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ActiveTdF

Ronan Pensec: Teams Abandon ProTour

Posted by ActiveTdF on Jul 15, 2008 9:33:32 AM

Today is a rest day as you all know, but this July 15th will definitely make history as all the teams entered for the Tour de France have announced that they will stop competing in the ProTour!

 

This is it! The ProTour is over or will be over soon, and the UCI can be worried about it.

 

The real motivation for the teams to leave the ProTour is both financial and for the good of the sport. On one side, you had the marketing managers explaining that it was harder and harder to find budgets for 30+ riders to cover all the important events of the ProTour and the other private events. On the other side, the team managers and coaches said that managing 30+ athletes was really hard and it was not in the best interest of the sport.

 

Now that they will be managing 20 riders or less, the riders will be able to see each other more often and they won't be stretched out as they used to be. Team spirit will be easier to build. As you can see with the CSC team, it's definitely good for the sport to have strong teams. They make the show!

 

Well, it's a very important for the sport of cycling, and even if it's a bit early to say that, I think it's great news for cycling.

 

The Tour will be back tomorrow, so stay tuned!

 

Please do not hesitate to post your comments as I will be glad to share ideas and comments with you. And remember, if you want to enjoy the Tour de France from the inside, do it with www.RonanPensecTravel.com , the official Tour de France operator. VIP passes, exclusive interviews with the pros, and so much more to live together!

 

Ronan Pensec participated in 8 Tours, and wore the yellow jersey in 1990 while racing for Greg Lemond's Z team. He now operates +Ronan Pensec Events+, an official Tour de France operator hosting VIP cycling tours for recreational cycling enthusiasts.

2,418 Views Tags: cycling, tour_de_france, tour-de-france, ronan_pensec, ronan-pensec, pro-tour, uci, 2008-tour-de-france, protour


Comments (3)
Jul 15, 2008 3:34 PM Guest Bikerarin  says:

Wow, while I thought this might be a remote chance, it's interesting to see that it really will happen and that teams were unanimous in the decision.....hmmm, if ths doesn't provide some food for thought for the powers at be in the UCI.

So Ronan, from a current UCI International Commissaire: do you have any job openings?!?
Jul 15, 2008 4:30 PM Guest jaycee2  says:

Yes, I heard about this earlier and to be very honest with you, I`m not too certain what it all means re. the future direction of the sport. It seems very complicated and I`m at a loss to understand why all the in-fighting between relevant parties?   Saying that though, I bet a good proportion of the riders don`t know either, as they do not seem to have a say in anything, which seems a pity.
Jul 15, 2008 10:42 PM Guest roadsurfer  says:

Back in the '60s (ya, I'm that old) ther was a saying, "what if they had a war and no one came?' implying that if you govern ignoring people, the people might choose to ignore you.  Perhaps the UCI's heavy handed aproach to teams, riders, and promoters has produced a result they did not anticipate but do deserve.  See Greg Lemond's recient comment regarding the need for a new governing body for Cycling.

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