Marlon Moncrieffe raises the question about diversity in cycling | Cycling Show | Eurosport

[@GSP199]

A question that has kept me up many a'night.

[@gillj185]

Don't you just hate trouble-makers of any colour.

[@HarryTzianakisTheGodOfSpeed]

Yeah find my comments and you'll find your answer

[@CFCMAMO1]

Yeah i dont think it's a race issue but more class. As mentioned by other commentators, cycling is quite an expensive sport. I'm a Somali diaspora (born in NZ and raised in Australia) and you'll never find a Somali kid cycling or want to get into pro cycling. Partly because its too expensive but most somalis are into other sports. Most refugee families are focused on education to get out the poverty. Cycling is the last thing on their mind. It's a bit disingenuous of this guy to say thats its a racist sport when its traditionally a European sport and most migrant families dont view cycling as a sport and have different priorities. Growing up, I was into soccer, tennis, cricket. Cycling is not perceived as a sport and rather a fun activity or simply a means of transportation by most Africans. I've picked up cycling at the start of lockdown and I love it. I used to ride as a kid but not long distance. Go to the milkbar/cornershop, to school, to soccer etc. Locally. For me, it's the mental peace it brings me. Pure calmness I've never experienced in my life. I can't describe it. I've never loved a sport as much as I love cycling now. I'm doing my first 100km this weekend and hoping to get stronger and faster.

[@chez.]

Often race and class are heavily related. The reason black people in many countries are so heavily represented in the poorest areas is because of the impacts that racist development, policy, and narratives have had. So yes class is a huge factor but it's hard to separate class from race when the it was on purpose that black people got the short end of the class stick.

[@paulapana6241]

I've always had this question because never have I saw a black cyclist competing in international tournaments, say Tour de France.

[@aj010139]

Biniam going to change the face of cycling. At 22 years old he's part of the new exciting crop of talent along side Remco and Pidcock. Watch this space.

[@solomondawit4640]

Cycling isn't racist. Biniam is one example of someone who is from my back home.

[@ShaikuraJarfaru]

Man I remember when I was so into the sport here in Boston MA. I had all the race videos on DVD. As a Black fan I was the only one in my group. I even worked part time in a bike shop. Greg LeMond was my hero. I never race but went on organized rides the shop put on the weekends. I was lucky I was around really good people and as we got older some are still friends but don't ride much. Lance Armstrong nearly killed the sport here in the U.S. I really miss those days. For me watching Greg LeMond win the tour after being shot in a hunting accident was amazing here with my group of friends.

[@Bless-the-land-the-sea-people]

Well no more for one color any more BINIAM FROM ERITREA PROVED IT!!!❤❤

[@zxtsf]

Do you know the challenges bini fight against every day

[@sohoyankee66]

If you want to race that Tour de France you have to qualify. Don’t expect anyone to lower their standards for you. I don’t care what color you are.

[@papillon5839]

Sport is about athletes and talent, not about how you look like. In every sport there are athletes from many countries, that's the only "diversity" that matters. Take your "racism" BS to Mars or from wherever you're from and come back when you are able to see and treat other people like *human beings* instead of like "races".

[@Jacksonville1120]

Lmao you have no clue do u?

[@JimmyTheCyclist]

Cycling is no more racist than society as a whole. It’s a European centric sport at the very top level (with some exceptions), what is the majority ethnicity of Europe? White… cycling does have a higher barrier to entry than say football. A football is £5, there are clubs everywhere at junior level (father of 2 sons who play football I know this), compare that to cycling, less clubs, road bikes are several hundred £ as a minimum, plus your kit. You are attracting a minority from a minority, of course a tiny number will then reach the top. Expansion of middle classes in Africa, through stable democratic government and capitalism, will increase participation across the African continent and therefore more top level success in long term.

[@mindfreebodyfree5770]

Rubbish. Stop putting lipstick on this pig. White societies have a problem with diversity. Whether it be in sports, culture, entertainment, movies, politics, everyday live, work etc. For example there are clubs you get bounced off when you are not white. They openly say they don't want too much brown or black people because whites would feel uncomfortable. You also imply that colored people generally can't afford to buy a road bike. Like there are no educated colored folks that are able to buy their kids expensive equipment. That's a classic example of distorted reality of white people to implicitly promote supremacy. If the majority is white (your words) than it's up to white people to include colored people and make them feel less excluded and ignored. It's commercials, magazines, cosmetics all geared towards white neglecting the fact that there are also non-white people in this countries. White people must change this. It sounds harsh I know. But it's a problem rooted deep in history and still blossoming and impacting structures of modern society and the self awareness and awareness of white people towards non-white people. It's so natural that most don't even notice it. They didn't notice that they have prejudices and are actively excluding colored people. You are the best example with all your excuses that apparently sound right and logical in your ears. In Europe you have the colonial powers like France, Great Britain, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Italy. All those countries are full of colored people, born and raised in Europe. The first step to improve the situation is to acknowledge that something is wrong with the way we live together. If this topic makes you feel uncomfortable than start to change your way of thinking and don't try to explain with the goal to make something bad look good just to feel good.

