Thomas Siniecki, Media365: published on Saturday October 19, 2024 at 3:25 p.m.
Marc Madiot is alarmist, Cédric Vasseur a little less, even if he also warns of structural problems.
Cédric Vasseur, the manager of the Cofidis team, gave a long interview to Cyclismactu.net. He says in particular that he is not “as pessimistic as everyone could claim” about the health of French cycling, referring to various cries of alarm at the end of the season and in particular that of Marc Madiot, his historic colleague at Groupama – FDJ. The Northerner recalls that France is the country with the most World Tour teams: “We are privileged, realize that Italy has not had any for several years! So I think we have a rich problem We have a lot of competitions, a lot of structures, a lot of riders, and inevitably, in the international rivalry of cycling, the lines move from time to time and we cannot keep our share of the pie every year.”
Vasseur: “I don’t know how to solve the problem (…) To continue, you need a big budget”
Nevertheless, once recalled this context which would not be so dark according to him, the one who wore the yellow jersey of the Tour de France for five days in 1997 joins his colleagues on the global system of cycling, which is “neither fair nor loyal” compared to international armadas such as Visma, UAE or INEOS (to name a few): “They do not have the same mode of operation as us, nor the same financial constraints. We are in a hyper-competitive market. on all aspects. Seen from this angle, it’s a handicap for French cycling. I don’t know how to resolve the problem.”
According to Cédric Vasseur, the national mission would rather be to raise awareness of this danger in the short and medium term: “If you look at the UCI ranking, you look at the budget ranking somewhere. We can have surprises, like in the Cup of France in football, but to continue, you need a big budget.” The “salary cap” will not necessarily solve the problem of listening to the former runner, because everyone who has the means to artificially inflate their budget will do so. The final wish, perhaps wishful, is simple: “A fair system where all teams would have the same constraints and rules of the game.”
