People say Oleg Tinkov’s crazy, but he’s probably become so accustomed to getting his own way that he thinks differently to anyone who isn’t a billionaire.
He loves the limelight, intentionally pulls stunts to play on his reputation, and occasionally tweets his thoughts after a few vodkas – much to the delight and entertainment of everyone except those on the receiving end.
This type of ‘crazy’ is good – it brings colour to our sport, and it certainly doesn’t mean he’s silly. This type of crazy can be disruptive, and Oleg believes he can change the world of professional cycling.
Recently, pundits have flagged concern over the lack of a coherent WorldTour calendar, and the calculation of WorldTour rankings is opaque at best. Despite the rise of the mamil (?) and huge gains in popularity worldwide – even if perceptions are changing with regards to cycling’s dirty history – if cycling is not easy for fans to follow, it will always be a fringe sport.
It is here that Oleg sees the real issue. While people understand the Tour de France to a degree, the rest of the cycling season is disjointed, the UCI codes and rankings are understood by few, and star riders are rarely seen in the same races.
Solutions? Few have been offered by Oleg, but the central thrust of his argument has been consistent – get the big riders in the big races.
Last year he tried to use some of his significant financial clout to entice the top four riders to battle it out over all three Grand Tours, getting Tinkoff Bank to put up €1 million to be split four ways as an extra incentive.
That’s putting your money where your mouth is, and I respect Oleg for acting on his convictions.
Oleg’s rhetoric is growing stronger; in his latest blog on Cycling News, he has started to flesh out his concepts for the changes he believes are necessary for the sport’s survival.
He believes “all the big Grand Tour riders should ride the same program”. He’s becoming increasingly impatient with the UCI and Brian Cookson to bring about the change he desires, and suggests he may attempt change without them – “perhaps we should do it ourselves instead of waiting for them”.
This may be a good place to start reforming the sport. As a fan, I’d be happy to see these changes implemented. Scratch the surface though, and deeper issues arise from mandating such change. For instance, many smaller races rely on big-name riders showing up to their events, giving them legitimacy and more recognition and publicity. What happens to those races that aren’t included in the mandated program? These are questions that need to be addressed before any major structural changes take place.
Conversely though, races could pay the UCI for including them in the program – this new source of revenue might be what is needed for the UCI to consider sharing income from TV rights with the teams, something teams have been driving at for aeons.
Perhaps Oleg isn’t that crazy?
What would be your solution to bring more money into the sport – do you share Oleg’s frustration, or prefer the status quo?
Rob JM
Guest
The only way you could make his proposal work is by cutting grand tours back to two weeks to reduce the strain on riders bodies. Then add a fourth two week tour and some sort of big prize for overall winner of the year. Then you could have a points system that means something.
TK
Guest
I like Oleg, but we've seen him before in pro cycling - about 30 years ago with Bernard Tapie. Just like Tapie, Oleg will come and go with his blather and his money - and professional cycling will still be here rolling along like it always has. It is what it is. Millions and billions won't change it.
delbeato
Roar Guru
He's definitely not crazy but his 'ride all the GTs' proposal seems like it was intended to play to his man Contador's advantage - given he rode the Giro and Tour - then got smoked in the Tour by fresher riders (Froome). You can't force riders to participate in races, they will just get 'injured' or 'sick' if they don't want to.
Don
Roar Rookie
If only Oleg would go crazy about issues that really matter. Like rider safety amongst team and service vehicles. We've had, how many? - at least 5 riders I can remember hit by vehicles in one season. It's insane. BMC grumbled about pursuing legal action when GvA was clobbered but nothing has followed through so far. If Oleg pulls his team from the Vuelta and gets angry enough, perhaps the UCI will act NOW rather than simply promising to look into it.
Nicholas Hartman
Roar Guru
I've always thought it really weird (maybe its autism coming through?) that the Premier League (etc) seems to be the only sporting competition that is complete and make sense. Each team plays each other once at home, once away, and that's it. Cycling is just a big jumble, with not very well defined teams and racing programs. The Tour de France for example is in the middle of the calendar, logically there should be a buildup (Vuelta, Giro, TdF) but there isn't. I don't think he's crazy, in fact simplifying the cycling calendar (even if it means a bit of prestige or tradition is lost) would definitely help grow the sport. I think if you haven't been born into a sport that's complex (like cricket or gridiron), then you're very unlikely to pick it up