The Rise, Fall & Rise Again Of Professional Cycling
Published on
by Dominic Mills
Bicycles are generally deemed to be the most common vehicle of any kind in the world, but how did what was once created as a solution for horse starvation become one of the world’s most popular sports?
In this feature, we explore the unique history of professional cycling as a sport.
In this Insight:
The beginning
Bicycles as we know them today - with two similar-sized wheels, a chain system, inflatable tyres and a handlebar - were first introduced in the late 1800s and were known as “safety bicycles”.
Cycling had been a popular pastime prior to the safety bicycle, but earlier models were seen more as dangerous joyrides for a select few rather than a safe and reliable mode of transport.
As the standard of living grew in many countries in Europe throughout the late 1800s and first half of the 1900s, with increased income and fewer working hours, cycling became more accessible, both as a mode of transport for workers, but also as a leisure activity, where road races were organised.
Road bicycle races were first introduced as an organised sport in 1868, but grew in popularity towards the turn of the century as Cycling was included in the 1896 Summer Olympic Games.
This sparked the emergence of several long-distance road races throughout central Europe, most being organised by newspapers looking to boost bicycle sales and their advertisement revenue.
Cycling struggles
Following its successful emergence, cycling and professional cycling races continued to gain popularity, particularly in Western Europe, throughout the first half of the 20th century.
From the mid 1950s, people worked fewer hours and the average income continued to rise, just as it had done in the decades before, but this time to the detriment of cycling.
With a larger disposable income, motorcycles and cars became the preferred mode of transport. As a result, bicycle companies struggled to keep up and reduced their investments in cycling teams and riders.
This came at the same time as television became an increasingly popular pastime and information source, competing and eventually overtaking newspapers. Consequently, newspapers found it increasingly difficult to organise races and TV broadcasters didn’t prioritise cycling due to the challenges with producing high quality live content, in comparison to stadium-centred sports.
These factors led to a challenging few decades for cycling with decreased prize money, lower sponsorship income and a general struggle to monetise the sport.
Globalisation and digitalisation of professional road cycling
Despite facing issues throughout the 1900s, professional cycling maintained a core fanbase in Western Europe, particularly in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain.
When transportation and information costs started decreasing in Europe throughout the 1980s, race organisers decided to capitalise on the widespread appeal and potential of the sport by expanding traditional race routes to incorporate several countries.
Around this time, cycling teams also started to break tradition and include riders from nationalities outside of the team’s home country, notably seeing many new riders from areas without a cycling tradition, including Colombia, Eastern Europe, North America and Oceania, join the biggest races.
This period also saw significant improvements in technology, allowing broadcasters to increase the quality and duration of live broadcasts of cycling events, at the same time as the European TV market was liberalising, with private channels driving an increase in broadcast rights.
A more globalised approach, combined with a lucrative broadcasting landscape, saw race organisers and teams attract more international sponsors and reinvest in the sport through increased prize money and technology.
Cycling today
Today, professional road cycling is among the most watched sports in the world. Findings from market research company GWI found that cycling was the 8th most watched sport in 2023, with 25% of respondents following, watching or having an interest.
Although sports like football, cricket and tennis are thought to have a greater global following, cycling is steadily building a larger and more global fan base and recent years have seen it climb to become the most followed endurance sport in the world.
A key contributor to this rise is how cycling has positioned itself at a key crosspoint between entertainment, professional sport, accessibility and innovation - explored in more detail in the ‘How cycling climbed to the top of endurance sports’ article.
If you want to find out more about brand opportunities in cycling, please get in touch.
