The battle to control how the future of professional men's cycling will look has taken another twist, with the first meeting of a UCI-led working group into the sport’s economic model set to take place this week, a number of sources have informed Escape Collective.
Negotiations over the Saudi Arabia-backed One Cycling proposal continue apace with weekly Friday meetings that involve most men’s WorldTour teams, as well as a handful of other stakeholders including the UCI and race organisers such as Flanders Classics and RCS, promoter of the Giro d’Italia.
Despite being on track of its own timeline and having already established a corporation in the UK, One Cycling has yet to convince ASO, the organiser of the Tour de France and Paris-Roubaix among others.
Aside from ASO, very few players in the sport disagree with the basic ideas of One Cycling, but in certain quarters there remain concerns over the business model and how new revenues can be exploited.
Similarly, though UAE Team Emirates are regularly present at meetings, they have yet to fully commit to One Cycling, leaving some smaller teams to question their own involvement in the project. They have questioned the success and profitability of the enterprise if the sport’s biggest powerhouse with the most marketable rider in Tadej Pogačar is not part of any future One Cycling-affiliated race series.
Now, in an apparent effort to unite all WorldTour teams and race organisers while up to €300m of money remains on the table from SURJ Sports Investment, the sports investment arm of the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, the UCI has launched a new working group to plot a way forward.
Crucially, sources have told Escape that ASO will be represented at the first meeting, possibly through Yann Le Moenner, the French family business’ CEO.
No timeline has been set for the new working group, but the intention is that whatever is agreed would come into force for the 2026 season, the start of the next three-year WorldTour cycle.
That leaves very little time to make progression, with the reformed calendar set to be announced in June, just four months away. It is also unclear how the working group will coexist alongside the current One Cycling discussions. Will it torpedo the project, or bring the warring factions together?
There is the feeling among some parties that the UCI has recently been pushing through legislation without thorough consultation, including the mandatory participation of all WorldTour teams at WorldTour races. That has led to concerns about the UCI’s motives with the establishment of this latest working group.
It has come about in the main, however, as a request from teams after a similar working group was set up last August to explore the possible introduction of a budget cap, which has an objective of fully coming into force in 2029.
Most teams that Escape spoke to were not against the eventual rollout of some kind of budget cap, but wanted to see the sport’s financial model overhauled first.
Did we do a good job with this story?
