This week, Cyclingnews takes a deep dive into the UCI WorldTour and the global reforms of professional cycling first introduced in 2005, and the impact it has had on the sport. First, we looked at the history of cycling's other series. In part 2, we recapped the formation of the WorldTour and its challenges. Later this week, we will examine the impact the global reforms of the sport have had on teams and riders, and the globalisation of the sport of cycling. Today, we discuss with former UCI president Pat McQuaid the battles they faced with race organisers, in particular the Tour de France owners ASO.
Cycling is one of the oldest professional sports but throughout its history it has struggled to develop as successfully as other sports, in large part because of the relative strength of major race owners like the ASO, which organises or has a large stake in more than half of race days on the current WorldTour calendar.
The power struggle between teams, organisers and the UCI has kept cycling locked in the sponsor economic model and so lagging behind other sports and entertainment sectors in terms of economics and professionalism. A businessman by trade, Hein Verbruggen recognized the fundamental problems of cycling and came up with the concept of the ProTour to address its economic instability.
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"Make no mistake about it - it was a vision of Hein Verbruggen," McQuaid tells Cyclingnews from his home in Provence, France, where he now operates a cycling holiday business.
"He was the one who came up with the vision, and he had been presiding over pro cycling for 12 years by then. He had seen all the lack of stability, he'd seen all the negatives in relation to pro cycling, and he wanted to try to put it on a more professional and stable platform."
Verbruggen, a former sales manager with candy-maker Mars - at the time one of the sport's biggest supporters - understood what sponsors needed to engage with the sport. According to McQuaid, that knowledge helped him conceive the idea of the ProTour, which was then developed through discussions with the UCI's board and other stakeholders.
Negotiating with ASO
The ProTour becomes the WorldTour
McQuaid's legacy?
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