It’s a small sentence in an interview, but perhaps the start of a revolution in cycling. Questioned on the sidelines of the presentation of a stage of the Tour de France 2025 in Montpellier, the boss of the Grande Boucle did not escape a question on the existence of two-speed cycling. And Christian Prudhomme did not try to kick into touch.
The 64-year-old leader even revealed that the UCI and the authorities were looking for a solution to this problem, and that the salary cap could be one of them. “There is a reflection carried out by the UCI, with the organizers, the teams, on the fact of perhaps having a maximum budget. Because in fact, with the capital coming in particular from Arab countries, the match is a little unbalanced. It’s an understatement to say it,” explained Christian Prudhomme in the columns of Midi Libre.
“Having good riders in each team”
An idea that is not new in cycling. David Lappartient, head of the UCI, even announced it as “a medium-term objective” in August 2018.
“The idea is that we can have good riders in each of the teams. That we do not have a concentration of resources in a single team. And make sure that we have leaders in each team and that the race is more interesting. That’s the objective. It’s not about bothering so-and-so. It’s fair to say to yourself: if a team is able to buy the top ten riders in the world then there is no longer any interest in the sport. The overall salary cap does not prohibit paying an athlete very expensively, but in this case it will be necessary to regulate with the rest of the workforce. There you go, it’s then a team strategy,” he explained at the time. 6 years later, the debate is still the same. Will the UCI go through with it this time?
