Challenge to avoid relegation in cycling: It’s better to fight for small races rather than lap stages

But by 2022 a year of promotion and relegation for men’s teams cycling. The first three-year period, which begins with the most recent restructuring of the departments, is ending this course and everything with it. Licenses issued in 2019 To the squads of the world cycling first division. Most get to this point with their homework done, but there are those who risk the future and have to get creative to optimize their drivers’ performance in terms of points.

However, before going into details, it is useful to explain a little history. Until the beginning of this century, the bike lacked the highest level of categorization that showed which teams could compete in the best races. Every event that begins with the Tour de France and continues with the others, He decided which teams to invite to participate, based on his own criteria.Leaving all power in the hands of the organizers, going to the Tour, Giro or Vuelta can determine the commercial and economic future of the teams.

Thus, unthinkable circumstances arose today, such as Team Movistar (then Banesto) not participating in the Giro for many years, and the same thing happened with good foreign teams in the Vuelta. will International Cycling Union (UCI) to expand into new markets such as Australia, China or Persian GulfOrganizing races there has weakened without a system forcing teams to join them: few were willing to cross half the world to compete in a prestige event.

change in 2005

For all these reasons, looking back at 2005, what would it be called next? UCI ProTour, a world first division of 18 to 20 teams guaranteed to take part in the best place on the international calendar and in one-day events. In return, they had to participate in the highest level races, even if they had no sporting or economic interests.

Economic and sporting criteria determined the issuance of these licenses, which initially had a validity period of four years. Balearic Islands (current Movistar), Euskaltel-Euskadi, Freedom Insurance (formerly Eleven) and Saunier-Duval These were the four Spanish teams represented in 2005, the first year of the system’s validity.

The problem with this new category ladder is, Disclaimer of ASO, RCS and Unipublic, the organizers of the ‘big’ three, who want more freedom to invite squads from their home countries. In 2008, three companies tested their tests (including Tour, Giro, Vuelta, Milan-San Remo, Paris-Roubaix, Liège, Paris-Nice, Dauphiné…) of the ProTour circuit, which has been dying for three years.

The situation was rebalanced for 2011 when the UCI and the three major companies reached an agreement to replace the first division. The deal focused maintaining the philosophy of mandatory participation of teams (17, in principle), however, as the UCI tends to license teams that are not necessarily competitive for commercial or economic interests, they were chosen on the basis of their sporting results.

feedback issue

The problem was how to evaluate these sporting results, even in the context of the economic crisis that some teams are in. doomed to disappear due to lack of sponsors, despite wrapping up good seasons or drastically reducing his budget. And no one was interested in a team that didn’t have good drivers competing at the top level.

So the balance point was to calculate the points added by the cyclists (according to different scales) who would compete with that team the following year. Well, If a rider wins the Tour one year and changes his jersey the next year, his points are added by that new team and the previous team.The person who devoted his resources to achieving this feat added nothing.

The system cracked because cycling is a team sport. In the end, it was as if a Second Division team had been promoted to Division One this year because they had signed Karim Benzema. an injustice that leads to oddities like teams recruiting middle-class cyclists that they are successful in the very secondary circuits (Asia or Africa) simply because they bring relatively cheap points to the team.

top five

The system has been sharpened over the years. Only your points for 2015 top five riders of each team and they will be able to choose whether the total is the total of the previous year’s runners or the payroll for the following year. The problem continued to be the conflicting desire to get up and down with the necessary stability a cycling team needs when seeking sponsors.

For this reason, the current system was established in 2019. Licenses are awarded to 18 to 19 teams for a period of three years. (provided that certain economic requirements are met), leaving room to cover possible gaps due to resignations so that sponsors are guaranteed stability for a period of time.

The system began to be implemented in a triennium that finished this course in 2020. Every season, teams pack their bags. points earned by your top 10 driversregardless of whether they are currently on that staff’s payroll or not and future signings.

There are also those who come with homework more than what is done, and there are others. There is no official data on evolution, but specialist media La Lanterne Rouge provides an almost daily update on the evolution of the classification that will determine the 18 World Tour teams for the 2023-25 ​​triennium.

As seen in the graph, Lotto and IsraelWhile the two teams with the World Tour were almost relegated, Alpecin and Archaeain the second category so far, secure a place in the first bike classification for the next three years. Movistar isn’t far from the cutoff, but they’re giving peace of mind from the Navarrese team about it..

However, not everything has been decided as it is only half a season including the Vuelta and especially the Tour. And some struggling teams are already taking action because of the questionable scoring system.

The team complains that the third-level classics (called 1.1) are completely overrated. Winning one of these one-day sessions gives more points than winning a Tour stage. And while you can score up to 25th place in these races, only the top five in the Grand Tour stages are rewarded. Winning a level four event (1.2) is even better than being third in the queen stage of the Tour.

alternative strategies

It’s a mismatch that causes teams in the hot zone to bet on sending their best riders to small races rather than making it to some of the best on the calendar on the big stages, where it’s much harder to get good results. For example, sprinter Caleb Evan (Lotto) combines the Giro and the Tour with fairly low-level races that don’t normally fit their schedules. Something similar happens with the Bike Exchange sprinter, Dylan Groenewegen.

something similar happens with Michael Woods and Jakob FuglsangStrong men from Israel were also subjected to low-level tests. September VanmarckeOne of the best riders in EF will stay out of the Tour to explore an alternative schedule that allows him to earn more points. Or at least to try.

Why to or not to be on the World Tour In the app, it requires access to major events in the calendar.. French, Italian or Spanish teams have the wild card that they will definitely be invited to their country’s grand tour, but that’s not the case for any of the teams affected. And without the Tour (specifically), Giro and Vuelta, sponsorships drop or disappear, and with them the budget and ability to retain talent. And all this for three long years. Maybe too much for some teams.