Groupama-FDJ chief sports director Marc Madiot has issued a dire warning about the future of cycling: “It has to get better, otherwise it will be swallowed up by other sports.”
The outspoken boss of the long-standing French WorldTour team pointed to “recent stories of mergers and transfers” as examples of cycling's fragility and called on the UCI to “regulate situations so that everyone can live and exist.”
At the end of last season, cycling was rocked when a possible merger between Jumbo-Visma and Soudal-QuickStep suddenly appeared in the media, while the bombshell news in December was that Cian Uijtdebroeks had prematurely terminated his contract with Bora-Hansgrohe at the last minute Visma-Lease A Bike for 2024.
In the interview with Cyclism'actu during the Groupama-FDJ 2024 team launch earlier this week, Madiot also spoke about his team's goals in a year of significant changes following the resignation of Thibaut Pinot and the mid-season move of Arnaud Démare to Arkéa-Hotels B&B. as well as the emergence of young climber Lenny Martínez at last year's Vuelta a España and the Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge. At the same time, David Gaudu's repeated attack on the Tour de France in 2024 is likely to generate increased interest.
“It’s a new chapter, a new book, a new story. There is ambition, motivation and determination, I'm not too worried about next year,” Madiot told cyclism'actu.
“My New Year’s wish for 2024? Like every year: win the race. As many as possible, as often as possible and as important as possible.”
In the same interview, Madiot disdained the idea that the development of professional cycling could be based on football as a model, arguing that it was better to try to maintain the sport's current values.
Madiot warned about the general development of cycling. “What would be harmful would be an ever greater similarity to football. And that even though I like football. We have to avoid that at all costs,” he said.
“We have to preserve our values and our reference points and I hope for a lot from the UCI in this regard. I don’t want them to just focus on the height of the socks, I want them to care about the regulation of our sport.”
Madiot cited the idea of a salary cap for riders and a review of France's tax laws, which may be comparatively unfavorable to sports companies such as Groupama-FDJ, as areas where the UCI should take action.
“If we want cycling to progress and develop, a balanced level of competitiveness must be established between the different members of our sport,” Madiot said.
The UCI's role in cycling is that of a regulatory body, said Madiot, and he cited “what has happened in recent weeks with mergers and transfers” as evidence of “a certain fragility in our sport, which seems rock-solid, but…” is often dormant on sand foundations.”
“Can and should cycling get better?” he asked rhetorically. “She has no choice but to do that because otherwise she will be swallowed up by other sports. We must not forget that there is a battle for sponsors and funds between the different sports.”
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