You've probably heard the one about the all singing all dancing cycling mega-league before. The sport’s history is littered with efforts to build it into something more glossy, more accessible, more financially sustainable.
There was the UCI World Cup, which Paolo Bettini won the final edition of in 2004. There were threats of a breakaway league in 2011 when teams became frustrated with the UCI. And the UCI’s own aborted Classics Series, which was scrapped on arrival in 2019. All have failed.
