Is One Cycling about to finally be announced? The planned Saudi Arabian-funded project that is designed to restructure cycling’s economic model and introduce calendar reforms was back in the headlines last week, with Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws reporting that the enterprise would be launched a week before this year’s Tour de France.
Escape Collective regularly stays in contact with several people who have direct knowledge of discussions, and while negotiations continue apace, our reporting suggests that it's not assured an announcement – or 2026 launch – is guaranteed. Here's what we know, but first, some background.
What is One Cycling?
Preliminary discussions about One Cycling began several years ago among three key players: the International Cycling Union (UCI) president David Lappartient; Yann Le Moenner, CEO of ASO, the promoters of the Tour de France; and Richard Plugge, manager of Visma-Lease a Bike. Escape has been told that the term ‘One Cycling’ was in fact first proposed by Le Moenner.
Since then, though, One Cycling has grown into a project led almost exclusively by Visma, Lidl-Trek, Ineos Grenadiers, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, Soudal-Quick Step, and EF Education-EasyPost; race organiser Flanders Classics has also been involved from the beginning.
The scheme has attracted interest from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), who are willing to invest up to €300mm (more on this below). Eleven teams are now understood to have committed to the project, each signing non-disclosure agreement (NDA) forms, but crucially ASO – the richest and most powerful entity in the sport – are not involved. ASO officials have repeatedly and publicly distanced themselves from the project over the last year.
The basic premise of One Cycling can be split into three main areas: 1) for the best riders race against each more often, with a reformed calendar and a team and rider classification to make the sport more comprehensible and easier to understand; 2) for races to become more financially sustainable, with the introduction of ticketed entry, more circuit-style course elements with fan parks, and mass participation rides; and 3) for teams to reduce their financial dependency on sponsors, with direct payment from pooled broadcast rights and hospitality from associated races, among other revenue streams.
Claim: One Cycling will be launched before the Tour de France
Our reporting: Escape Collective has seen official One Cycling documents that state the aims of 2025: they include the establishment of a commercial company – which was achieved in December – and the announcement of the One Cycling Global Race Series, to begin in 2026.
Escape was told at the end of last year that there would be official communication on the calendar in the first quarter of 2025, with Wielerflits later reporting the same, but that didn’t come to pass. The UCI, however, did publicly acknowledge talks for the first time in late March.
It has long been said that an announcement must be made before the Tour de France – a point that Het Laatste Nieuws reported – as the WorldTour calendar for the next three years will be agreed upon and signed off by the Professional Cycling Council (PCC) in June.
But senior figures involved in talks privately disagreed with some of the Het Laatste Nieuws reporting when speaking with Escape Collective, and are now saying that a launch date in May or June is no longer necessary, insisting that the project could be introduced at any point.
One source said, “Money talks. You’ve seen that with the changing of rules to allow 23 teams to compete in Grand Tours, midway through the WorldTour relegation cycle. If there’s money, anything can be rolled into action at any time.”
However, others have repeated that if an agreement isn’t finalised in the coming weeks, calendar reforms wouldn’t be able to take effect until the subsequent WorldTour cycle, beginning in 2029.
Bottom line: One Cycling might not be launched this year, but in 2026 or even 2027, if indeed it’s launched at all.
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