It's no secret that Visma-Lease a Bike CEO Richard Plugge has long been opposed to the current business model of professional cycling, but as he continues to advocate for financial reform into 2026, the Dutchman has called for more urgency amid a "downward spiral" for the sport.
Plugge revolutionised what was left of the doping-blemished Rabobank team when he took over as manager in 2012 and built them into the Visma-Lease a Bike success story of today. He wants a similar story to be true for cycling as a whole, taking inspiration from other sports, with the hope that cycling doesn't get left behind in the next decade.
Speaking at Visma's media day in La Nucia on Tuesday, Plugge was steadfast in his position that the UCI – cycling's governing body – has to act soon, especially given the context of more and more teams struggling at the end of each season.
"I think my opinion is well known, and I think it's not only teams, but it's also organisers. And I think the UCI should look into a better business model for everyone in cycling," said Plugge.
"Of course [there are practical changes we can make], but it's up to the UCI to change the business model, and maybe look to the example of the Formula 1, or Moto GP, or –there are so many examples which are better than what we have in cycling."
One area where cycling has already taken a hit is close to home for Plugge, with Dutch free-to-air broadcaster NOS heavily reducing its cycling coverage for 2026, meaning more races will only be available behind a paywall. He sees this development as just one of the reasons for urgency.
"I think it's a bad evolution, a bad sign, and we should really think about it. But the key question is, how can we make cycling more attractive so that the fans are willing to pay if it's behind the paywall, or that NOS wants to broadcast it," said Plugge.
"You need to make sure that cycling stays one of the top five sports in the world. That's the whole issue, and now apparently we are losing eyeballs to other sports. We are fighting with each other in cycling, while we should fight with football and other sports – that's how I look at it."
Budget concerns for everyone
Cycling teams are still almost entirely reliant on sponsorship money for their existence, and even with big brands such as Lidl, Decathlon and Red Bull joining up with projects in recent years, the struggle to secure more funding never ends for those managing teams like Plugge.
It's this reason why he's tried several times, as a collaborator and a spearhead to reform cycling's business model and its calendar, such as with the recent OneCycling project – which the UCI rejected in June 2025, deeming it "incompatible… as well as lacking sporting coherence."
"I think for everyone, we're in a downward spiral as cycling, if we like it or not, and I think that's why, for everyone, the urgency becomes bigger and bigger every day," added Plugge.
"Not only for teams, but also to the point, a lot of relatively big teams are getting in trouble and also organisers are getting in trouble, so you have to make sure that cycling makes a big change."
Visma have dropped down the budget rankings to around fifth or sixth in the last couple of years, despite their sporting standing as the number two team remaining in 2025. For now, Plugge is happy for his team to just be within "shooting range" of those like UAE Team Emirates-XRG, who have the largest budget.
"You have to try to keep up. I always say we have to be at shooting range, but again, I believe that we are good enough in our way of working that we can keep up in a different way," said Plugge.
"Because we are not the team that brings in a very expensive rider from another team, but we want to develop riders and try to get them better. And make people you don't know, hopefully, become a big star."
For keeping up in the long run, a better business model for cycling as a whole is what Plugge wants, and believes will work, but alongside that, he's continued to innovate Visma-Lease a Bike as a business and the team's revenue streams – such as more merchandising and the FoodCoach app.
But in spite of these efforts, he's adamant that the potential shouldn't stop at the team he manages, but needs to be taken on by the teams and organisers as a whole to improve things for everyone.
In 2023, he said it was "obvious that cycling is a sleeping giant and deserves an improved business model." Three years on, it's unlikely that he sees it as any different.
There was one positive amid the financial storm the Dutch CEO sees, however, as "many more and more people see that" there is a need to make drastic change, "fortunately," with those who hold the financial cards in cycling still pushing the UCI to listen.
A latest path for change was revealed by Escape Collective earlier this week, and is one reportedly led by Pinarello-Q36.5's owner Ivan Glasenberg and Soudal-Quick Step's Zdeněk Bakala, with two of cycling's richest men again pursuing economic reform.
Still in its early phases, it's markedly different from OneCycling with billionaire owners, not team managers like Plugge at the helm of the push, but the message is still the same one which the Dutchman has stressing to the UCI for some time now – cycling needs to change fundamentally.
