Cyclist
Pro racing opinion: How to rearrange the UCI calendar
During the pandemic, all manner of local pressure groups cropped up across the UK with names invariably featuring the prefix ‘One’. Claiming to speak for the people, they seemed to pander mostly to the motorist while fanning the flames of culture wars by spouting untruths about cyclists, bike lanes, low traffic neighbourhoods and the climate crisis.
So you can forgive me if I’m naturally wary of the One Cycling group, which aims to revolutionise the pro racing calendar by creating a season-long league of prestige events. As early as 2026 we may see a revised schedule that includes innovative new race formats and fewer overlapping events.
If this all sounds a bit Velon-ish, we should mention that this time around the UCI is apparently on board. Funding could even come from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, putting cycling on the verge of its own LIV Golf moment. A lot will depend on whether ASO signs up, casting the Tour de France organiser in the role of the PGA.
The ethical quandary of Middle Eastern money propping up the sport is too large a topic to be discussed here and is something I will return to in a future issue. For now, my focus is on the logistics and feasibility of such a change, which is being driven by Soudal-QuickStep owner Zdeněk Bakala and Richard Plugge, the much-maligned president of the teams’ association (AIGCP) and manager of Visma-Lease a Bike.
While no dinosaur, I see myself as a purist when it comes to our sport; I love its history and respect the traditions of races that have been around for the best part of a century, if not longer. That said, I’d support any initiative that would reduce pro cycling’s obscene carbon footprint while helping to form a more coherent season-long narrative – especially if it results in more frequent showdowns between the top riders and better financial rewards for the teams.
With that in mind, I’d advocate subtle changes that would cluster races together both geographically and temporally while accommodating the glorious heritage of cycling. So here’s my view on how the pro cycling year should look.
The Grand Tour
First up, the Tour de France stays where it is. That is sacrosanct. But the two other Grand Tours can be flipped. Bring the Vuelta a España forward to May and use Catalunya and Itzulia as warm-up races. The San Sebastian Classic can then take place the week after the Vuelta’s finale to draw the curtain on the Spanish chapter of the campaign.
Prior to this, the spring programme should hinge on the cobbled Classics and Ardennes, leaving Flanders, Roubaix and Liège exactly where they are, but seeing Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo shifted to the Italian segment of the calendar later in the year.
Paris-Nice should be held in June (when it really can be a ‘Race to the Sun’) ahead of the Dauphiné and Tour de Suisse: ideal warm-up races for the real battle for yellow in July. Tirreno-Adriatico can then appear in mid-August following the World Championships and ahead of Strade Bianche and San Remo, which will switch from being the first to the fourth Monument of the season.
With the bulk of the peloton now being in Italy, the Giro can run from late August through the first fortnight of September ahead of the Italian autumn Classics – including Il Lombardia, which will remain the season’s swansong (the ‘Race of the Growing Leaves’ doesn’t have the same ring to it).
What about the Canadian GPs and the Tour of Guangxi? These races have never sat well with me, and with the UCI now pushing the Esports World Championships in October, perhaps they can be held on MyWhoosh. That’s one way of cutting down on the sport’s air miles. While they’re at it, they could perhaps take the UAE Tour off the menu as well – MyWhoosh being an Abu Dhabi-based platform, after all.
That just leaves those pesky Australian races. They’re a bit of an enigma on the calendar, not least because they wouldn’t really work anywhere else. Put the Tour Down Under at the end of the season and it would be utterly pointless. At least where it is now, its short stages and easy Adelaide location make the race an ideal stepping stone between seasons.
Truth be told, until long-haul flights are powered by hydrogen or vegetable oil, the Antipodean chapter of the calendar will remain an environmental anomaly in a sport wishing to clean up its act. And if I said bin it, I’d have Sam Welsford and Sarah Gigante on my case, so I’ll leave that for One Cycling to work out.
• This article originally appeared in issue 150 of Cyclist magazine. Click here to subscribe
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