EF boss proposes to take a look at the NFL to create more equality in cycling: "There are no guardrails"
Cycling
In cycling today, there is a big difference between the strongest teams and the rest. UAE Team Emirates, Visma | Lease a Bike and Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe have stratospheric budgets, far above the vast majority of the rest. One of those down there fighting to try to move up is EF Education-EasyPost. Its sports director, Jonathan Vaughters, has commented on a proposal to close the gap as much as possible.
The American is the CEO of a team that competes at the bottom of the WorldTour in terms of budget. To really compete with the top guys is therefore almost impossible. That's why Vaughters advocates a new approach.
"In sports where financial equity and recruitment is regulated, like in the NFL, we see huge growth in spectators and fans," he told Cyclingnews. "Why? Because the games are unpredictable and anyone can win. If you create a level playing field, you increase interest in the sport."
Why don't we win every day?
"In terms of recruiting athletes, things are done very differently in the United States than they are in Europe. The worst team goes first and the best team goes last. So there is more of a level playing field. What is wrong with cycling is not that it is a bad system, but that there is no system. The problem is that there is nothing, there are no guardrails. In cycling today, you can buy success."
Vaughters wants cycling to be more "American": "A level playing field creates interest in the sport. In its early years, UAE Team Emirates was far from the top team it is today. The oil sheiks didn't understand the sport: "Why don't we win every day? When Lampre-ISD was taken over by a Middle Eastern sheikh, ambitions immediately went through the roof."
"But in the beginning, there was little of the super team we know today. That led to misunderstandings with the lender. When UAE Team Emirates first competed in the Tour de France, I think in 2017, the sheikh who gives all the money came to visit," the 51-year-old American recounts. "He said something like, 'Why don't we win, why don't we win every day?' The managers told him, 'It's enormously expensive to get it.' He said again, 'Yeah, so what? Hurry up.'"
Now UAE Team Emirates is the team to beat. Vaughters, with that team's dominance, would like to see a system to regulate the supremacy a bit: "I'm not saying we should adopt the same system as the NFL, because maybe it will work, maybe it won't. But what I'm trying to say is that there has to be something. There needs to be an attempt to regulate how riders are bought, but also how teams are created and what's fair and what's not."
"Otherwise, things could go downhill in cycling. What you end up getting is that sponsors are discouraged from coming into the sport. You get to a point where it's harder and harder to find your place in the sport, to find a sponsor. Because you can't sell the dream of winning the Tour."
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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