The Enhanced Games; Giro Kicks off in Albania; Vuelta Feminina Wraps; Questions Around F1; Giro Sponsorship; Fixed-Gear Racing ...
Key Takeaways:
● In Praise of PEDs ….?
● Giro Action in Albania
● La Vuelta Femenina Wraps Up
● F1 Hits Plateau?
● Questions Around Giro Sponsorship
● Fixed Gear Racing Aspirations
The latest news about doping in sport isn’t about rooting out and punishing the use of performance enhancing drugs; it’s about praising their potential benefits for the human race. On May 21st, details about the first edition of the Enhanced Games will be released to the general public. Information about the organization, competitive model, and biological monitoring of the athletes has been broadly updated on the Enhanced Games website in advance of the announcement, including a full portfolio of its competitive committee, venture capital backers, and scientific advisors. Just three sports categories appear on the site thus far (athletics, aquatics, and strength/weightlifting; cycling doesn’t appear to be mentioned anywhere – yet), and it remains to be seen which specific events will comprise the competitions. On one hand, the spectacle will likely appeal to an audience that thrives on extremes of sporting drama, not unlike the UFC’s stratospheric journey into mainstream sports and the enduring popularity and growth of WWE’s wrestling product. On the other hand, the very nature of enhanced athletes preparing for and competing in an unrestricted competition format may trend more towards defibrillators and body bags than podiums and medals.
The structure and language that the organizers have carefully chosen on the website give clear indicators as to how the games will be run, and just as importantly, why. From a scientific perspective, the organizers claim that the athletes will receive superior monitoring and supportive care given the potential for self-harm when using – or overusing – PEDs. In general, the competitive model seeks to decouple the stigma of performance enhancement from the anti-doping context of cheating. One statement simultaneously jabs at WADA and the morality of anti-doping: “...we have listed elite athletes who have set world records that have been revoked or challenged by the legacy sports apparatus and the media. We celebrate these individuals as pioneers of human performance and recognise their achievements as a benchmark of human athletic achievement, be it natural or enhanced.” The overall tone of the Enhanced Games ethos appears to be transhumanism; athletes are essentially participating in a broad set of experiments to exceed the boundaries of what humans are capable of in a natural state. Could the data gleaned open new doors into anti-aging and disease prevention and treatment? Or will the Games’ performance enhancement discoveries filter into and change the outcomes of “clean” competition in the future?
The Giro kicked off this past weekend and produced a surprisingly exciting series of three stages across the Adriatic Sea in Albania, with Mads Pedersen doubling up wins on Stages 1 and 3 (and the race lead in the process), while Ineos’ Josh Tarling became the youngest rider to ever win an individual grand tour time trial on Stage 2. Meanwhile, Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe’s Primož Roglič grabbed pole position in the fight for the eventual overall title by looking very strong through all three stages and taking a chunk of time on every other GC contender, including UAE’s Juan Ayuso. Pedersen is cementing his status as one of the sport’s top riders; he is now third only to Tadej Pogačar and Jasper Philipsen in grand tour stage wins since the start of the 2022 season.
Perhaps the real winner of the weekend was the country of Albania and its tourism industry. Its lush high mountains and photogenic beaches were well-promoted on the broadcast and any distractions – like the presence of stray dogs and goats nearly causing multiple crashes or pre-race political jostling between the Italian and Albanian governments – were forgotten by how well the country seemed to get through the opening stages. However, even if the stages played out well on television, the on-the-ground atmosphere left something to be desired. Sparse crowds along the road, and confusion, rather than excitement, seemed to be the predominant reaction from locals happening upon the event. While taking a grand tour start to a country without an embedded cycling culture can sometimes produce massive fanfare and ignite interest (like the Tour de France’s recent trip to the UK), it can also be lost in the day-to-day shuffle. The big question is whether the Albanian government will believe that the somewhat lackluster on-the-ground response makes the fee they paid to the race organizer RCS Media Group – rumored to be in the €7-€10 million range – worth it?
