“Cycling must establish a system in which teams have an equal opportunity to succeed" - Jonathan Vaughters presses need for change after Visma-Soudal debacle

For a moment, it seemed as if two of cycling's most successful teams in the modern era, Jumbo-Visma and Soudal - Quick-Step were about to merge. Ultimately this didn't transpire but EF Education-EasyPost's boss Jonathan Vaughters believes the saga shows the need for change within the sport.

“Our sport must adapt quickly to protect its athletes, teams and fans,” Vaughters writes in his column for Escape Collective. “We have to organize cycling as a real professional sport. If we were to treat our sport like the NFL, team owners and major competition organizers such as ASO, RCS and Flanders Classics would sit down and draw up a binding document that guarantees access to matches, determines the number of top-level teams and sets spending limits.”

“Such a competition would immediately create equity for teams, stabilize the sponsorship market and create a mature and sustainable sport,” Vaughters explain. “Compared to other sports, cycling offers enormous media value for sponsors on the money invested, but there is great instability.”

The fact that even all-conquering Jumbo-Visma were feeling the effects of these issues is a stark warning believes Vaughters. "Jumbo-Visma hit a wall. It almost forced them to merge. They had to keep up with the influx of oil money to maintain their success, which put pressure on their finances and put the most successful team in recent years at risk.”

“While they were consistently winning, their expenditure was higher than what the sponsorship market was willing to support. Bad luck with current sponsors made matters worse and the inability to sell shares to secure their finances left them vulnerable. They wanted to win, did what it took to win and were punished for their success by a governance system that failed to control costs and guarantee their organization a future in the sport.”

“Cycling must establish a system in which teams have an equal opportunity to succeed, characterized by financial fairness and a limit on expenditure. Everyone will start with equal strength. Some teams will thrive in this system, others will not. Yet every new sponsor or investor entering the sport can dream of winning the Tour de France," Vaughters concludes. “Financial control and a competitive structure with boundaries are two simple changes that would immediately address the instability in the sport. Neither will please everyone, but if the cry about the need to change cycling's business model is genuine, then it needs leaders willing to shape the sport. That will be in a way that may not make friends, but in a way that is good for the long term.”