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PeopleForBikes Is Changing With the Industry

Most people around the American cycling scene are at least vaguely aware of PeopleForBikes (PFB). We see the PFB logo on a tee shirt or cap or a bike jersey here and there. We hear the name in the cycling press now and then – usually about some sort of broader community effort or political initiative. But many people don’t really understand exactly what PeopleForBikes is – what the organization consists of, and what it actually does to help us, as either enthusiasts or serious cyclists? Below, we explore the mission and activities of PFB against the broader backdrop of changes going on in cycling today. We also ask what we as cyclists can do to help the organization? PeopleForBikes is an industry coalition made up of 280 cycling-industry members, and some 1,000 Ride Spot retailer members, along with a cycling community of almost 1.4 million individual riders. It was founded...

Lance Armstrong Says It’s ‘Time for the Riders to Seize Power’

Lance Armstrong issued an inspirational Instagram message on April 6 in which, among other things, he exhorted pro cycling riders to exploit this transformational period to seize more power in the sport.  “To all you cyclists sitting at home, not sure about your paycheck – now is the opportunity to reset the scales, to get a seat at the table, to take the power back. You are the actors in this play, and remember – without the actors, there is no play.” Is this finally the time that athletes could get a real chair at the table of pro cycling? What needs to happen for that to occur? Is it possible? Commentators across the board are speculating about the longer-term social, economic, and cultural impacts of the COVID pandemic. Observers within pro cycling are evaluating the same thing in the sporting context – will the calendar be more compact, will there be fewer races or teams, how will...

The UCI’s New 2020 Calendar Has Too Many Risks

The UCI’s new calendar plan, released on April 15th, was a strong boost of hope for cycling fans – and unquestionably provided a shot in the arm for teams, riders and sponsors. Any glimmer of hope for resuming some kind of season is welcome news, and everyone would certainly welcome a responsibly managed return to racing as soon as the public health situation allows it. And certainly, all stakeholders would agree that the sport desperately needs at least the Tour de France – the event that powers the entire sport – to take place if at all possible. However, there are also considerable risks inherent in the rough plan that the UCI cobbled together earlier this week. Most of the potential risks were already addressed in a previous article, written a day before the UCI announced its latest plans. Although specific dates were proposed for the Tour de France, the rest of the calendar is...

How Rider Agents Influence Pro Cycling

Cycling fans may not be familiar with the name Giuseppe Acquadro, but the Italian super-agent may be one of the most powerful names in men’s professional road cycling. He recently played a pivotal role in the significant rider exodus from Movistar to Ineos, and is even rumored to have had a significant say in the British team’s Vuelta a España lineup last fall. And if widely published accounts are true, his influence underscores the power that a handful of agents have wielded to manipulate the market to maximize their revenue. Spanish journalist Carlos Arribas reported that for years Acquadro acted as the main talent broker for Movistar Team Manager Eusebio Unzué. However, the relationship between the two fractured at the 2019 Giro d’Italia, when Acquadro publicly declared that Richard Carapaz, the Ecuadorian rider who would go on to win, wasn’t satisfied with his current contract and...

Former Giro Boss Michele Acquarone on the Future of Cycling

….. As a former insider and leader of pro cycling completely divorced from the sport, Acquarone is a passionate observer now free to speak his mind ….. Michele Acquarone was a well-known name in this sport seven years ago, though now his name is unfamiliar to most people. Named in 2011 to head the Giro d’Italia, the world’s second largest bike race, at age 36, Acquarone quickly made a name for himself, primarily through new and radical ideas about better ways to promote and market the sport. He was recently described by Jonathan Vaughters in his book One Way Ticket as “a visionary soul.” Falsely charged with misdirecting RCS corporate funds in late 2013, Acquarone was fired, and endured six years of suspicion, economic and personal hardship before his name was finally cleared by the sluggish Italian court system just two months ago. Acquarone laments his departure from the cycling...