Alarm bells ring in women’s cycling: "It’s imploding from within because there’s too much focus on money"

To sum up: salaries have skyrocketed, there are more and more major races, and the women's peloton is getting more and more TV time. That's all good, right? Natascha Knaven-den Ouden sees it differently. “The UCI professionalized the WorldTour,” she says on her social media. Salaries increased, and teams were allowed to expand to 20 riders plus 2. But interestingly, the opposite is now happening.”

“Some WorldTour teams are shrinking back to 14 to 16 riders,” analyzes the Dutchwoman, who has been working in the women's peloton for a long time. “As a result, not all WorldTour teams have signed up with the UCI to ride the entire WorldTour calendar. Simply because they don't have enough riders to manage it.”

The big problem lies precisely in the quest for a level playing field for women and men. That certainly needs to happen, but in the right way. “In cycling, there is a lot of hype about putting women on an equal footing with men. But women's cycling is a very different sport from men's cycling and is also in a very different stage of development.”

The development of the women's peloton has been so rapid in recent years that the sport is outpacing itself. No time is being taken to approach the process correctly. “Men’s cycling has had 25 years to develop into the current WorldTour model. In women’s cycling, people expect this to happen in five years.”

The UCI has set strict rules regarding salaries for women in the sport. But that is causing continental teams to disappear. “The focus is mainly on the top riders and wage equality. But riders’ wages are rising faster than the budgets of the cycling teams. So there is too much focus on money, which is causing women’s cycling to implode from within.”

“Specifically, because teams have to pump so much extra money into salaries, they can invest less in staff, coaching, and training camps. Women’s teams are building a structure with riders, but not with staff. Compare it to a house. When you build a house, you lay the foundation first, right? It would be strange to build the roof separately first.”

That's why innovation has to come from the bottom up. Knaven-den Ouden proposes the European Development League: a competition that bridges the gap between juniors and the WorldTour, with minimal pressure. "Without investment in the foundation", the top will dry up. The WorldTour will not be able to sustain itself.