Yet another power struggle has exploded in professional cycling, this time between some of the biggest teams inside the Association International des Groupes Cyclistes Professionels (AIGCP).
Cyclingnews has seen a protest letter sent by a majority of the WorldTour teams and a number of the leading ProTeams to AIGCP president Richard Plugge, who is also the Jumbo-Visma team manager, as well as to the AIGCP Management Committee and the other stakeholders in the sport.
Jayco-Alula, Cofidis, Team DSM-firmenech, Bora-Hansgrohe, Alpecin Deceuninck, Bahrain Victorious, Groupama-FDJ, Intermarche-Circus-Wanty, Lotto Dstny, Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team, Green Project-Bardiani, Bingoal WB and Movistar all put their names to the letter.
Cyclingnews understands that the teams are not happy with how Plugge and the AIGCP managing director Javier Barrio have been working, citing a lack of communication about key decisions and a possible conflict of interests as Plugge tries to represent all the teams but also tries to win the Tour de France and top the UCI WorldTour rankings with Jumbo-Visma.
For now, the likes of Jumbo-Visma, Ineos Grenadiers, Soudal-QuickStep, UAE Team Emirates, EF Education-EasyPost, Lidl-Trek seem to be staying loyal to Plugge, also because some have a seat on the AIGCP Management Committee.
The rebel teams are demanding “a change in the structure and management of the AIGCP” and they are seeking an extraordinary General Assembly before the Vuelta to vote on changes to the way the AIGCP is run by Plugge and its Management Committee.
They want one of the Big Four consulting firms to “carry out an analysis and study of the current structure and management system of the AIGCP” within the next three months, and they want a vote on installing an “independent executive, without any prior relationship with any team or organization related to cycling.”
That would stop a current team manager from having so much power and influence within the AIGCP, replacing them with a far more influential Managing Director who will defend the interests of the teams with more force.
The carefully worded legal letter was sent on June 12 in reply to some blunt correspondence with Plugge, with a face-to-face confrontation between AIGCP members and their board held in Bilbao before the Tour de France.
The members have reportedly intimated to Plugge and the board not to make any strategic decisions until the external review and changes have been made.
Plugge and the AIGCP…
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