Their demise should bring a fresh start

IT’S a sad day for British cycling, but for world cycling this really could bring about a new era from 2020. I want to see more money put into cycling and with it more competition — not one dominant team. I doubt many people will miss the fact that they are not there. After all, is it because of Team Sky’s dominance and their controversies that other major sponsors haven’t come into the sport? It sounds as if the team are genuinely shocked by the news, but I’m not surprised — I always wondered if they could keep going. The negative publicity hasn’t helped them at all and it is still not finished with the Dr Richard Freeman hearing coming up in the next few months. I think the new owners have probably looked at it and thought: ‘What is the point in having all this controversy?’ The team are saying they are wanting to get a new buyer, but anyone who knows this sport will know it isn’t easy to get a major sponsor. It would take a minimum of six months and they want something in place before the Tour de France. They might be able to operate on a lower budget with fewer riders but I don’t think they will be able to get a deal that matches their old budget. And the reality of it is, it’s a big risk for a company to step in and sponsor this team. People won’t want to be the old Team Sky and have their bad publicity carry over. Instead, it would be better if two or three teams came along, for example, and one built a team around Chris Froome and another around Geraint Thomas. That would produce more opportunities and competition. Ultimately there should be four or five teams with a budget of around £20million, not one on £34m. The average World Tour team budget a couple of years ago was £14.5m, with a lot of teams between the £12m to £16m mark, so the gulf between them and Team Sky has just become too big. Cycling needs more big sponsors and maybe that will happen now. So, while I appreciate what Team Sky have done — both in their successes and the cycling boom they have inspired in Britain — their demise should bring a fresh start for the sport. It feels like the moment you cut down a big tree in a forest and the smaller trees can blossom.