The Wealthiest People in Pro Cycling

The World Economic Forum takes place in Davos, Switzerland this week. What’s it got to do with pro cycling? Well some people in and around the sport are the very plutocrats and oligarchs who hold court in these kind of events. So here’s a look at the wealthiest people in pro cycling. Forget Peter Sagan and his reported €6 million a year salary, this is about the people who are so wealthy they’re not salaried. The list has changed for 2017 with the exit of Oleg Tinkov and the arrival of new money.

The point isn’t to gawk at yachts, villas or jets nor nor fawn at wealth but to offer an introductory “follow the money” piece so you know who pulls the strings and where the money comes from.

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Tour Down Under Preview

Richie Porte

The season begins on Tuesday with the Tour Down Under. This is now an established race with habitual finish lines, known climbs and even ritualised photo ceremonies. Even picking the contenders feels familiar with a strong list of local contenders keen to profit from their summer of cycling.

Here’s a preview of the race with stage profiles, the contenders and pretenders for stages and the GC plus TV listings and finish times.

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UCI Rule Changes – The Latest

Vuelta a Espana 2016

If you race you might know that moment when the pace is so furious that everyone is lined out and you’re struggling to hold the wheel in front. All you can think of is preventing a gap opening up, until the moment comes when you wonder who on earth is at the front making life so hard for you and everyone else? Well it’s not just during a race that this happens, anyone trying to follow the rules that underpin our sport must also be struggling for breath as the UCI keeps churning them revisions and new rules.

Yesterday saw the second set of rules issued this year, the new version (PDF) replaces those published on 1 January. Cyclingnews.com has picked up some of the novelties and changes but there’s more to examine.

Now a lot of these rules aren’t going to alter the racing, so skip this post if you’re not bothered about technical topics like relegation, rankings, appearance money, capping the number of race days and the status of the new World Tour races.

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Neo-Pros To Watch for 2017

After some established Riders to Watch for 2017, here is a selection of ten neo-pros to introduce ahead of the new season with a mix of stage race stars and classics champions and a couple of riders who have excelled in both and need to decide what they type of rider they’ll become.

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Riders To Watch For 2017

With the new road season a week away here are ten riders to follow this year. This isn’t a top-10 list of the world’s best, more a collection of riders with interesting aims and stories whether trying to beat a stellar 2016 season, finding new challenges, or trying to revive a career that’s gone quiet.

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The Christmas Holiday Quiz Answers

Here are the answers to the Christmas quiz. A lot of the questions were set to raise issues and make suggestions, for example pointing out there’s no minimum wage for the Women’s World Tour, that junior riders should be doing cyclo-cross ahead of the road or that almost nobody gets eliminated by the time cut in a grand tour these days or how the Giro’s fair play prize ought to be celebrated more.

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2017 Pro Race Calendar and iCal

Welcome to 2017, also known as 2016 – The Sequel. Here’s the pro cycling calendar for your organiser, phone or computer diary. All of the major UCI men’s and women’s pro races around the world are included and below there’s a quick explainer on how to subscribe, the meaning of the UCI labels and more.

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Tour of Qatar Obituary

The UCI announced today that the Tour of Qatar and the Ladies Tour of Qatar have been cancelled, a victim of their lack of success. This was the racer’s race, enjoyed by participants but it didn’t woo locals nor foreign audiences and now it’s run out of money. A UCI press release issued today cites “difficulty attracting sponsor financial support”.

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