A major revamp and rebranding of international cycling has, somewhat controversially, been proposed to the BBC by Jonathan Vaughters the former pro racing cyclist and current directeur sportif of the Garmin-Cervélo Team. Vaughters, who is president of the Association of Pro Tour and Pro Continental teams believes that, given cycling’s demographic, the sport should enjoy far greater exposure and success than its current form allows, suggesting it should be brought more in line with Premier Football or Formula One.
Vaughters’ ten-point plan revealed to the BBC includes the introduction of more high-level events outside of Europe, a more consistent and easily understood format for races and leader-boards, an increased number of team time trials, open radio communications for fans to follow (similar to that introduced in F1), GPS tracking and increased use of other technical innovations such as helmet-mounted cameras.
But central to Vaughters’ argument is a call for an all-round cleanup of the sport’s image with regards to the seemingly ever-present doping scandals, which he calls cycling’s “Achilles heel”. Amongst his proposals to finally lay these ghosts to rest is the idea of team donations to set up an anti-drugs fund in exchange for longer-term guarantees of Tour de France entry. Vaughters points out that he first put many of these ideas forward to the UCI back in 2009 but has yet to receive a response. Cyclo waits with bated breath…
