The proposed One Cycling project has a medium- to long-term ambition of developing a media hub that broadcasts all televised races, providing a single outlet for live cycling content similar to the glory days of GCN, Escape Collective can reveal.

One source familiar with One Cycling discussions told Escape that the “intentions are to place the media rights into One Cycling in order to trade them. The plan is also to show live races directly to the consumer to cut out the middleman [broadcasters].” Sources indicate that media content from teams, such as behind-the-scenes films, would also be included into a subscription-based platform. 

Major stakeholders within the sport are concerned over the loss of free-to-air race coverage at broadcasters like ITV, which will stop delivering the Tour de France to UK households after this year. The pending closure of Eurosport UK and the subsequent 443% price rise for British fans to continue watching cycling on TNT has prompted outcry among fans, and multiple WorldTour teams are preparing to express their own dismay with the broadcaster, according to sources inside those teams. They are concerned that a key market for both their respective teams and One Cycling will be priced out and viewership will drop.

Tomas Van Den Spiegel, the CEO of Flanders Classics, who has been a firm supporter of One Cycling, confirmed the project’s desire to build a live coverage media hub when speaking exclusively with Escape. “Possibly, yes,” he said when asked if replicating the now-abandoned GCN model is part of the ambitions. “It [a platform] could be part of something broader and bigger. 

This article was published on Escape Collective in February 2025. You can read the full article here.