ABSTRACT
No one sport has faced greater scrutiny from stakeholders in the sport industry than cycling and, in particular, road cycling. A history of the use of performance-enhancing drugs has tarnished the legacies of some of the sport’s biggest names and most high-profile races, like the Tour de France. In recent years, after admissions from arguably the sport’s most-known name, Lance Armstrong, one team have seemingly been at the forefront of success in professional road cycling, winning all three of the sport’s Grand Tours (Giro d’Italia, Tour de France, and Vuelta a Espana) since 2012, including winning seven of the last eight Tours (2012–2019) – Team Sky (now Team Ineos). These successes have repeatedly been questioned by the media and other stakeholders and, given the context, it is hardly a surprise. This chapter discusses how the apparent culture of cycling has altered the dialogue of success in the sport, how Team Sky have been perceived within this dialogue, and what they, in particular, have done and can do to try to restore trust in performances and, indeed, governance of the sport more broadly.
