A QUESTION FOR YOU, DEAR SPINCycle readers: Across the failed Jumbo-Visma and Soudal Quick-Step merger, the plethora of forced retirements at the end of last season, talk of a Saudi-backed Champions League-style calendar from 2026, and the closure of GCN+ and the GCN app, what is the common theme?
Answer: It is very, very difficult to make serious money from professional cycling. Unless you are one of the world’s best riders or the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), owner of the Tour de France.
“How do you deal with this monopoly?” asked Daniel Friebe of The Cycling Podcast in November last year. “The Tour de France is the most beautiful golden goose in any sport. If you look across the whole sporting panorama, it is
