Earlier this month, cycling fans were left frustrated once
again when the BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2024 initially appeared to
snub one of the sport’s greatest figures,
Mark Cavendish. While the decision
was later reversed, with
Cavendish receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award, it
raised a deeper question: why does cycling continue to be overlooked at major
awards ceremonies?
The frustration grew when the shortlist for the BBC Sports
Personality’s World Sport Star of the Year 2024 was revealed. The list, which
as previously been won by Lionel Messi, Max Verstappen, and Simone Biles,
celebrates some of the most remarkable sporting achievements of the year from
athletes outside of the UK. Yet, glaringly absent was
Tadej Pogacar, who in
2024 achieved what many believe to be the greatest cycling season in history.
Is it possible to achieve more than Tadej Pogacar in
2024?
To fully grasp the magnitude of the snub, we must look at
Pogacar’s incredible 2024. The 26-year-old Slovenian rewrote the history books
by winning the Giro d’Italia, the
Tour de France, and the World Championships
road race in the same year. This "triple crown" of cycling had only
been achieved twice before: by Eddy Merckx in 1974 and Stephen Roche in 1987.
But Pogacar achieved far more than winning cycling’s three
biggest races. He also won Strade Bianche with a jaw-dropping 81-kilometre solo
attack, Liège-Bastogne-Liège with another long-range move, and Il Lombardia, showing
he’s the best one day rider on the planet too. In total, Pogacar won an
astonishing 25 races, including 12 Grand Tour stages. His consistency across
three weeks in two different Grand Tours, coupled with his ability to dominate
one-day races, made his season one of the greatest in cycling history. Like Man
City’s treble winning season in 2023, and Max Verstappen win 19 out of 22 races
in 2023, Pogacar’s season was up there with the all time greatest sporting
years.
Tadej Pogacar was in a league of his own in 2024
Yet, despite this unparalleled success, Pogacar was nowhere
to be seen on the World Sport Star shortlist, let alone the recipient of the
award. What on earth did Pogacar have to do to make the list?
Comparing Pogacar to the 2024 World Sport Star nominees
The nominees for this year’s World Sport Star include Simone
Biles who returned to her very best at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, as the 27
year old became the oldest winner of the women’s all round title for 72 years.
Biles won three gold medals, and a silver, in what was undoubedtly another brilliant
year.
But was it better than Pogacar’s? Of course, that is
subjective, and we will be biased, but Biles’ year was not even her greatest
year ever (that came in 2016), let alone her sport’s greatest season.
Another superstar on the list in Armand Duplantis, the Swedish
Pole Vault world record holder. Not only did he win the gold in Paris, he also
broke his own world record on multiple occasions.
Chapeau, Mr Duplantis, but it’s not quite the triple crown
is it?
And then there’s Leon Marchand, the poster boy of the
Olympic games in Paris. Ok, we’ll admit it, winning four golds at your home
games is definitely comparable to Pogacar’s season, and Marchand is certainly
one of the top sportsmen on the planet.
He’s still not Pogacar though is he?
Why does cycling get overlooked?
This isn’t the first time cycling has been ignored by major
awards. The World Sport Star award, which dates back to 1960, has been given to
cyclists just once: to Jacques Anquetil in 1963, and Lance Armstrong’s original
2003 win was
rightfully rescinded following his doping scandal.One of the reasons cycling struggles for recognition is its
historical association with doping scandals. While the sport has worked hard to
rebuild its reputation, these past controversies continue to cast a shadow. For
many outside the cycling world, achievements like Pogacar’s are met with
scepticism, despite modern cycling being subject to some of the most rigorous
anti-doping measures in all of sport.
Another factor is the perception of accessibility. Unlike
football, where millions of fans can play in their local park, or gymnastics,
which captivates audiences with its artistic flair, cycling is often seen as a
niche sport. But this view ignores the sheer global reach of the sport, with
Grand Tours like the Tour de France drawing billions of viewers annually.
What’s frustrating is the double standard that exists when
recognising greatness in cycling versus other sports. Athletes like Eliud
Kipchoge, who has won the World Sport Star award, are celebrated for their
endurance and physicality. Yet Pogacar, who showcases these same qualities
across events that last weeks, not days, is ignored entirely.
A stage of the Tour de France can last up to six hours, with
riders burning upwards of 6,000 calories a day while climbing mountains that
would leave most recreational cyclists gasping for air. And they do this for 21
days. 21! You only need to take one look at a professional cyclist to
understand just how much they sacrifice, but why still are the professionals
not recognised globally?
The sheer dedication required to succeed in cycling is
unparalleled, as athletes must train for hours every day, through the cold,
rain and snow. Their diets are meticulously controlled, and they sacrifice much
of their personal lives to focus on their sport. Pogacar, like the rest of
cycling’s elite, will have given up just about everything in their personal
lives, just to have a shot at sporting greatness. Of course, this can be said
about any elite sportsman, so why aren’t they recognised as equals?
What must cycling's biggest stars do to gain more recognition?
