Lappartient 'surprised' as teams reject UCI budget cap proposal

In March of last year, the UCI indicated that it was working to implement a budget cap in time for the WorldTour licence cycle beginning in 2026, saying “this aims to preserve sporting fairness by avoiding excessive disparities between teams in terms of budget.”

In an interview with Ouest France this week, Lappartient revealed that the idea had been rejected by the teams themselves, and he claimed that the “smaller teams” had been mostly opposed to the measure.

“The big teams have very large budgets, and as a result, where before a relatively small sum could be enough to achieve a decent result, today you’re just a bystander,” Lappartient told Ouest-France. 

“We considered implementing a ‘budget cap’ for all the teams, and paradoxically, the teams didn’t accept it. I was surprised that it was mostly the smaller teams that refused. I think they were wrong because it seems necessary to level the playing field.”

Lappartient was speaking in the aftermath of the demise of French WorldTour squad Arkéa-B&B Hotels and amid the imminent merger of Lotto and Intermarché-Wanty. His comments also come after a season where the squad with the biggest budget, UAE Team Emirates-XRG, won a record 97 races, with Soudal-QuickStep (54) the only other team to score more than 50 wins.

The UCI president conceded that there had always been teams with bigger budgets than others, and he indicated that the governing body’s proposed budget gap would have included a sort of ‘luxury tax’ on teams that exceeded the limit. 

“With a budget cap, if you exceeded the limit, you had to pay a tax that went to other teams. There was a mitigating mechanism in place,” he said. “When you look back at cycling history, consider La Vie Claire. They finished first, second, fourth, seventh, and 12th in the 1986 Tour de France, and the team’s budget at the time, relative to the others, was probably even higher than that of UAE Team Emirates.

“I’m not saying it was right, but there have always been teams with more resources than others. The goal is to regulate things a little, and I remain convinced that a budget cap is one of the elements to achieve that.”

Lappartient was also asked to weigh in on the concept of charging spectators on the roadside of the Tour de France and other races, an idea recently championed by former B&B Hotels manager Jerome Pineau and former pro turned race organiser Filippo Pozzato.

The Frenchman pointed out that the Grand Prix de Plumelec had previously charged spectators a €5 entry fee to the Côte de Cadoudal – “We were able to continue organising the race because of that revenue” – but he conceded that the situation would be less straightforward at the Tour, where local authorities already pay to host the race.

“Ticketing is a bit complicated in the Tour de France because historically, it touches on a national debate,” he said. “The departments, regions, and municipalities that provide funding will say ‘Yes, but I’m happy for the Tour, but I want people to be able to come to my town for free.’”

Any change, Lappartient noted, would not come quickly, comparing it to French president Emmanuel Macron’s attempts to raise the retirement age in the country. “A legal framework needs to be established, because charging for public space in France is complicated. And besides, I think people will ultimately want the money to go to the riders,” he said. 

“It’s not impossible, but it will still be a revolution compared to what we’re used to. And look, when you see what happens you want to raise the retirement age… So if you want to charge for the Tour de France, you’re in for a long haul.”