a team? He can get lost quite frankly.

 

[Walkman]

Are there really sponsors that are waiting in line to sponsor a WT-cycling team?

I mean HTC could not get a sponsor despite hammering out victories (albeit mostly sprint victories) left and right. And they had Cav which guarantees a certain coverage seeing as he is one of the main characters in the game.

No fan of Alonso (I am more of a Räikkönen/Massa kind of guy) but isn't it good news that some new sponsors come along?

Although I agree, he should not get any preferential treatment.

 

[ebandit]

exactly

It shouldn't be possible to buy the way into the first division without first operating in a lower division in the first place.

I mean why should some other team get booted out, just because Alonso comes around and waves some cash.

UCI needs to develop a better model and Alonso should start his team at PCT level.

exactly tell him there are already teams with existing sponsors why should
promises trump existing commitment

euskatel learned that promises don't count for much

+ teams should be about riders /sponsors not spoilt rich boys with too much time on their hands

Mark L

 

[jsem94]

Alonso could just step in as name sponsor for the Giant team if he really wishes to have a WT team under his name.

 

[SKSemtex]

It shouldn't be possible to buy the way into the first division without first operating in a lower division in the first place.

I mean why should some other team get booted out, just because Alonso comes around and waves some cash.

UCI needs to develop a better model and Alonso should start his team at PCT level.

I would agree with you if we have a bunch of few lower division teams keen on getting to WT and fighting for the licence. But it looks like there is no one. At least what I know.

I agree with that no one team should be treated preferentially and that UCI need to develope new world tour model

 

[Dazed and Confused]

I would agree with you if we have a bunch of few lower division teams keen on getting to WT and fighting for the licence. But it looks like there is no one. At least what I know.

I agree with that no one team should be treated preferentially and that UCI need to develope new world tour model

Only this year did we have a problem getting traction at the top, but that hasn'r been the case earlier.

Let me ask you this: What is the biggest part of the budget in a team?

 

[King Boonen]

No fan of Alonso (I am more of a Räikkönen/Massa kind of guy) but isn't it good news that some new sponsors come along?

Not if the sponsorship is tied to him, and considering the source, this is very likely.

 

[barmaher]

I think he needs to invest in an existing team, or suck it up in the lower leagues first.

As has been said before, cycling has a structure. He can't just ride coach and horses through the rules.

He couldn't just sign loads of superstars and line up in La Liga next season. He'd have to buy a La Liga club, or start at the lowest level in the Spanish pyramid that allows new entrants. Same goes for most sports.

He should buy Cannondale. Probably the easiest way of getting Sagan and a WT license.

 

[SKSemtex]

Only this year did we have a problem getting traction at the top, but that hasn'r been the case earlier.

Let me ask you this: What is the biggest part of the budget in a team?

Riders and management salaries.

 

[Master50]

I think there is plenty of room for improvements to the process. In general I have little sympathy for new players to seek Special processes. That said it is often the new players that push us to improvements in what we always did. If you ever visit the clinic you would read many suggestions that we need new untainted blood in the sport which would come with new ideas on business processes. I know almost nothing of this guy but the Euskatel thing did sting a few riders and I definitely was not pleased to see how he operated over that. To some extent guys like Tinkov and Alonso are needed to keep it interesting.

 

[Butterhead]

What I don´t understand is why they didn´t keep the UCI meetings a secret, put it out in public wont exactly help the project, UCI can´t official go out and give this kind of guarantees in advance, unless of course they change the rule set all together.
Will be interesting to see if anything have changed in UCI, but undoubtedly the money is still ruling the circus.

 

[Jspear]

They can just take Europcars license and give it to him.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Riders and management salaries.

Primarily riders. The model of being able to buy points (i.e. riders) to get a WT licence inflate salaries unnecessarily. It is a stupid model which only makes a few riders and rider agents (hello friends and family) happy. Boom and bust model.

Very simplistically sponsorship is about cost versus exposure.

Drive the cost up and sponsors will become scarce.

 

[hfer07]

In the verge of two Pro Teams likely to be dismantled this year, I do believe The UCI should be prudent in the way the Alonso project is handled, because- like it or not- he's going to bring a lot of attention & potential sponsors to the sport, and by having already investors in place to spend the money, it should be appropriate to compromise-even at the expense of avoiding certain steps to advance the project.

 

[barmaher]

Which two teams are likely to be dismantled?

 

[murali]

If Alonso wants a team to be built up, he has the money to do it, then why should UCI not just give him if there is a vacancy. If there are 18 takers for licenses already, then there is no point asking Alonso to invest in a new team.

All rules can be bent or broken if the reason is right. but, just to please one person, no rule should be broken. Pro Cycling needs money. Airing the races is a costly affair. When local administrations charge organizers for blocking the roads, it becomes worse. If Alonso's entry into WT teams is going to help the organizers financially, then it's worth giving him special status.

 

[King Boonen]

No one has asked Alonso to invest in a team.

 

[Miburo]

No one has asked Alonso to invest in a team.

Cycling needs it, the sport can only get better from it. Such reasoning of yours is used by 10 year old kids.

 

[Roude Leiw]

Well, I do get why he wants a WT license without buying an existing team. If he has big money to invest and a vision for a team, why should he take over an existing team? UCI should welcome big teams, as it creates exposure and attracts other sponsors too if they can avoid any Armstrong or Festina case for the next few years. So not getting a license and having to scramble for invites is not a great sell to big money corporate sponsors.