'Cycling is in a downward spiral' - Richard Plugge pushes for change in the sport

Speaking at Visma | Lease a Bike's media day, Richard Plugge addressed the immediate fallout from the surprise retirement of Simon Yates, fresh off winning the Giro d’Italia and a stage of the Tour de France in his debut season with Visma. Plugge explained that there was no acrimony or prolonged negotiations.

“If someone says, 'I want to leave,' that’s his choice. It is what it is, and we have to accept it,” said Plugge in quotes collected by Cyclinguptodate, who admitted that it would have been better if the decision had been made sooner, but held nothing against Yates’ decision. “Of course, it would have been better if he had called us in September or something like that. But it was a good talk, and it was a clear message.”

This setback amplified Plugge’s broader concerns about cycling’s escalating financial pressures, with the need for better revenue streams and structural reforms. The Visma boss was among those spearheading the OneCycling project. Plugge was asked what needs to be done for cycling to be sustainable long-term.

“In my opinion, it is not only teams. It is also organisers. And the UCI should look into it… Of course, there are practical things you can do. It is up to the UCI to change the business model, maybe using examples like Formula 1. There are many examples that are better than what we have in cycling,” said Plugge.

The Visma General Manager was also asked about the fact that there are fewer races in his native Netherlands and sponsors' needs for publicity.

“I think it is a bad evolution. It is a bad sign, and we should really think about it. How can we make it more attractive? The key question is how we make cycling more attractive so that fans are willing to pay,” said Plugge. 

“You need to make sure cycling stays one of the top five sports in the world. That’s the issue. Right now, we are losing attention to other sports. We are fighting with each other inside cycling, while we should be fighting with football and other sports. That is how I look at it.”

Plugge was also asked why a new reform plan would work now, when others have failed, and the VIsma boss was pretty blunt in his response, illustrating his concern.

“Because cycling is in a downward spiral,” said Plugge. “Whether you like it or not, the urgency becomes bigger every day. Not only teams, but also organisers are getting into trouble. Even relatively big teams are getting in trouble. So you have to make sure cycling makes a big change.”

The sentiments of Plugge echo fellow WorldTour team boss, Jonathan Vaughters, General Manager of EF Education-EasyPost, who recently critiqued the sport’s “absurd” commercial model, speaking as a guest on the Domestique Hotseat.

Vaughters highlighted how teams operate on fragile, effectively one-year licenses with no true asset value, relying almost entirely on sponsorship amid skyrocketing costs from rider salaries and the performance arms race.

Vaughters argues that cycling doesn’t have the same revenue foundations as other major sports, despite similar costs. Vaughters suggests that cycling relies too heavily on sponsorships, whilst other sports also can depend on media rights, merchandising and ticketing, stating, “We’re trying to float the entire ship on just sponsorship because other sources of revenue don’t exist.”