CRISIS WHAT CRISIS
Every year since 2006 I have managed a UCI Continental team in the UK. Each season, the people I worked with found people in companies who liked cycling and it’s those people who have persuaded their boards and marketing departments to support the teams I have had the pleasure of running. We have commissioned agencies, generated proposals and researched TV time, social media reach and more. But it has always come down to the people within those companies who have pushed through our sponsorship proposals.
Two teams disappearing, as has just happened in the UK domestic scene, is not a crisis. It’s happened three times during my time as a manager. I predicted this would happen, but it seems more painful this year because of the success of our WorldTour riders.
But here’s a question: why are we comparing our domestic scene against those achievements? We always look to Belgium or France and say how great their domestic calendar is. Are they having a similar debate because of the British WorldTour success? Even Quick-Step, who win a huge number of races, only found a sponsor at the twelfth hour. And this is in Belgium, which is the heartland of our sport. When it comes to road cycling those countries have a big cultural and historical advantage over the UK, yet even they are struggling to find sponsors.
Can the UK scene support seven Conti teams? If each team has 10 riders, that would mean we have 70 riders here who are good enough to race a calendar of UCI races. I’m sorry, but we don’t have 70 riders who are competitive in our Spring Cup or GP series let alone capable of riding a UCI programme. In France, for years there have only ever been three or four Conti teams. That’s a realistic number for the UK.
My idea for the UK would be to make it harder to become a Conti team, sportingly and financially. Give four teams, as part of being given their Conti licence, the obligation to fund or promote a race here in the UK with an existing organisation. In return, those teams would get access to the Tours of Britain and Yorkshire and could then go off and do what they are supposed to: a programme of UCI races that develops riders good enough to move up to the next level and race our two big domestic tours with something more than the ambition of just getting in the breaks.
Below that, we should be looking to have 10 to 12 club teams. These would still need funding but at a more achievable level, perhaps based on regions and funded by local sponsors. We have some teams trying to do this already, like Sheffield CC and St Piran. You could include the Welsh Academy team in this group.
If we did that, then instead of asking for handouts for Conti teams from British Cycling, we would be pushing BC to help fund two or three UCI 2.2 races. This help should also be extended to the 1.2 races we already have. It could be part of the contracts that the organisers of the Tour of Britain, RideLondon and Tour de Yorkshire are obligated to put them on. Don’t forget that if races become WorldTour, the Conti teams can no longer take part.
Those 12 club teams along with the four UCI teams could then race 2.2 races in the UK without the costs of foreign travel. The races would be bringing foreign Conti teams to us, hopefully improving the standard of racing in the UK. Club teams would benefit; our Conti teams would be riding for the win, not just getting in the break. Get these races covered by local TV to get the region and locals behind them.
Keep the Spring Cup and GP series as it is, with club teams of eight riders. The UK Conti teams can still ride but with fewer riders to level the playing field.
If we get the calendar right, the teams will come, because one thing I know for sure is that riders will always want to race.