Behind the on-the-road action, one of the more interesting storylines at this year’s Giro has been the sponsorship of the race leader’s jersey by IUMAN, a men's underwear brand. After the Italian energy company and longtime partner ENEL stepped away at the end of 2024, media reports in March suggested that a deal with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) to sponsor the Maglia Rosa in 2025 was imminent. However, that agreement apparently fell through and forced race organizer RCS to strike a last-minute deal, reportedly at a rate well below the €4 million market valuation per classification leader’s jersey. Given how dependent all bike races are on sponsorship income, a major discount on the Maglia Rosa jersey only underlines why it is so important to have a few stages hosted abroad in a country willing to cut a massive check. The big question is why the apparent deal between PIF and RCS collapsed, and whether it might tied to (1) PIF’s reported interest in acquiring both the Giro and Torino FC, which are owned by RCS Media Group chairman Urbano Cairo, or (2) on-going hesitancy about investing in cycling more generally, as indicated by the on-going One Cycling saga. In the case of the former, if Cairo was unwilling to sell these assets outright – or refused a price PIF proposed – then undermining the Giro’s revenue and enterprise value by pulling out of a high-profile sponsorship deal could be a calculated move on PIF’s part.
The first grand tour of the 2025 Women’s WorldTour concluded in Spain on Saturday with Demi Vollering’s emphatic overall win in La Vuelta Femenina. Setting aside the day one team trial debacles caused by UCI bike motor checks that we discussed previously, the week-long stage race fired on all cylinders with three exciting drag race sprints and two scintillating mountain summits. Three stories played out in the race narrative. First, Marianne Vos (Visma-LAB) showed veteran poise and evergreen legs with two of the three sprint wins. Her wins were all the more poignant given her longevity in the sport – she was the inspiration to start racing and childhood hero to many of the younger riders competing in the event. Her wins were a consolation to the Visma-LAB team, due to the abandonment of on-form GC hope and Paris-Roubaix winner Pauline Ferrand-Prevot. Second, Anna van der Breggen (SDWorx-Protime) finally showed up with her first victory since un-retiring at the start of the season, taking a medium-mountain stage and emerging again as a preeminent GC threat not just in this race, but for all the WWT grand tours. And finally, Demi Vollering’s dominant performance in the high mountains showed the peloton that she is still the sport’s current boss, and that her FDJ team is more capable than many would have bet given the depth of SDWorx and Lidl-Trek.
The recent fortunes and adversities experienced by Formula One hints at changes ahead in the world of motorsports, with implications for niche sports like pro cycling. Liberty Media (F1’s owner) announced a 27% decline in revenue to start 2025, with a loss of $28 million owing to increased overhead costs and holding one fewer race in Q1 than a year ago. More troubling was a steep drop in viewership of the Miami Grand Prix, with a reported drop of 32% when compared to the 2024 edition. In light of leadership changes at Liberty in January and ESPN’s recent decision to drop its exclusivity for F1 broadcasting rights after 2025’s series concludes, these hiccups gave analysts pause to consider the brand’s future. Generally speaking, the sport’s fan base interaction and engagement is still incredibly strong, and host cities are not only locking in long-term agreements but competition for future locations is heating up. (It doesn’t hurt that the McLaren team has definitely broken through the sport’s long dominance by either Lewis Hamilton or Max Verstappen.) The model of cities hosting events – and the licensing of the races to organizers and track owners – bears strong resemblance to a model that could be adopted by pro cycling’s stakeholders in a stronger, more comprehensive WorldTour racing model with broader sports audience appeal and marketing swagger. According to sources, F1 has $14.2 billion in future revenue contractually set in motion by this model and if pro cycling were to evolve in this direction – either through a One Cycling (still no news here…) or competing modality – the future could be a lot brighter.
This week a new “Formula Fixed” racing series was announced. The format – fixed gear bikes racing on an indoor karting track – was tried at a test event in California in 2024 and is now being scaled-up into a series of events across the United States. Fixed gear racing has always maintained a presence in amateur racing and was popularized by the now-defunct Red Hook Criterium series that started in Brooklyn (and shares DNA with events like the Alleycat and numerous unsanctioned pop-up races in urban centers around the U.S.). Similar European versions of this discipline exist in the form of the Rad Race indoor events that were held last year. While new versions of criterium and fixie bike racing have struggled to take hold over the last decade, Formula Fixed appears to have a much deeper planning, partnership, and marketing engine behind it that could help the events build momentum. Given the race locations at existing indoor karting facilities, this series is able to do a couple things that traditional bike races cannot: sell admission tickets for entry and create a relatively low-cost live stream broadcast to serve both fans and sponsors. More generally, the culture, demographics, and dedication of fixie racing may generate a new and different set of competitors and fans vis-à-vis the traditional U.S. cycling scene. It will be interesting to see if this new form of racing finds a foothold in the current churn of gravel hype, criterium hope, and road racing dreams to become a successful and sustainable sports entertainment vehicle.