American Jonathan Vaughters is the manager of the US-based Cannondale Pro Cycling Team, which competes in the world's biggest bicycle races, including the Tour de France. This is an op-ed he wrote for Business Insider.
Another bike race, another problem.
The recent spate of terrifying accidents in professional cycling, combined with the cancellation of Wednesday’s stage in Paris-Nice, has incited fans, athletes, and coaches to carefully consider how pro cycling is conducted and how it could be improved.
The interests at stake are so varied that consensus on how to move forward is difficult, if not impossible.
Why?
Unlike in most professional sports, where the business interests of the leagues are aligned or, at the very least, legally defined, in cycling most interests work against one another, creating dangerous situations that benefit some and sometimes cost others.
As one of my early bosses told me before a race — a race that riders were considering boycotting because of ice patches all over the roads — “Don't get caught up in this bullshit of a rider strike. The race will be fast today, no matter what the conditions, because there's always someone wanting to take advantage of the situation.”
The race was unbelievably fast, and many nasty accidents occurred. Any solidarity among the riders prerace was flimsy, and disappeared once the gun went off. We all felt the pressure to do our jobs that day and provide a good race for sponsors and fans. Our livelihood depended on it. We did so at the cost of many broken bones, concussions, and lost skin.
So why is it that, as my generation of riders grows older and into management and governance, we can't seem to find a way keep athletes out of those situations — the same ones we detested — in the first place?
Varied interests.
For example, one of the largest and most recent controversies in pro cycling is the cyclists being run over by television motorcycles, support vehicles, and referee-carrying vehicles. At first glance, it seems absurd that cyclists would be getting put in danger by motor vehicles that are in the middle of a pack of cyclists. However, when we examine why those vehicles are there to begin with, it becomes less clear.
Without television providing close-up and intimate filming, cycling loses its audience. Without mobile referees in vehicles watching the conduct of the riders, cycling loses adherence to regulations and fairness. Without support vehicles, riders have no coaching, no possibility to fix flat tires, and no mobile water and fuel station.
Without the police on motorcycles constantly enveloping the peloton, the riders receive no protection from traffic. The hundreds of dangerous motor vehicles surrounding a bike race all serve a purpose. Unfortunately, we all now know that motor vehicles crammed into extremely close quarters with riders will eventually produce an accident. No matter who is driving.
Then perhaps the answer is to reduce the number of vehicles? So whose interest do we diminish? If the TV motorcycles and media cars are removed, then the race will fade to obscurity and no longer be able to meet costs of production. If the judges are removed, the race will devolve into a “Mad Max” version of cycling. If the team cars are removed, the riders will have no support for their efforts. The solutions aren't clear.
Another example came in Wednesday’s stage of Paris-Nice, a weeklong stage race in France. The stage was canceled, reluctantly, after snow clogged the roads and turned some into skating rinks. The images coming through would make it seem crazy that the race even started in the first place.
But canceling a race isn't easy. First, you have the towns that paid money for the race to start or finish in them. Then you have a television station that has paid money to broadcast the race at a certain time on a certain day. You have roads that have been closed by local governments to let the race pass.
All these factors lead to a bevy of conflicts of interest. While the chief judge of the race should be looking at the rules in place for extreme weather, instead he has an upset race organizer breathing down his neck making sure he understands the money that will be lost if the race doesn't go ahead.
Who suffers from these commercially driven conflicts? The teams and the riders. They aren't part of the decision-making; they aren't part of the benefits or liabilities associated with the business of running a race. They are simply there to do as they are told.
Solutions to these issues? Simple. Align the business interests so everyone decides what is best together, in advance, and live by those decisions. Maybe racing in the snow makes sense if everyone has brought snow tires and heavy parkas to begin with? Maybe the business benefits outweigh the negatives if done in a safe way? Maybe fewer cars and less officiating and media makes sense? Maybe not?
Risks and rewards must be chosen by all parties. But since the teams and riders aren't part of the business of producing a race — many race organizers view riders and teams as nuisances, frankly — interests aren’t shared. Riders have to rely on decision-making from people who are highly invested in the business of producing a race. And that decision-making will reflect what is best for the race organizer. Not the teams and athletes.
Poor @jessesergent knocked down by car at #RVV. pic.twitter.com/TpRMxb6Dnm
— daniel mcmahon (@cyclingreporter) April 5, 2015No, it's one business. And that business figures out compromises that make the best path forward for all the stakeholders in the business (the NFL). And those decisions have to be lived with by all parties, as all parties involved are stakeholders.
Maybe this type of decision-making would make races less safe? Maybe more safe? Maybe more entertaining? Maybe less? We don't know.
But what we do know is that having teams and riders pulling one way and race organizers pulling another leaves both parties weaker. It's time for cycling to grow up and take its place among top professional sports. And that happens only with everyone pulling in the same direction.
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