Minimum wage for pro women cyclists could be premature says Brian Cookson

As above, the important question is 'Where is the money coming from?'.

Without being aware of all the comings and goings involved in womens cycling i can only say that if the minimum wage is not sustainable at this time yet its approved then its like building a house without foundations. It may look nice and work for a while but in the end it will get cracks in it and eventually fall apart.

Just a view from the outside.

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Can anyone explain why the UCI could not subsidise womans wages?

I think there's a few issues in terms of the teams that are self-sustaining will feel it's unfair (as in, why have they had to go out and find sponsors when others have just gone cap-in-hand to the UCI), some sponsors may use it as an excuse to only give half (ie we'll give you £100k, the UCI can stump up the rest) and there's always the potentially embarrassing situation of a rider/team on such a subsidy being caught doping, the UCI would essentially be accused of financing doping just to run a viable Women's team.

Even the billions of ££ swilling around in F1 don't run to subsidies for teams like Marussia and Caterham.

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There is no ignorance here, the UCI need to change womens cycling, they don't have the guts to stand up and declare the sweeping changes that NEED to be made.

I agree with you, the sport does need to change but unlike you, I think that Brian Cookson and the UCI have laid their cards out, they've put in place at least the first steps to changing it and it's pretty transparent so far. As Brian said at the talk on Thursday, if you're at Position 1 and you want to get to Position 5, you have to go via 2, 3 and 4. I think we're well along that pathway now and from what I've seen of the "new" UCI, it's working very well. Neither the UCI nor the sport will change overnight but significant moves have been made and I think that deserves support more than it deserves the vitriol you wrote in your first (now deleted) post.

Subsidising is not a good market model, and unless it boosts the market in a sustainable way then it is pointless.

People talk about potentially untapped markets, but the problem is you are pretty much doubling up the same package with an inferior one and superior one. The way it works for tennis is that the bundle is supplied as one event. Cycling struggles with that because of the nature of the venues over which they happen. So does football and rugby.

Sponsors, unless they are satisfied in wasting money, will not feel like they will get value for money. You cannot escape market realities.

Cycling Central covered this in their latest podcast (https://soundcloud.com/cycling-central/podcast-13-nov-14-hour-recor-fun-...). You get 3 different views on the topic (IMHO: one particularly unrealistic one).

Can anyone explain why the UCI could not subsidise womans wages? I admit I am coming from a position of ignorance but it would be seen as wrong if women were paid a much lower wage then men in any other line of buisness. Yes I accept men's races are generally longer but it think there are genetic reasons that there is a difference between the sexes in terms of power ect, that surely doesn't mean woman train less and I suspect they have to be just as dedicated probably more than men as they race at pro level with more financial worries I suspect. I am a big supported of Cookson but on this it doesn't seem right.

I do acknowledge that from a purely economic view men's racing attracts more money but perhaps if woman were subsidised there would be more woman attracted to the sport and it would become more profitable? Just a thought.

A position of ignorance....you obviously know nothing about me then or know what I've been upto this whole year.

There is no ignorance here, the UCI need to change womens cycling, they don't have the guts to stand up and declare the sweeping changes that NEED to be made.

i would also point out an article i read earlier this week, and this is the supposidly rich mens side of the sport!

http://cyclingtips.com.au/2014/11/how-uci-minimum-wage-regulations-are-b...

Unless there is money wages can't be paid, money means sponsors and tv rights.

No, you and everyone else is entitled to an opinion! But when you use foul language, when you use it as a platform of personal attack, when you state your opinion from a position of ignorance; your opinion loses all value and then people will pull you up on it.

Read the full article linked to above. It's not quite the full answer Brian gave but that would have required more space than a half-page newspaper article!

Brian Cookson is a genuine breath of fresh air in the sport - give him time to turn the oil tanker round and I reckon that the UCI will see the same positive changes that British Cycling saw under his leadership.

Matt, you need to look at womens cycling....seriously. "hardly breadline". So riders have gone for seasons without pay, but tied into contracts and stolen from....

The whole womens scene needs an overhaul.

I more or less knew you'd be first to post on here Gkam. UCI, Women's cycling and a mention of Rapha. Must have set every alarm on your computer ringing...

I was actually at the talk on Thursday (and very good it was too). The question came from Helen, the Guardian journalist (who, to her credit said exactly who she was before posing the question) and Brian took a good deal of time to answer.

They've set up the Women's Commission which includes a number of influential women from within various disciplines as well as individuals from outside the sport to bring a fresh perspective and they've listened to what those people have said - namely that with the sort in the position it's in at the moment, a minimum wage simply wouldn't work at this time. In the future yes but the sport needs further development first.

Quick analogy - say you run a small business, maybe 10-12 people and you make maybe £15,000 profit a year, struggling each time to keep your head above water. Suddenly, you're told to pay your staff not £12,000 each per year but £25,000. The only answer is to close down or to run your business without affiliating to it's overseeing authority (in which case you don't get access to any of the jobs).

Brian and the UCI have listened to the people within the sport that matter and there's a whole host of stuff far more complicated that needs sorting out first - prize money, the races themselves, the whole sponsorship system (which is a house of cards at the best of times), media coverage and then minimum wages, levels of team etc.

He took time to explain all this with genuine passion and enthusiasm, engaging well with the audience and also taking the time both before and after the talk to chat with people individually and listen to them with real interest - asking questions about what they thought. None of it was politician style bullshit.

Sorry Gkam but the only person who comes across as ignorant is you. Brian actually had a few choice comments for the internet heroes and Twitter experts who seem to think they can turn the sport round from the comfort of their armchair. You're talking about the guy who took British Cycling from zero to hero in 10 years. Other than your 9000 opinionated comments on this website, I can't quite make out your contribution to this success (and continued growth and continued development).

Sadly the first person to comment has completely removed all value from his post by the use of foul language. This is a website open to all and a little respect goes a long way.
Would the owners of this website please remove the post and allow the postee to try again in language more becoming. They obviously have no respect for +Cookson or the readers of this website so why on earth do they expect anyone to respect their ideas?
Womens cycling will get what it deserves. +It is commercial and if the sponsors want to sponsor only men then that's entirely up to them. The whole principle of a minimum wage, especially in an industry where the participant's choose to work ( it cannot be said that it exactly the sort of thing that the average unskilled worker does) is wrong. If you don't like the pay then work elsewhere, its hardly breadline stuff is it?

I agree with making races tougher if needed, indeed why the dickens are there limits anyway? No rider has to ride them and if the contract says otherwise don't sign the contract if you don't want to race.

He can only go by what the people involved in the commission have said unless of course you want him to just ignore the commission and do whatever he wants - a bit like McQuaid ???

It seems I cannot have an opinion in these parts anymore. So I'll remove it.

It doesn't matter where on the site I make a comment, or what the subject is about, there are the same people replying towards my comments and not at the article. Bored of it now. This site is now just a bridge that trolls hide under.