Merely two months after the buzz surrounding the proposed One Cycling league spurred up the community, things have hit a roadblock. What many touted to become a potential game-changer in pro cycling tournaments is now on hold, based on the revelations of Visma-Lease a Bike manager Richard Plugge.

Richard Plugge and Soudal Quick-Step majority owner Zdenek Bakala spearheaded the idea and its execution in October 2023. News of the One Cycling hit the cycling community like a rock, with many wondering the implications it would have on the cycling world. Well, for now, all those doubts have been put to rest.

Future of cycling going down the soccer path?

While there is no apparent reason for the unforeseen delays taking place, Richard opened up in a recent interview with the Dutch website Wielerflits. In that, he revealed the halt was partly due to political developments or the lack thereof which has contributed to the project’s inertia.

He did not reveal anything further on why the audacious project, that cycling giants like Ineos Grenadiers and EF Education-EasyPost backed, just fell out of favor.

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“I can’t say much about it, because not much is happening there politically at the moment,” said Richard in the interview. His statement only gave birth to a string of more questions that, for now, will remain unanswered.

What is One Cycling?

He did, however, shed some light on the entire initiative and the reason behind its emergence. He argued that cycling as a sport is staring at an uncertain future and the power of sports like football, F1 baseball is not something their sport enjoys.

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The idea of One Cycling was to bring everyone, the athletes, team owners and organizers, under one roof in order to create a streamlined structure. It would mirror the structure followed in the UEFA Champions League and was potentially backed by the Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).

“If we have a really strong league, with fewer races, really strong and understandable, then I think the value for everybody will go up,” Plugge said. Their plan was to make the top cycling teams in the world face off against each other in yearly limited competitions, giving it a layer of intrigue, intensity and prestige like never before.

Building a sporting event backed by the Saudi PIF has sprung up on several issues in the past. The investment from PIF is perhaps one of the most divisive issues currently running in sports. Richard, however, believes that One Cycling is the way forward. He argues that the league will not only secure the future of the sport but also make sense from a financial perspective.

“The most important thing for me has always been to do it together,” Plugge said. He is hopeful to see his idea take fruit in during the WorldTour cycle in 2026, but as of today, it is all conjecture. There is no telling when things will lift off and how the journey will be going forward.

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