ABSTRACT
After two years, it is obvious that a conflict occurred: its major stake is the control of the professional cycling events. The international federation wants to create kind of a ‘closed league’, on the model of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the National Football League (NFL) or the Formula 1 championship. These so-called leagues give sponsors security in their investment. Whatever happens in the NBA, a major team sponsor knows it will be present in five years for example, which was not the case in the cycling system before the UCI Pro Tour. Teams were selected by the local organizers and their ROI was very unpredictable. The UCI wants to give these teams a better predictability in their investment. The second point is also to give cycling a more international audience by developing races on five continents: the Tour of California (USA) or the Down Under Tour (Australia) are the major objectives for the UCI because their popular success leads sponsors to reach new emergent markets.
