Yet another power struggle has exploded in professional cycling, this time between some of the biggest teams inside the Association International des Groupes Cyclistes Professionels (AIGCP).
Cyclingnews has seen a protest letter sent by a majority of the WorldTour teams and a number of the leading ProTeams to AIGCP president Richard Plugge, who is also the Jumbo-Visma team manager, as well as to the AIGCP Management Committee and the other stakeholders in the sport.
Jayco-Alula, Cofidis, Team DSM-firmenech, Bora-Hansgrohe, Alpecin Deceuninck, Bahrain Victorious, Groupama-FDJ, Intermarche-Circus-Wanty, Lotto Dstny, Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team, Green Project-Bardiani, Bingoal WB and Movistar all put their names to the letter.
Cyclingnews understands that the teams are not happy with how Plugge and the AIGCP managing director Javier Barrio have been working, citing a lack of communication about key decisions and a possible conflict of interests as Plugge tries to represent all the teams but also tries to win the Tour de France and top the UCI WorldTour rankings with Jumbo-Visma.
For now, the likes of Jumbo-Visma, Ineos Grenadiers, Soudal-QuickStep, EF Education-EasyPost, Lidl-Trek seem to be staying loyal to Plugge, also because some have a seat on the AIGCP Management Committee. Other teams are more guarded about their position, perhaps until the extraordinary General Assembly in August.
The rebel teams are demanding “a change in the structure and management of the AIGCP” and they are seeking an extraordinary General Assembly before the Vuelta to vote on changes to the way the AIGCP is run by Plugge and its Management Committee.
They want one of the Big Four consulting firms to “carry out an analysis and study of the current structure and management system of the AIGCP” within the next three months, and they want a vote on installing an “independent executive, without any prior relationship with any team or organization related to cycling.”
That would stop a current team manager from having so much power and influence within the AIGCP, replacing them with a far more influential Managing Director who will defend the interests of the teams with more force.
The carefully worded legal letter was sent on June 12 in reply to some blunt correspondence with Plugge, with a face-to-face confrontation between AIGCP members and their board held in Bilbao before the Tour de France.
The members have reportedly intimated to Plugge and the board not to make any strategic decisions until the external review and changes have been made.
Plugge and the AIGCP Management Committee were elected in June 2021 and have worked with other key stakeholders to create the SafeR project that should be fully functional in 2025, as well as a possible new end of season race and UCI WorldTour gala for 2024, and a new combined season and team presentation for 2025.
However, some teams were not happy that the Tour de France organisers paid them just €5,000 to broadcast team radio conversations, while charging television broadcasters much more for different parts of the Tour de France package.
Plugge saddened by division and little support
The constant tension and conflict between key players and stakeholders in professional cycling are widely acknowledged as one of the biggest reasons why the sport has a precarious business model and is unable to develop and generate the revenues the sport deserves.
Teams, riders, race organisers and the UCI often fight and squabble about the way the sport is run. They often compete for the same sponsorship due to professional cycling’s precarious business model, and they defend national interests.
Tour de France organiser ASO dominates the sport in many direct and indirect ways, refusing to work together in unity and ‘make the cake bigger’ for everyone involved.
Team budgets have rocketed in recent years as the super teams offer bigger salaries and spend far more on performance gains. Even the French teams have recently lamented the growing costs needed to be competitive at WorldTour level and the impact of the downturn of the global economy after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Plugge has given up his own time and time spent working for Jumbo-Visma to lead the AIGCP, and he appeared saddened by the protest from a large section of the AIGCP teams.
Plugge told Cyclingnews that he and the AIGCP board had worked with the mandate given by the members and as is in the constitution of the AIGCP.
“I’m happy to listen to ideas from the teams but we also have to study the AIGCP constituion, which is under French law. If there’s a majority of votes for change, I’m fine with that,” Plugge said.
“I think we’ve achieved some good things for the teams. We now have a good relationship with the other stakeholders and we recently announced the SafeR initiative.
“I think I’ve done what I promised to do when I was elected president of the AIGCP and what the member teams wanted me to do.
“Not everyone is always happy with what you do and how you work. But the AIGCP Management Committee, Javier Barrio and I have put in a lot of work little to help all the teams benefit.
“To see people argue but not do much to help and bring in things is a little sad. I just want to lift pro cycling to the next level, that’s all I’ve ever tried to do.”
