Tao Geoghegan Hart has voiced serious concerns about the state of British cycling as one of its Continental cycling teams has collapsed and some of the biggest races are under serious financial pressure.
The Ineos Grenadiers rider also believes access to cycling in Britain is becoming more expensive, and the sport more exclusive, something made worse by the impact of Brexit. Today it emerged AT85 Pro Cycling, formerly WiV-SunGod, had collapsed.
Meanwhile, the Tour Series will not run this year and the Women's Tour is crowdfunding in a bid to go ahead this season. Tour de Yorkshire has also been lost in recent years and other Continental teams have closed, including Madison Genesis and JLT-Condor.
He said the euphoria created around British cycling in 2012 - when Bradley Wiggins won the Tour de France and British cyclists swept the boards at the London Olympics - had been in decline for the last decade. That had now reached a crisis point, to the extent there was effectively no professional cycling scene in Britain anymore.
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"The sport of cycling in the UK is at a low that I’ve not seen during my time," said Geoghegan Hart, who has been enjoying his best season since winning the Giro d'Italia in 2020. He added aside from his own team, Ineos Grenadiers, there were "no professional men's and women's teams". There were also "next to no pro races and those that exist face dwindling fields due to Brexit".
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"There is no domestic scene whatsoever," he added in a series of Tweets. "Bike shop shelves are empty, the roads are ever more dangerous and the sport is becoming increasingly less accessible due to soaring costs such as entry fees, the equipment arms race and the lack of opportunities to race for well-supported teams.
"More must be done to reset what has been a steady decline ever since the inspiration of the summer of 2012 began to dwindle."
He said since 2012 Britain had had two road word champions, success at the Tour de France and on the track, much of which he described as "absolutely iconic moments that resulted in more professional British riders than ever".
Yet the sport within Britain was "dying" and "I don’t see anyone coming to resuscitate it". He said that, to start with, he would like to see the Women's Tour finding a sponsor, a remark made after the race's organisers launched a crowd funding campaign to raise the money needed to run the event this year.
"I’d also like to see more done to lobby for better rules on the youth side of the sport," Geoghegan Hart added. "In 2020 I pushed for a rule to ban deep section carbon wheels for kids (racing U16 and below). This rule already exists on the track. Why not the road?
"I was met with blank expressions and bureaucracy by the custodians of cycling in this country and, frankly, I gave up. But it’s something I still believe in. And so from today I’ll try again." He added British cycling shops were "on their knees" and he called for cyclists to support them.
