"Salaries are rising faster than the teams' budgets": Ex-pro warns women's cycling is in trouble
Cycling
The women's cycling has undergone a rapid development in recent years. But in an attempt to catch up to their men counterpart, it seems like the ladies have skipped a few steps. Where this shows is in attempts to further expand the sport are running into obstacles that cannot be overcame as easily as it may seem.
"The UCI professionalized the WorldTour. Salaries went up and teams were allowed to grow to 20 riders (plus 2 neo-pros). But interestingly enough, the opposite is now happening," former Dutch cyclist Natascha Knaven-den Ouden observes at Sporza.
Some WorldTour teams are shrinking to 14 or 16 riders. As a result, not all WorldTour teams have yet signed a petition with the UCI regarding the requirement to ride the entire WorldTour calendar. Simply because they don't have enough riders to manage it.
Knaven explains how this happened. "There's a whole craze going on in racing to equate women with men. But women's cycling is a completely different sport than men's cycling, and it's also in a completely different developmental stage."
Men's cycling has had 25 years to evolve into the current WorldTour model. Women's cycling is expected to achieve this in five years. That, according to Knaven, lies the problem: "The focus is primarily on top riders and wage equality. But riders' salaries are rising faster than the teams' budgets. There is too much focus on money, which is causing women's cycling to implode from within."
"In concrete terms: because teams have to pump so much extra money into wages, they can invest less in staff, coaching, and training camps. Women's teams are building a structure with riders, but not with staff. Compare it to a house. If you build a house, don't you lay a foundation first? Wouldn't it be strange to build the roof separately first?"
Lack of talent?
Knaven concludes that high rider salaries are detrimental to a professional environment. She also sees another problem looming. More professionals means that more talented riders are ready to take the step up. But that's not really happening at the moment and the bottom levels of women's cycling are slowly dying out. "Devo teams are getting smaller, continental teams are disappearing and the calendar below the WorldTour is shrinking."
According to Knaven, this could have a major impact on women's racing. "Without investment at the grassroots level, the elite will dry up. The WorldTour won't be able to sustain itself. The riders are there, the organizers are there, and the races are there. The only thing missing is structure."
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.
claps 1visitors 1
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- many people advise him to grow slowly and rather do giro and/or vuelta instead of tdf. but i can totally understand that he is not satisfied with taking over once pogi declines, but instead beat him in his prime. so if he goes for tdf again, i‘m all for it. let‘s hope that pogi recovers soon!Ketterechts07-11-2026
- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- Yeah man...PogiSloFans07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
- My memories of Ivan Basso aren't good but I liked his sister Elisa ok.flyer07-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment