Groupama-FDJ Director Marc Madiot Issues Stark Warning: “Cycling Must Evolve or Risk Being Overtaken by Other Sports”

Marc Madiot, the head sports director of the Groupama FDJ, has some serious concerns regarding cycling. He has recently expressed his fears of cycling becoming obsolete as a sport. Speaking about his concern, Madiot doubled down on the fact that the authorities need to revamp the sports, or else the masses will soon lose interest. Citing several recent instances of “fusions and transfers,” Madiot urged the UCI to pull up their socks. 

With him urging the governing body to intervene and develop new regulations, this might be a serious problem. So, what exactly is going on with cycling? Is Madiot’s fear unjustified? Let’s dive into the details and unfold the story below. 

Cycling world to get shut down? 

As improbable as it might sound, the cycling world might be on the verge of becoming extinct. And when such a statement comes directly from someone like Marc Madiot, we need to take a serious look at it. Speaking on the matter, Madiot stated that the world of cycling is drawing a bit too much inspiration from football. According to Madiot, one has to avoid emulating everything from football. 

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Instead, the Groupama FDJ head honcho suggested maintaining the core traditions and values of cycling and building on it. He said, “Cycling Must Evolve or Risk Being Overtaken by Other Sports… We need to maintain our values and our reference points and I’m hoping for a lot from the UCI in that respect. I don’t want them just to focus on the height of socks, I want them to handle the regulation of our sport.” Madiot also justified his fears by citing the recent instance of a fusion. 

Recently, the world of cycling was taken by storm when the news of a fusion between Soudal Quickstep and Jumbo-Visma hit them hard. Further, there was also news of Cian Uijtdebroeks terminating his contract with Bora-Hansgrohe prematurely to join Visma Lease A Bike. 

However, apart from speaking about the problems, Madiot also had a couple of solutions to offer. 

Marc Madiot proposes ways to revive cycling 

Speaking about ways to revive the sport, Madiot stated that introducing salary caps for the riders might be one of the solutions. He stated, “Some kind of balance in levels of competitivity between different members of our sport has to be established if we want cycling to advance and develop.” 

Madiot further said that the UCI must also take into account the unfavorable tax laws in some parts of the world. He cited France as an example where his company operated and urged the UCI to review the situation and come up with plausible solutions in the future. 

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