Several major European cycling teams are in discussions to establish a new competitive league that could potentially reshape the cycling landscape and provide more funding for participants.
The venture intends to pool resources from external investors and could consolidate both new and existing races.
Ineos Grenadiers and about five other teams across Europe are currently involved in the early-stage talks, and others may join later.
One of the people revealed that Jonas Vingegaard’s Jumbo-Visma team is also involved in the discussions. However, spokespeople for Ineos Grenadiers and Jumbo-Visma declined to comment.
EY, a prominent accounting and consulting firm, is soliciting expressions of interest from potential investors for the project and has set a deadline for indications this week.
CVC Partners, the former owner of Formula One motor racing, is among those expressing interest in the project.
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The project aims to distribute profits from cycling events more equitably amongst teams that currently rely heavily on external sponsorships for funding.
The proposed league is a response to the teams’ concerns that the organizers of major cycling races such as the Tour de France, La Vuelta, and the Giro d’Italia retain an excessive share of the profits.
While the duration of the discussions is unclear, an agreement is not expected to be imminent, and one of the sources speculated that a deal may not proceed.
The proposed league project is a trend-following development in other global sports such as golf and tennis, where investors have injected new capital and attracted players and clubs to compete with established events.
It is worth noting that this is not the first time cycling teams have explored a new league project.
At the end of 2012, eight teams founded a league project called World Series Cycling (WSC), but the plans ultimately did not come to fruition.
