Five leading WorldTour teams, including Ineos Grenadiers and Jumbo-Visma, are reportedly working on a secret plan to shake up the business model of professional cycling by attracting venture capitalists to the sport as investors and stakeholders.
The Reuters news agency has reported that “a number of major European cycling teams have been exploring plans to create a new competitive league in a move that could reshape the sport’s landscape and allocate more funding for participants.”
Cyclingnews has also been informed of some of the details.
The group of teams involved are trying to find ways to generate extra revenue and so make them less dependent on sponsorship.
This new project is not a breakaway league, with Reuters suggesting the venture could amalgamate new and existing races to create a new source of revenue or the teams. The teams would perhaps hope to race in their new series and also in the Tour de France and other major races.
However the arrival of venture capital and a new race series would change the status quo in the sport.
The UCI currently owns the WorldTour, ASO controls the Tour de France, the Vuelta and other races, while the Giro d’Italia is controlled by RCS Sports, and Flanders Classics own many of the biggest spring Classics.
Reuters reports that accounting and consulting firm EY is seeking expressions of interest from potential investors for the project and has set a deadline for indications this week. Reuters also suggests that "an agreement is not imminent and a deal may not proceed.”
One well informed source told Cyclingnews that funding could come from Saudi Arabia investors, as was the case with the LIV golf breakaway league. Saudi Arabia has recently invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the Saudi Pro League football tournament, paying huge amounts to some of the biggest players in global football.
Reuters suggested that CVC Partners, the former owner of Formula One motor racing, could be interested in investing in the teams. In 2021 CVC Capital Partners paid £365 million ($509 million) for a 14.3% stake in the Six Nations rugby tournament.
Both EY and CVC Partners refused to comment to Reuters about the deal. Ineos Grenadiers also refused to comment.
Jumbo-Visma team manager Richard Plugge issued a short statement to Cyclingnews.
”It’s obvious that cycling is a sleeping giant and deserves an improved business model," Plugge said.
"For all stakeholders, but especially for the (WorldTour) teams. The only way to get there, is by cooperation."
The WorldTour and ProTour teams are part of the AIGCP (Association International des Groupes Cyclistes Professionels) but have become deeply divided in recent months about the work of the AIGCP president, who is also the Jumbo-Visma team manager.
Plugge has reportedly been working on the venture capital plans and a wider ‘OneCycling’ reform project with the UCI and race organisers. The venture capital project and OneCycling project appear to have similar aims but with very different strategies.
In recent months, Plugge has also been working on finding a new title sponsor for his team and considered a merger/takeover of Soudal-QuickStep before a change of heart. The privately-owned Pon Group and Visma are expected to sponsor the team in 2024.
Cyclingnews revealed details of a power struggle within the AIGCP in the summer and an extraordinary AIGCP meeting before the Vuelta a España was described as 'very heated’, with the teams divided on key matters and in a final vote.
Several similar projects and even breakaways from the UCI have been discussed in the past but never materialised due teams being massively dependent on the Tour de France to promote their sponsors.
A number of leading teams created Velon in 2014 with the goal of generating extra revenue by monetizing rider data, onboard video footage and collective race fee negotiations. Velon tried to create the Hammer Series of races, but the UCI refused to register the events as a series and the races ended in 2020 after two years.
Several teams have recently questioned their continued involvement in Velon after annual investments in the company.
This new project would be far more aggressive due to the involvement of venture capitalists, who would become shareholders in any new company alongside the teams.
