The UCI opted not to include the One Cycling project when it finalised the men’s and women’s WorldTour races through to 2028 on Thursday, with the governing body describing the scheme as “lacking sporting coherence”.
One Cycling, reportedly backed by a company owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, wanted to overhaul professional road cycling’s calendar. It proposed remodelling the cycling calendar into a league and broadcast rights to aid the financial stability of teams.
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But the UCI Management Committee voted the proposal down at a meeting this week in Arzon, France.
“While welcoming the fact that road cycling is attracting new investors, the UCI Management Committee nevertheless unanimously decided, following the PCC's vote in this direction, not to respond to the request, as it stands, to include the OneCycling project in the UCI Women's WorldTour and UCI WorldTour calendars,” the UCI said in a statement.
“The project, which had been developed by certain teams and organisers, in collaboration with a sports investment fund, was deemed incompatible with the governance and regulatory framework of the UCI as well as lacking sporting coherence.”
One Cycling was announced in October 2023. The brainchild of Richard Plugge, the general manager of the Visma–Lease a Bike team, the scheme has support from other WorldTour teams, including Ineos Grenadiers and RedBull Bora hansgrohe.
Plugge said last year: “With One Cycling, we aim to involve everyone, including the Tour [de France], other teams, and the UCI – everyone. Cycling has much greater potential beyond the current financial scope. This applies not only to me but also to organizers and other teams. This isn't about creating a Super League; it's about working together.”
A source close to One Cycling told CyclingNews that the Amaury Sports Organisation (ASO), which organises the Tour de France and La Vuelta, has a "monopoly on the sport” and that One Cycling wanted to work with them.
But Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme said “everywhere and every time cycling has tried to transform itself solely with money, it has failed."
With its ambitions to launch in time for the 2026 WorldTour blocked, One Cycling’s prospects have changed. But there could still be hope for the scheme.
“[T]he UCI wishes, as do all cycling’s stakeholders, to continue discussions with the representatives of this project in order to collaborate on the internationalisation of the UCI Women's WorldTour and UCI WorldTour calendars and the economic development of our sport,” the UCI’s statement said.
The UCI’s plans for the 2026 WorldTour season include the addition of a women’s version of Dwars door Vlaanderen, which was previously a UCI ProSeries race.
The 2026 UCI Women’s WorldTour will comprise 28 events in 11 countries, with a total of 77 days of racing, beginning with the Santos Tour Down Under in Australia. The men’s UCI WorldTour will feature 36 races, with 171 days of racing.
Elsewhere, the UCI’s Management Committee announced huge changes to its tech regulations, with one industry insider telling BikeRadar: “They ignored everything the industry said – literally everything.”
