Wout van Aert recently expressed his concerns about the financial state of cycling, and now Mark Cavendish is also raising the alarm. The former top sprinter, in an interview with Financial Review, is critical of the current economic model in cycling and knows what needs to change.
The now-retired Brit mainly looks to another sport: Formula 1. "That’s a sport that currently harnesses its potential the best," he says. "It’s not wrong to draw inspiration from another sport, as long as you don’t create a caricature. Some Formula 1 drivers earn more because of their image by leveraging this."
"In cycling, that’s not the case: not even a fraction of the commercial and marketing potential is tapped. Cycling is an incredibly beautiful sport, but it’s poorly marketed," Cavendish believes.
New economic model?
The former rider is considering building his own economic structure in the future to fill this 'gap' — the lack of commercial and media exploitation. Cavendish illustrates that cycling faces a bigger problem (it creates its heroes but then doesn't know how to capitalize on them) based on his own cycling career.
"Sporting success weighs less than media exposure. Even if you win, many teams don’t take the risk to sign you. You have to remain profitable after all. I won a lot in my career and kept winning, yet many didn’t see the value in it."
