UK Scene Branded ‘Worst It Has Ever Been' As Teams Close

Fears are growing for the future of domestic racingduea lack of sponsorship.

- Paul Knott

The recent spate of domestic team closures is leading some in the scene to brand it the “worst it has ever been”.

Last week, stalwarts of the British scene, Team JLT-Condor announced it would fold, a development that followed hot on the heels of the closure of the One Pro Cycling men’s team, in favour of starting a women’s squad. Cycling Weekly also understands that Holdsworth Pro Cycling, which was revived only this year, is unlikely to continue as a Continental-level team in 2019. Meanwhile, Team Wiggins, which is an under-23 squad, is also likely to be scaled down from its current 18-rider roster in 2019.

This sudden fall from seven to four Continental teams leaves many riders and staff with their livelihoods at stake and is in stark contrast to the success British riders have enjoyed at WorldTour level in 2018, where there have been three separate British Grand Tour winners.

Why has it got to this point?

Cycling’s struggles with sponsors are nothing new — every year there’s usually one team that implodes due to a funding squeeze. But is 2018 just a bad year or does it signal a downward trend? Simon Cope, sports manager at Team Wiggins, expressed his alarm at the recent closures:

“At the top echelons of the sport in this country it’s the worst it’s ever been,” Cope said. “When Banana-Falcon and those teams went, everyone thought it was disastrous then, but we had races. Whereas now we don’t have the races either; no one knows where the Nationals are next year at the moment.

“There’s talk of Premier Calendar races going as well; there’s not that many anyway and there’s no one there. As much as they are good racing circuits, they are no good for advertising.”