Ralph Denk, the founder of World Tour team Bora-hansgrohe, has said pro cycling should look to other sports where team budget caps have been introduced. He believed such a system in cycling would be more sustainable and lead to better racing for fans. He also said his team's backers - Bora and hansgrohe - were sponsoring the team to sell more products and not as any form of sports washing.
The German added he and his team would be looking to Sam Bennett in the year ahead to replicate the return to form he displayed at La Vuelta, where he won two stages. And while the team had won the Giro last year, it's classics performance was poor and must improve.
While he agreed his team was among the "big five" squads - for results and budget - in pro cycling along with Ineos Grenadiers, Jumbo Visma, UAE Team Emirates and Soudal QuickStep, it was bad for the sport to have such a group out front and then the rest of the teams always behind them.
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"Overall, I agree with this Big Five phenomenon," he told VeloFute. "But we have to be careful not to create a two-speed cycle. In my opinion, it is a bad development for our sport to have five big teams and then the others. Cycling fans are very important and they are looking for suspense in the races.
"I am for stricter regulation of cycling, as can be seen in other sports such as the American leagues, or Formula 1 with its 'budget cap'. I think it would be good for cycling to introduce rules for more sporting fairness, in order to make the races even more interesting and uncertain to follow. I doubt the spectator wants to attend races that boil down to a Jumbo duel against Ineos."
Denk added the departure of Peter Sagan from his team at the end of the 2021 season came about by mutual consent. The exit of the three-time world champion, he added, had allowed the team to use the money it freed up to recruit several riders, including Ireland's Bennett as well as Giro champion Jai Hindley, Sergio Higuita and Aleksandr Vlasov.
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Looking ahead, he said he wanted to effectively repeat the success the team had with Hindley in the Giro, meaning at least a Grand Tour podium finish in 2023 as even the best teams could not win a Grand Tour every year.
"We haven't decided on our leaders' schedules yet, but that's the main objective," he said of a Grand Tour podium. "On the classics, we especially want to be better than last year. It was not a good season for us. And we also hope to continue our good results from last year in the Vuelta with Sam Bennett in the sprint."
"We are very proud to be supported by German sponsors who invest in cycling, not for image, but to sell more products. It's not 'green washing' in any way , it's really a business strategy for them, and we're proud of that."
He added his current sponsors, who had deals until the end of next year, did not dictate team policy. However, the business model in cycling meant sponsors had to be included in team decision-making.
"Cycling is based on a financial model very dependent on sponsors. It's completely different from football, where sponsors represent 20-25 per cent of the revenue of the biggest clubs," he explained.
"The revenue structure is very different and sponsors have very little say in club decisions. In cycling, if we want to satisfy our sponsors over the long term, and retain them, we have to involve them in the team's important decisions.
"This does not mean that with us, the sponsors decide. No, we decide, but it works better if we validate these strategic decisions with them. Because without a sponsor, professional cycling no longer exists. We get no TV rights, no ticketing revenue, so sponsors have more say in decisions than in other sports."
