With One Cycling proposing a new cycling league, Felix Lowe offers his own views on reshuffling the dates of the big races
During the pandemic, all manner of local pressure groups cropped up across the UK with names invariably featuring the prefix ‘One’. Claiming to speak for the people, they seemed to pander mostly to the motorist while fanning the flames of culture wars by spouting untruths about cyclists, bike lanes, low traffic neighbourhoods and the climate crisis. So you can forgive me if I’m naturally wary of the One Cycling group, which aims to revolutionise the pro racing calendar by creating a season-long league of prestige events. As early as 2026 we may see a revised schedule that includes innovative new race formats and fewer overlapping events.
If this all sounds a bit Velon-ish, we should mention that this time around the UCI is apparently on board. Funding could even come from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, putting cycling on the verge of its own LIV Golf moment. A lot will depend on whether ASO signs up, casting the Tour de France organiser in the role of the PGA.
The ethical quandary of Middle Eastern money propping up the sport is too large a topic to be discussed here and is something I will return to in a future issue. For now, my focus is on the logistics and feasibility of such a change, which is being driven by Soudal-QuickStep owner Zdeněk Bakala and Richard Plugge, the much-maligned president of the teams’ association (AIGCP) and manager of Visma-Lease a Bike.
While no dinosaur, I see myself as a purist when it comes to our sport; I love its history and respect the traditions of races that have been around for the best part of a century, if not longer. That said, I’d support any initiative that would reduce pro cycling’s obscene carbon footprint while helping to form a more coherent season-long narrative – especially if it results in more frequent showdowns between the top riders and better financial rewards for the teams.
With that in mind, I’d advocate subtle changes that would cluster races together both geographically and temporally while accommodating the glorious heritage of cycling. So here’s my view on how the pro cycling year should look.
The Grand Tour
First up, the Tour de France stays where it is. That is sacrosanct. But the two other Grand Tours can be flipped. Bring the Vuelta a España forward to May and use Catalunya and Itzulia as warm-up races. The San Sebastian Classic can then take place the week aft
