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Breaking Away – From the Tour de France

The 2016 professional cycling calendar is barely underway, but controversy has already reared its ugly head. The Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), owner of the Tour de France, has reignited its historical battle with cycling’s governing body, the International Cycling Union (UCI), and threatens to plunge the sport into disarray again. ASO is upset over a relatively minor but widely-agreed licensing reform which would allow a measure of greater economic stability for the teams. The privately-owned firm has often acted against the interests of the greater sport, at times seeming to undermine the basis of its own business model – cutting off its nose to spite its face. The core challenge for pro cycling is obvious. The Tour de France is the one “super-marquee” competition of the sport – the only event in the sport where teams and sponsors can really profit.  Don’t participate in the Tour,...

ASO’s Game of Monopoly

The recent move by the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) to reject proposed UCI changes and pull its races out of the WorldTour has left people wondering what it all means. ASO says that its move will preserve an open and more competitive atmosphere in the sport. But closer analysis shows that if ASO follows through on this threat, it will inflict severe economic pressure on the teams, strengthen their own competitive advantage over other race organizers, and marginalize the economic and career aspirations of the riders – even forcing many out of the sport. From the short list of rather marginal changes that comprise UCI’s so-called reforms, ASO is primarily unhappy about the proposed extension of WorldTour team licenses from one year to three years. This is a critical point for the teams, because WorldTour license holders receive an automatic invitation to the Tour de France – the...

Fiddling While Rome Burns?

Big news keeps hitting pro cycling during what is normally the sport’s winter down-time. On December 7th, the UCI announced its next wave of “reforms” for the WorldTour, to far more fanfare than the facts generally seemed to justify.  Just a day later, rumors began to swirl that Dalian Wanda – the emerging Chinese sports/entertainment giant, and new owner of Ironman Triathlon – was looking to purchase pro cycling’s Grand Tours.  Joining Dalian Wanda in the sweeps for a Grand Tour stake, it was then reported a few days later that media and entertainment giants Discovery Communications and International Management Group (IMG) may be bidding for RCS’s race portfolio, including ownership of the Giro d’Italia.  Finally, as if on cue, and to throw another wrench in the works, ASO rejected the UCI reforms and pulled its races from the WorldTour on December 18th, ostensibly in the name of...

Pro Cycling’s Family Feud – and How to Solve It

The world’s cycling fans will be focused on France starting this Saturday, but not just to see who wins the Tour de France.  The long-standing feud over who runs pro cycling may be about to boil over and play out in front of a global audience.  On one side is Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), the private French family company which owns the Tour and many other prominent races – and the undisputed commercial force in the sport. On the other is the Union Cycliste International (UCI), the international federation which regulates cycling and has historically controlled the pro calendar. Nominally, their current dispute involves overdue but relatively minor calendar and team structure reforms. Behind the scenes however, this feud and on-going impasse is about power and identity, and who will control the future of pro cycling. The UCI has been trying to recast itself as a professional league...