AT85 team collapse

andyp
andyp Posts: 10,575
in Pro race
The British domestic team, AT85 Pro Cycling, formerly Wiv-SunGod, is reported to have folded after the sponsor was unable to meet their financial commitments.

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/racing/long-standing-british-team-at85-pro-cycling-collapses

This leaves just two domestic pro squads, Saint Piran and Trinity Racing, although the later is very much a u23 European focused project. Factor in the cancellation of the Tour Series this year, and the financial challenges that the Women's Tour is facing, and the current climate for domestic road racing is bleak.

Comments

  • r0bh
    r0bh Posts: 2,450
    TGH just posted a twitter thread on the parlous state of cycling in Britain

  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,592
    There’s a bit of a Catch-22 in that sponsors need high profile races to make it worthwhile and races need strong teams to be attractive to any kind of coverage. If I had money to put into a cycling team I doubt I’d go for a UK domestic team, I’d rather be a co-sponsor to a Pro Continental squad but I guess it depends where your market is.

    Feels a bit like the late 90s, possibly even worse. That big cycling bubble didn’t last long, I guess those controlling the purse strings in the marketing departments of large UK companies have move on to doing other trendy hobbies.
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,912
    I blame the Tories ... literally... everyone knows this country is turning into dog 5hit what with everything....just comes a point these issues intrude on everything... People are going to say keep the politics out but seriously how the hell do you do that. The only way we get cycling back is by stopping the economy not being eroded away by a crowd of idiotic proto fascist ba5tard5 ...

    Well that's what I think but it's just an opinion
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,592
    mididoctors said:

    I blame the Tories ... literally... everyone knows this country is turning into dog 5hit what with everything....just comes a point these issues intrude on everything... People are going to say keep the politics out but seriously how the hell do you do that. The only way we get cycling back is by stopping the economy not being eroded away by a crowd of idiotic proto fascist ba5tard5 ...

    Well that's what I think but it's just an opinion

    As Stevo666 doesn’t post in Pro Race I’ll take his place.

    We’ve never had a British GT winner and yet under this Conservative government we’ve had 5 who between them have 7 TdFs, 2 Giri and 2 Vueltas between them. The Tories have made the UK into world beaters in cycling :wink:
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,262
    Pross said:

    mididoctors said:

    I blame the Tories ... literally... everyone knows this country is turning into dog 5hit what with everything....just comes a point these issues intrude on everything... People are going to say keep the politics out but seriously how the hell do you do that. The only way we get cycling back is by stopping the economy not being eroded away by a crowd of idiotic proto fascist ba5tard5 ...

    Well that's what I think but it's just an opinion

    As Stevo666 doesn’t post in Pro Race I’ll take his place.

    We’ve never had a British GT winner and yet under this Conservative government we’ve had 5 who between them have 7 TdFs, 2 Giri and 2 Vueltas between them. The Tories have made the UK into world beaters in cycling :wink:

    To be fair, it probably wouldn't have happened without John Major's National Lottery.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • exlaser
    exlaser Posts: 268
    RichN95. said:

    Pross said:

    mididoctors said:

    I blame the Tories ... literally... everyone knows this country is turning into dog 5hit what with everything....just comes a point these issues intrude on everything... People are going to say keep the politics out but seriously how the hell do you do that. The only way we get cycling back is by stopping the economy not being eroded away by a crowd of idiotic proto fascist ba5tard5 ...

    Well that's what I think but it's just an opinion

    As Stevo666 doesn’t post in Pro Race I’ll take his place.

    We’ve never had a British GT winner and yet under this Conservative government we’ve had 5 who between them have 7 TdFs, 2 Giri and 2 Vueltas between them. The Tories have made the UK into world beaters in cycling :wink:

    To be fair, it probably wouldn't have happened without John Major's National Lottery.
    Spot on . But to be honest John Major has more in common with Keir Hardie than he does with the current lot of Tory mad men .

    Van Nicholas Ventus
    Rose Xeon RS
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,262
    edited March 2023
    exlaser said:



    To be fair, it probably wouldn't have happened without John Major's National Lottery.

    Spot on . But to be honest John Major has more in common with Keir Hardie than he does with the current lot of Tory mad men .



    Agreed. Major's cabinet would have fitted in with Blair more than the current Tories. Major was a decent man and his sport legacy is something he can be very proud of.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • pinno
    pinno Posts: 52,492
    Not sure everything is rosy on the continent.
    I mean Amaury Sport Organisation is now employing goats. Cheaper apparently.
    seanoconn - gruagach craic!
  • gsk82
    gsk82 Posts: 3,620
    pinno said:

    Not sure everything is rosy on the continent.
    I mean Amaury Sport Organisation is now employing goats. Cheaper apparently.

    A good gimmick too. It made it onto Newsround at weekend.
    "Unfortunately these days a lot of people don’t understand the real quality of a bike" Ernesto Colnago
  • pinno
    pinno Posts: 52,492
    ...and back to the serious points...

    [Pity about the Tour series. It came to my home town and was well frequented.
    I really enjoyed it.
    On the web page it states that they are taking a 'one year hiatus'. I guess the organisers are hoping that things will pick up though I doubt they will.]

    This is like going back tot he 80's, never mind 90's.
    Is it going to be a case that any aspiring young cyclist better hope to go through the BCA and be promoted by it or join a French club as a 2nd cat or join an equivalent Pepsi Fanini style pro-am squad because the racing scene is so thin on the ground?

    seanoconn - gruagach craic!
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,660
    Is it not largely down to local council funding being dramatically cut?

    That's where the money comes from to host these races.
    _
  • me-109
    me-109 Posts: 1,915
    It's a death spiral that might only be improved by an upturn in the UK economy with a headline figure like a Froome or event like the 2012 Olympics to spark the interest of corporate sponsors.

    At the grass roots level the sport is being / has been killed by the insurance and marshalling requirements for real open road events, rather than riding a Motorsport track or 'cycling circuit'. That detracts from the racing experience as a participant and spectator, further losing interest to a generation.
  • gweeds
    gweeds Posts: 2,613
    rick_chasey said:

    Is it not largely down to local council funding being dramatically cut?

    That's where the money comes from to host these races.

    And when you look at the state of the roads/potholes for a start it's a hard sell when most folk don't give a shit about bike races.

    Napoleon, don't be jealous that I've been chatting online with babes all day. Besides, we both know that I'm training to be a cage fighter.

Categories