In the last years, I’d say the sport is going backwards. We’re still lucky that some Pro Continental teams are aiming to become World Tour and put more money into teams, but we need to find a way to have a sustainable system in cycling that we don’t have now.
TV rights are the first way to stimulate the economy for teams. That’s where we must start.
We need to take Grand Tours to bigger cities. I understand it’s a little difficult logistically, but I think we need to reach more people. The Tour of Poland is doing a great job where they have the kids races in the morning so the whole family comes around before the professional race. That means you bring more people to the races and that’s what we need.
There have been decisions made in cycling that make no sense to me. Taking the Grand Tours down to 8 riders per team didn’t change anything. It’s not having an outcome on the riders. I’m not sure why they made this decision. It’s causing more job losses.
We need to think about a cycling team like a big organization that’s bigger than the riders. Teams have 30 – 45 staff members. When a team folds, it’s not just riders who are out of a job but staff who sometimes have to find a job outside of the sport. When a team ends, maybe half the riders will find contracts but probably only a quarter of the staff find work with other teams.
We won the Vuelta a Espana and were able to defend the jersey with only 8 riders. Sky were dominating before and in the Tour de France, they still dominated with 8 riders. It doesn’t make a difference. It just means more guys have to work a little longer which is fine, it doesn’t change much.
And behind us we have all the staff members from mecs, masseurs, DS, back office. No work for us..no work for them. We need to develop our sport to be attractive for sponsors and backers. Because cycling is actually cool! https://t.co/kT5LS1QmsR
— Matteo Trentin (@MATTEOTRENTIN) September 11, 2018
To make racing more interesting, we must start with the parcours. The riders don’t want the racing to be boring. Ok, we can’t have 21 hard stages in a row where we put on a show because that’s not possible but there are ways to make the racing more interesting. If there are back to back mountain stages, you know that the guys are just going to wait for the last climb because the level is too high to go early.
Race organisers should ask the riders to help with the parcours. We can add big value that’s in our own interests. Everyone is happy when the press reports that we put on a big show today so everyone wins. The riders need to be considered more than just people riding their bikes around. We need to play a more important role.
Organisers are trying to make every race harder and harder but it doesn’t work. If you look at the Vuelta this year, the top 5 – 7 were very close to each other. You don’t have one guy who just stands out over the others, it’s a selective group.
We need diversity in the stages and we need shorter races. We don’t need to race 200 kilometres every day.
I mean you can’t modernise parcours like Milan San Remo. That should not be changed. Paris Roubaix isn’t Paris Roubaix without its parcours but stage races can be looked at. Of course, the organisers have to follow the money, depending on who wants to host the start and finishes of a stage but there are ways to make the stages more interesting.
Little by little the riders are having more of a voice. Cycling is a strange sport because you need the race organiser. It’s not like soccer or the NBA where the team owns the venue where the games are played. It’s easier to have a say when you’re playing in your own stadium and you don’t need a third-party to organise your game.
Header photo: Kristof Ramon