[@paulfranklin8636]

Fianlly at the very end he seems to be getting a clue - "it can be done if someone wants to invest in it".....errm...hate to tell you but the people with that sort of money tend not to make investments that have a very slime chance of giving a return....for decades UK representation in pro-cycling was negligible....sure we had the odd rider...Tommy Simpson and a few others....but it wasn't until the track cyclists started winning Olympic medals that road cycling took of even then it took until 2012 (just the 109yrs after it started) & Wiggins win for a Brit to take the TdF....and of course since then we've had Froome & G....if African towns, cities & sporting bodies want to invest in Velodromes etc...then no doubt we'll see more riders coming through...it happens in other sports...Maybe the UCI could help with some grass roots support but the nations themselves have to take action and not expect others to do it for them

[@RokSkywalker]

I’m here to tell people if we did, we would dominate this sport as well. It’s just know the intricate details & knowledge of cycling cause endurance, we have. Just gotta get more of us into the sport !

[@paulfranklin8636]

OK - Man says at 3:56 about the World Champs in Rwanda - "Will that event be crowning white champions in a black country" - Now to me that seems to be an incredibly racist comment....fact is it'll be crowning whoever the best riders are, and we all know the likes of Pogacar, Alaphillipe, Van Aert, Roglic & Gana are likely to be winners....or does he propose some kind of handicap system to ensure a black winner??.....seems to me the man is clutching at the race straw to promote his book....as with all sports it takes more than talent to succeed....there's sheer bloody minded determination to overcome the obstacles...removing obstacles based on a persons colour is just as racist as putting in extra obstacles...

[@EngBlanco]

He's asking a rhetorical question. He's research it's all about asking this type of questions. He said nothing about making it easier for a black person to win that competition.

[@JimmyTheCyclist]

@@EngBlanco He implies it is not right for a white person to win a contest in a black majority country, seems pretty racist to me.

[@gillj185]

@@EngBlanco The sport is fine as it is. It doesn't need racists like Moncrieffe whinging about a problem that doesn't exist.

[@CFCMAMO1]

@@EngBlanco He blatantly said afterwards that he wouldn't want to see that. Come on now. Did you see the reception Biniam got for his win? The whole cycling community got behind him because they want to see the sport grow in Africa and across the world. It's not a racist sport. It's a ridiculous statement and this guy should be ashamed. Takes the attention away from the real racism that's out there.

[@mindfreebodyfree5770]

He is asking the question why world champion chip is held in Rwanda in a country or continent where the sport has no competition. Is it just to show off? What's the message? I wonder how you can understand this as a racist statement. This man is only worried about the fact that there is a championship held in a country that doesn't participate and will h ave a hard time to associate because there are no black riders. They don't feel welcomed to this sport. As a matter of fact there are a lot of sports that openly don't welcome diversity. Like the NHL for example. When you see sports like football, soccer, basketball, gymnastics and especially athletics you would expect black people to be very good cyclists too. Black people are obviously very dedicated, talented, and disciplined athletes capable to win gold medals. Black people don't need a handicap in order to win. I hope you understand that your point of view and its implications are not very open minded (frankly spoken). Nobody asked "to remove obstacles based on a person's color". Black people are and always have been serious competitors to white people. See the rise of Muhammad Ali. It was a big scandal, yet nobody had to remove any obstacles for that man to become the greatest. It's about making a sport, in this case cycling, inclusive like for example athletics. Don't pretend like white people are the naturally superior athletes. That's not true and you know it. Olympics alone showcase black athleticism to be on par with those of white people. So stop spreading this nonsense. Just listen to the man openhearted and try to think in new and unbiased ways. Use your empathy to understand a person that experiences live from a different perspective. When a black person complains or talks about racism and calls out particular behavioral patterns it's quite poor to counter attack with calling this an act of racism towards white people. This dilutes the issue and kills off every discussion from the very start. From what you wrote it's obvious that your consciousness filters the pledge of a black man with an obvious bias. This appeal is not meant as an attack. But asking for help to fix some wrong.

