Matt Prior: Cycling must change to become "stable and healthy" sport

Comparing pro cycling to football, especially in this country, is a complete and utter waste of time.

As others have said, most of us who follow pro cycling are more interested in individuals than a team's brand or profile. And why assume recreational cyclists should follow pro teams? Not everyone who drives a car follows F1 (a grossly overrated sport IMHO). Does everyone who goes for a jog or do a Parkrun follow world athletics? I don't think so.

Are all the Sky jersey-wearing fans still riding with their mates each week?

Ironically, I did follow One Pro Cycling, having bumped into two of their riders at a cafe when they were out for a training ride, and I enjoyed following them at the Tour Series when it was shown weekly on ITV4.

But its difficult to monetise.  Particularly in the UK where there is a generally anti-cycling undercurrent.

“The UCI Continental team was disbanded at the end of last season with Prior saying that it was impossible for men’s teams to operate below UCI WorldTour level.”

must have a different dictionary to mine 

Bloke who came into pro cycling to make money moans that there isn't money to be made running a team.  Well, not if you heamorage sponsors like he did and generally act like a self-entitled brat.

It was a vanity project that he hoped to make easy money from.  no one is going to give you money to drive round in a flash car pretending youre a directeur sportif.

I don't know about anyone else, but I've never played football to work.

Surely, much is down to the fact that for the vast majority road racing ain't a great spectator sport.  (Wait for hours on a road/mountainside and the race is past in a matter of moments.)  Oh, and it's free to watch.

On the flip side, back in the day, riders made a good living through track racing because people flocked to velodromes to see the stars racing.  (Velodromes make for great theatres of sport - you get to see the whole race/multiple races.)  You pay to watch.  You buy stuff.

Okay, TV coverage has changed everything to some extent, so the comparison is flawed, but essentially the very nature of road racing is not conducive to the masses 'following' the sport/teams/riders in the sense envisioned by Prior.  Probably.

Plus, there remains the underlying issue of PEDs, of course.  Whether or not it remains widespread, the perception of the average bloke on the street is that all cyclists are on something (albeit the average bloke is happy to support kickballers who are openly cheating, week in week out, and nobody seems to think that's a problem).  Pretty sure that many potential sponsors are (still) put off.

The problem at grass roots level is that is in a very weak state as I see it. Try organising a road race these days, the police are often far from helpful and BC seem unwilling or unable to give any support to help organisers get permission without unrealistic constraints.

BC should be fighting for our rights whereas they seem only to be interested in bringing on riders through track events.

I do think that maybe he is missing  a point. Cycling isn't about supporting a team. Its about, if anything at all, following a rider or two, often based on personal preference. When the rider moves teams it's largely irrelevant, the rider is still followed.  As teams are mostly not owned by the sponsors who change regularly there is no need tofoucus on a group. His view reflects that of many a newcomer to the sport before they realise how  it works.  Cycling as a competetive sport, which is what he is on about, has, in Britain been a grass roots sport and at that level it can thrive. 

I suspect that his 5 percent is way off. I would say that any club cyclist, and I include anyone riding in any way vaguely with time or effort in mind, so all those sportive riders etc, has an interest in the sport.  The other type of cyclist, those commuting or family riding may not have much interest but I doubt they will anyway. (yes I know that many of us commute and race but you get my drift). 

Cycle sport needs justification of the sponsorship costs.  We are not Belgium where cycling is abosrbed with our mothers milk. footy take all the interest. sadly I think that until races become way easier to promote and more profitabel, the situation will remain. Indeed I think its a miracle that its doing so well.

Very good points. I remember a certain ex team manager saying to me back in the eighties or early nineties that there was no real identity to pro cycling teams and that they should associate themselves with football clubs to get that identity.

Not being a fan of football I'm not sure how I feel about that but Raleigh tried it with Derby County though not quite directly associated, but the ordinary youth on the street has no reason to follow a trade team unless from a cycling back ground. If it was town v town or city maybe that would help?

Maybe get the lost town centre crits back and have home team v visiting teams. Who knows, just a thought.