Decline in licensees, teams disappearing, rising costs… Why amateur Cycling is in crisis

Three teams labeled N1 disappear in one year

After the Sojasun hopefuls team last year, two other Breton teams with the N1 label went out of business in the off-season: Morbihan Adris GOA, created ten years ago and became one of the best amateur teams in France , and Cre'Actuel-Marie Morin-U 22, launched in 2003 and through which professionals Cyril Gautier, David Gaudu and Ewen Costiou have notably passed. In the space of two years, seven French teams playing at this level have thrown in the towel in a division which had… 28 in 2023, which, let's admit, didn't really make sense. Five N1s in Brittany were also undoubtedly too many (there should be 19 in France in 2025). There were two in 2008 and only one in 2004.

Budgets difficult to close

Budgets have continued to increase. The minimum budget imposed by the French Cycling Federation (FFC) in N1 increased from 250,000 euros to 350,000 euros in three years. “The minimum budget is 350,000 euros but there are only two teams which are at the limit,” explains Nicolas André, director of events and sports regulations at the FFC. All the managers agree that you need at least 500,000 euros to evolve comfortably. Besides, the average budget is 578,000. » With inflation, travel is more and more expensive. The teams must also pay their permanent staff (around €30,000 per position, with expenses) and cover their riders' expenses. On the resource side, the tap of public subsidies tends to close. The teams are hunting for private sponsors and patrons. But in a tense economic context, nothing is simple.

More licensees, fewer elites

If at the national level, the boom linked to the success of the Olympic Games has been confirmed (+ 20.82% of licensees in 2024, + 11% for the road), this is not the case in Brittany, which recorded a slight drop but remains above 11,000 licensees (-122). It is at the level of elite runners (name of 1st category runners) that the situation changes: less 46 runners, which is partly explained by the stopping of the Sojasun team. With 108 elites in 2024, Brittany has its smallest contingent in almost 20 years. More worrying, the Regional Committee's data is out of step with the “feeling” on the ground where the platoons tend to shrink to nothing. At the top level, as well as at the bottom of the ladder. “There have probably never been so many people cycling, on the other hand, there have probably never been so few competitors,” notes Gurvan Musset, boss of Team Sportbreizh. “So Brittany, land of cycling, not sure that this will still be the case in ten years”.

The arrival of professional reserves at the “Continental” level, the third world division among professionals, at the end of the 2010s, did not help matters at the high amateur level. It has, of course, offered a work contract, social security coverage and a springboard towards the WorldTour circuit to many young riders but, in turn, it has deprived the French N1s. The country's best hopes are now stolen by professional teams and some of them are skipping the steps like the Bretons Eliott Boulet and Paul Thierry, juniors in 2024 and pros in 2025 in these same reserves (at Groupama-FDJ and Arkéa-B & B Hotels). Hence this nagging, abrupt question: is the N1 still of interest?

Cost, security, difficulty, business…

“Cycling has become a sport for the rich,” are annoyed by (very) many Breton cycling players, frightened to see juniors or cadets riding bikes that cost more than 4,000 euros. Less accessible, cycling has become a more dangerous sport (“In my time, I trained in complete safety. Unfortunately, that is not really the case anymore”) and still just as demanding. A runner who does not obtain results probably hangs on less than at a certain time and turns to another practice in front of an offer which has undoubtedly never been so important compared to the golden age of bike. The absence of a French star (in 2025, it will be 40 years since a French rider won the Tour de France), the doping cases (less 1,000 licensees in Brittany after the Festina affair) and the The image that sticks to the skin does not plead the cause of the little queen either.