New plan to inject venture capital into pro cycling 'necessary step', says Vaughters

PARIS FRANCE JULY 23 LR Maxim Van Gils of Belgium and Team Lotto Dstny Andrey Amador of Costa Rica and Team EF EducationEasyPost and a general view of the peloton passing close The Arc de Triomf during the stage twentyone of the 110th Tour de France 2023 a 11 51km stage from SaintQuentinenYvelines to Paris UCIWT on July 23 2023 in Paris France Photo by David RamosGetty Images
The men's peloton rides by the Arc de Triomphe at the world's biggest pro race, the Tour de France (Image credit: David Ramos/Getty Images)

This week reports uncloaked a behind-the-scenes push to overhaul the business model of professional cycling. Led by Jumbo-Visma CEO Richard Plugge and Soudal-QuickStep's wealthy backer Zdenek Bakala, the scheme is designed to bring large amounts of venture capital into the sport to help shore up what are increasingly dire economics.

The details of the plan are still unclear, but Plugge and EF Education-EasyPost CEO Jonathan Vaughters spoke to the 'Radio Cycling' podcast revealing some new information.

Laura Weislo
Managing Editor

Laura Weislo has been with Cyclingnews since 2006 after making a switch from a career in science. As Managing Editor, she coordinates coverage for North American events and global news. As former elite-level road racer who dabbled in cyclo-cross and track, Laura has a passion for all three disciplines. When not working she likes to go camping and explore lesser traveled roads, paths and gravel tracks. Laura specialises in covering doping, anti-doping, UCI governance and performing data analysis.