[@thomasyzere519]

His comment about a white being crowned in Rwanda makes his argument down the drain, who ever wins the race gets crowned that is why they are coming to race in our continent

[@zxtsf]

Yes CYCLING IS A RACIST SPORT, it is still comlicated politics 🇪🇷🚴‍♂️🚴‍♂️

[@LovePeaceDMV]

Ask Cory and Justin Williams.... If you read the comments on some of their KZbin and IG post you'll have your answer.....

[@MrBootgrab]

Sports being divided by race is just unfathomable.

[@burtatkhepu]

Just like NBA

[@TChalla007]

@@burtatkhepu Yep all those white owners choosing talent of mediocrity. LOL. Not stop white Europeans.

[@KoMarekt]

Maybe they’re not good enough. There is no reason why Pog isn’t black. Road to the top is just hard for everyone. I think cycling is open for everyone and problem doesnt lay down in lack of possibilities. We have Colombians (eg Nairoman) and others (Carapz) who have overcome poverty and all struggles. Maybe cycling is just not appealing enough for black people because of lack of endorsement. If you want more diversity you need to push blacks into cycling. Competitive sport as cycling is will recognize true champ.

[@jasmines4343]

like F1 cycling, competing pro in big tours comes down to sponsorships and funding. it's a very political sport. so, let's not ignore the facts...whereas in other sports going pro is based on a draft system that effectively helps to level out the playing field where it boils down to talent. however, when it comes to sports like pro cycling, tennis, golf, and F1 racing professional success is often largely contingent on financial investment and talent. for context, i am black cyclist by the way.

[@burtatkhepu]

I demand that the NBA should be 50% black people and 50% white.

[@moss446]

There is no black riders in tour de France

[@HarryTzianakisTheGodOfSpeed]

Basketball is racist. Football is racist. Every other sport is racist except cycling Just because they can't make it, doesn't make it racist There hasn't been any cyclists that were of African descent that were capable. Who is preventing anyone from racing? They have actually built so many teams in Africa. Who do you think did it? The only racists are clearly the ones making a bigger deal out of a woman basketball player. If that is not proof of my words then I don't know what is

[@charlesscottkelly]

Eurosport doing a BBC. Ffs. I give up .

[@bugiarman8324]

I’m 1000% agree

[@donniebrasco4114]

Is the NBA racist? Definitely, pretty much all black men play.

[@capoislamort100]

…..and yet, 99.9% of the owners and trainers are white, same with American football 🏈.

[@mindfreebodyfree5770]

What a weak "argument". Whether whites avoid Basketball because they don't want to mingle with blacks or it is because Basketball is more rooted in African-American culture because it is the most respected sport they have access to, we don't know. All we know is that many white people don't like to watch the NBA because they feel there are too much black athletes. Many black athletes complain about racism from white franchise owners and fans in particular. So even in the black dominated NBA racism towards blacks is an issue. And we know that while in pro cycling most of the time there is not a single black athlete, in the NBA are plenty of white athletes. This doesn't compare. And even if the NBA is run by racist managers that implement racist structures then this is no reason to ignore the glaring diversity problem in cycling. Cycling and basketball are two entirely different sports that are under control of entirely independent organizations nationally and internationally.

[@JJ-ru5xr]

And the whole motorsport Scene?!

[@gamerN77]

This research is an important contribution to our sport and the pros just as us fans should engage more to counter discriminatory practices and structures ingrained in the history of our sport.

[@gillj185]

That's BS! What discriminatory practices? You know nothing about the sport. If you did, you'd know that there is no racism, and there never has been.

[@mindfreebodyfree5770]

@@gillj185 You don't have to "know the sport" in order to see that black people are, let's say "underrepresented". The racism is in the structures. Those structures are established by people with a certain bias. Those structures are usually not questioned by people that are allowed to benefit and prosper under those structural conditions. Because if you don't suffer you will not identify an influence as problematic, that's human nature, but because the problem doesn't exist for you won't mean it doesn't exist for others. Those structures make the sport at least unattractive for black people. If you are an elite level athlete you pick a sport where your chances are equal with those of white people. Like athletics for example. It's a fact that there are no black cyclists. And it's a weak lie to believe that black people are not athletic enough or can't afford to buy or lease a road bike. This may work for most white people as fits their indoctrinated image of black people. Enough black people could easily effort to buy or lease a bike for themselves or their children. And the Olympics prove that black people have the athleticism to compete successfully at elite level. There must be other reasons. And given the latest scandals in cycling about voiced racism it could be that racism is more involved than many like to believe. It may start with your local club or it may start at pro level. It definitely is rooted in patterns of this society. And instead of denying potential facts we should analyze ourselves and the situation to see where and how we can improve.