Should there be a price cap in pro cycling? Disparity in cycling with Team Q36.5 Manager Doug Ryder

Doug Ryder has been around cycling for most of his adult life, first as a small-time pro cyclist, racing for several US-based teams in the mid to late 90’s. Since 2009, he has been the general manager of several pro teams, starting with Continental-level MTN Energade, which eventually morphed into MTN Qhubeka, then Team Dimension Data, on to Team NTT and lastly, the ill-fated Qhubeka Next Hash.
His current iteration is Team Q36.5 Pro Cycling, a Swiss-based team with the clothing brand as title sponsor, but ultimately backed by wealthier high-end brands UBS and Breitling, who are happy to take a back seat. It’s an interesting model where the majority of the sponsorship money doesn’t come from the title sponsor that is splashed across the jersey. It certainly shows that there can be a different approach to how a team is funded, presented and run. He’s a general manager who has also seen the highs and the lows of running professional teams. From winning one-day classics with Gerald Ciolek at Milan-San Remo, multiple grand tour stage wins with the likes of Cavendish, Boasson-Hagen, Cummings, and Campenaerts to the ultimate gut punch of having the financial rug pulled from under him.

[@global_nomad.]

i guess there is a lot to unpack here, between the romantic ideals of a sport steeped in history and finding your niche in a modern business version of the sport...and then i remember my complaint of the famous university i teach in - that it is lost between being a business and teaching as a goal, doing both sub-optimally. The modern world is one of either/both and its a complex navigation

[@marty197666]

Cost cap works in F1 because it’s so popular and stops one team spending 100s of mil more to outdevelop. Cycling isn’t as popular like it or not and any restrictions will hurt the sport

[@FT__Bicycling_____-sc7yv]

Road has a combination of problems: 1 - Teams don't bring in money. It's only a loss. A huge loss for every team. So teams can only exist through advertising type sponsorships which are short term and unpredictable. 2 - Races cost a lot of money to organize but have little potential for profit 3 - Large budget differences between teams mean only a few teams can be competitive in certain events 4 - Riders are underpaid compared to other sports

[@Pragmatist101]

Great interview Shoddy👌🏻

[@zeuszuki6698]

Fantastic interview 👏 As a passionate cyclist of 50+ years I struggle to get excited about the current professional entourage, it's just too clinical for my taste 😴 Something is definitely off 🤷‍♂️ The only standout for myself is Paris roubaix 💪

[@eto2352]

A lot of pros barely make enough to pay rent. The stars make chump change compared to other sports of this scale. You realize pro fishing has bigger money than pro cycling. Fishing. Putting a cap on pro cycling budgets is like putting a cap on thumb wrestling or bird watching. The reform has to happen to who controls the races and how they distribute the wealth. Lower tier teams need a way to make money.

[@VeloVeloVeloTV]

I agree with you. The ASO will never share their spoils though. If you haven't go and read the LA Fric, a great book about the ASO and their control over the sport and money. - Dave

[@eto2352]

@@VeloVeloVeloTV thanks Shoddy, I will!

[@vijayramachandran3559]

Cycling enthusiasts are a big, rich market worldwide. Teams and race organisers are very paroichal and don't promote the sport in most markets. Therefore they lose out on many potential sponsors

[@VeloVeloVeloTV]

I agree with alot of this. The sports has become very top-end earners in the english speaking world demographic I live in France and it's still quite working class. Cheers dave