Richard Plugge said that there has been no progression toward economic reform by the UCI.GETTY IMAGES
An Int'l Association of Professional Cycling Teams (AIGCP) representative said that cycling teams are being "taken for granted" by the Int'l Cycling Union (UCI) and "fear that planned reforms will continue to leave them short-changed," according to Martyn Herman of REUTERS. Team execs, race organizers and other stakeholders held a meeting in Madrid earlier this month in which they "outlined their concerns" ahead of reforms proposed by UCI President David Lappartient to be implemented by '20. At the top of the agenda was the UCI's "push to reduce the WorldTour from 18 to 15 teams with promotion and relegation," something the AIGCP is "fighting to prevent." AIGCP VP Richard Plugge said that the Madrid talks with Lappartient had been held in a "good atmosphere." Yet having since been briefed on the UCI's proposals, he was "pessimistic," saying that the organization's "economic concerns were not being heard." Plugge said that cycling has become the "poor relation of other sports" such as tennis, golf, football and Formula 1, and that the economic model has "barely changed for 50 years." He added that the teams, whose only source of revenue is what they receive from sponsors, are "bankrolling" the UCI and have "effectively had their negotiating rights taken away" (REUTERS, 9/21).