Pogacar’s achievements also highlight the unique physical
demands of cycling, as his triple crown requires him to peak multiple times in
a single year, a feat rarely seen in other sports. Footballers of course have
to be at consistently high level throughout the year, but they do not require
the cardiovascular condition of other sports.
And unlike in sports like Formula 1, where the equipment can
certainly play a role in the outcome, cycling is a pure test of human strength
and endurance. Yes, you definitely need the right team around you, and Pogacar
had that with his
UAE Team Emirates super team in 2024. But what about in
Zurich in September, when Pogacar’s victory at the World Championships came
from a 100-kilometre solo breakaway? There was no team tactics helping him out
on that occasion!
Why recognition matters
The lack of recognition for Pogacar’s achievements isn’t
just an oversight; it’s a failure to recognise the sport as a whole.
Recognition at major awards ceremonies helps elevate the profile of a sport,
inspiring the next generation of athletes and attracting new fans, and cycling in
the
UK will fail to benefit from that this year.By snubbing Pogacar, the BBC and other global awards
perpetuate the idea that cycling is a lesser sport, unworthy of the same
accolades given to footballers, F1 drivers, or other Olympic athletes. This is
not only unfair but also inaccurate, given the incredible sacrifices and
achievements of cyclists like Pogacar.
This isn’t an argument that Pogacar had a better year than
Marchand or Biles or any of the other truly special athletes from other sports,
it’s a question as to why he was left off of the list entirely.
Cycling deserves its place alongside the world’s greatest
sports, and Pogacar’s 2024 season is the perfect example of why. His
achievements are a reminder the sport’s unique demands and its ability to
produce moments of pure athletic brilliance, and show you just how one man can
push himself for greatness.
As we celebrate the achievements of the other athletes on
the list, let’s not forget the feats of Pogacar, Cavendish, and others in the
cycling world. Because if cycling continues to be overlooked, we risk ignoring
some of the greatest sporting stories of our time.
Cycling, with its history, global reach, and unmatched
physicality, deserves better. And so does Tadej Pogacar.
It's the BBC. Who cares outside of little Britain.
If Valentino Rossi could never win during his period of dominance, and massive personality, then Pogacar not winning isn't a massive surprise.
Cycling isn't a Premier League global sport......only one event reaches the mainstream every year - and that's not good enough.
Is the BBC really so important?
The article gives a lot of food but lacks much thought. Cycling was PERMANENTLY damaged by one guy’s quest for invincibility and lost a lot of followers that were helping to make it more mainstream. The days of British glory (track, Sky, Wiggins. Froome, Ineos) which were also permitting Anglo media (the dominant form for global influence) to sell the sport as mainstream, are also dead. Many sports don’t have a season’s worth of events to report on, the media focuses on one huge event WC/Olympics and that’s sll that counts, cycling is the opposite, the WC hardly counts whereas traditional races are considered more noteworthy and riders pick and choose races according to a personal agenda, there is no single culminating event and each is more important to some and most important to a few, how is a general reporter to make sense of comparisons in such an individualistic structure? Awards are usually consensus based and there are just not enough people following cycling for it to score high across the board.
Sometimes there is not a single or simple reason for things, it is just the cumulative effect of many effects influencing things and in this case, there are dozens. In most countries’ media a sport like cricket or darts or rugby or even the whole Commonwealth results would be completely overlooked too, this may not be the case in the UK or at the Beeb but it does highlight how different perceptions are from different places and people, sumo or wrestling, kayak, judo, karate, have any of these ever even been considered? I don’t know but probably boxing has. A sport has to be commercially popular enough to count, the problem with cycling is, it SEEMS popular but isn’t that just a bias because it’s kind of free? How many fans would really remain if you had to pay a 50€ entrance fee to look from the sidelines, and that’s the thing, the majority of people don’t really watch the SPORT, they enjoy being part of the event and moment and know very little about things. True followers are very rare as the number of commentators on websites such as this one show. Riders also just aren’t interesting enough personalities to interest mainstream media, they have very few newsworthy incidents and even when, the murdering of a wife remained largely internal to the cycling media. It seems as if the cycling powers that be don’t promote cycling news to the outside world, perhaps from lack of budget to persuade general media to report (and we know some sport federations have huge budgets to convince media and reporters to make space for them, look how many pages of national newspapers were dedicated to lower league sports results or even horse racing compared to cycling, gambling companies also influence this as they obviously have more interest in promoting data their clients are likely to be interested in.
Anyway, these are just some more aspects the cycling federations should reflect on before ordering an expensive audit to understand why we can’t pull our weight on the global sport scene.
WC hardly counts. - You couldn’t be further away from the truth.
Give me spectator and viewing figures then.
As you probably won’t or can’t, here are some facts. WC viewing is less than 1/4 of the Vuelta which is BY FAR the least viewed of the 3 GTs. Yes the Vuelta has many stages so it works cumulatively but tgat counts for the WC too! Tvere are more WC races thsn there are stages at a GT.
If you look at different countries’ national viewing figures, a popular WC race line the elite mens road race will just about reach the bottom rankings of the top 10 most viewed cycling events beaten by several monuments and classics, often national championships and ususlly by the more interesting stages of tours like Paris-Nice or the Critérium du Dauphiné
Interesting analysis. And yet, I'm in the US, and at a recent wedding reception as a group of us older folks had to stand at a certain place to keep track of a thing, we got to talking, and every single one of us had a favorite rider, a favorite circuit of races, a moment when we fell in love with the sport, and a joy in the complexities of it all. None of us knew about the other's fandom until that moment. It's wonderful that these are my brothers-in-law, and we now know to talk about this when the spouses aren't listening. Point being: there are fans all over, and for US folks, the loss of GCN+ has been huge. As so often, it's the media bottleneck that matters more than anything else. Look at F1 in the US before Netflix, as an example.
Well, I’d say that like is more likely to attract line when it comes to certain interests and cycling is probably one of them. The rowdy alcohol swaying type as an example, that features occasionally but EACh time there is an incident is obviously an exception amongst cycling fans. We are not very vocal about our passion which is understandable considering the little interest an average person has so it often takes special circumstances for us to discover our peers :-)
who cares about the BBC? Let them continue to reward the dirty and every year more violent football, actually, a BBC award is an insult.
Would it be wise to include Pogacar though? I don’t think so. In case he won they’d have to strip him of the award in a few years time anyway. Thermonuclear performances from March to October, no single bad day, 100km solo rides, beating EPO times by minutes, team principals involved in number of doping scandals in the past and most importantly massive improvement during one off-season. If cycling history had taught us anything, it’s that you can’t believe in miracles. Sorry Dopačar
Oh, Always this frustrated hater present, poor soul, his happiness is defame with falsely rational arguments, pure cheap sophistry. Calm down, go to holidays, maybe you could obtain a genuine moment of happiness.
Tadej, unlike Armstrong, does not have cancer. Whenever they found something strange about Armstrong, he and his complice system, explained that they were innovative procedures for cancer, which is why he was able to fool around for so many years.
Especially now that they claim to be stopping CO treatment, but what else have they (and others) been trying, before banning it starts to be discussed?
Which off-season are you referring to? The one after he won the Tour of California? The one after he won 3 stages and was on the podium of the Vuelta? The one after TJV screwed up, never put him away, and lost the Tour on the time trial? We've seen the guy hit the wall, lose energy, nearly fail, and lose races ("I'm dead") more than once. He's got a visible threshold and his fueling regimen is a clear weak spot. You'll need more detail to make this more than under defined insinuations .
To be fair, he has now stated his fuel regime had been corrected and the results concur.
No one- aside from dorks like us- cares about cycling. Get over it, and enjoy the sport for what it is. External validation is neither necessary nor valuable.
Exactly, most cycling fans are also active riders, another difference with many sports, we can actually associate with these people and experience many of the same feelings.
Well said! It's true, even for those of us who are older and slower now.
Also one of the rare sports where old and young can mix
And our virtual platforms allow us to "ride" famous place that we can't get to in person, which is a pretty fabulous aspect of this weird weird sport.
You're mostly preaching to the converted on here, but this was still a thoroughly enjoyable article. Firstly I was incensed; as close to a perfect season as you're ever going to see in this era and it isn't good enough to make the shortlist?! Then I became reflective and pondered the sheer amount of joy I experienced from watching a great at work this year. Now I'm happy again.
It's not about cycling nor about Tadej it's increasingly about the BBC. The SPOTY awards increasingly is about the few sports they have in their portfolio and the incessant push to be the most diverse organisation in sport, in fact in many ways now they have gone so far they other way. Awarding Cav a lifetime achievement award might be the last cycling ever sees other than track because they don't show it. The SPOTY night used to be widespread viewing in Britain, viewer numbers have plummeted in recent years. Sadly it's an anachronism, more about rewarding mediocrity if it fits their diverse agenda.
Your diversity argument makes no sense. If it was a diversity push, they would be including cycling in order to diversify their nominees.
Ahhh..... you have to understand the "strange" diversity concepts of the BBC
There are billions of people globally who have never heard of the BBC and never will, let alone follow their “influencing”, it’s about time preconditioned citizens realised how insignificant some institutions really are. We are all biased from our environment growing up, there us much for adults to reset in their heads if they are to understand the order of things in the big world and realise what are real and perceived problems and injustices.
The only way a cyclist can win SPOTY is to be British and win the Tour in a year when little else happens. But that's OK because the award is decided by TV viewers' votes, so it is basically meaningless.
The main SPOTY award is "decided" by public vote but the BBC "expert panel" decide who you can choose from, that choice has an equal split of genders and is focussed on the sports BBC show and a disabled athlete. Oh yea the ubiquitous "Pub Games" candidate there too, Darts and Snooker are not sports.
The other awards are decided by the "Expert Panel" again it's about the sports BBC show, cycling has had it. Cav got his for his years and achievements in the sport, not just that 35th TDF win. Unless the BBC get access to Pro Cycling it will never feature "adequately" on SPOTY