Globalization in Professional Road Cycling

Road cycling has its historical roots in four European countries: France, Belgium, Italy and Spain. The five Cycling Monuments as well as the three Grand Tours all take place in one of those four core countries and for decades the vast majority of the cycling peloton consisted of riders from these countries. Things slowly started to change in the 1970s (more riders and teams from other European countries, such as the Netherlands and Switzerland) and 1980s (more riders and teams from non-European countries such as the USA and Colombia). Since the early 1990s, the International Cycling Union has regularly declared that globalization of professional road cycling was a priority. In this chapter, we evaluate this objective and measure the significance of the globalization process in professional road cycling over the 1990–2020 period. The intended globalization is analysed from three perspectives. Globalization at the rider level is measured by a breakdown by nationality of the peloton. We also compare the nationalities of the top 100 riders and the winners of the major cycling competitions over the years to check the significance of globalization at the top level of cycling. Two indicators are introduced to analyse the historical evolution of the globalization of cycling teams: one measuring the international diversity within teams and one measuring the international breakdown of teams. Finally, globalization at the competition level is examined by an analysis of the UCI calendar of professional road cycling races. We conclude with an analysis of globalization in women’s professional road cycling.