Pro cycling 'family trees' lift lid on a changing sport

French sports newspaper L’Equipe has published a series of ‘Family Tree’ graphics that show how some of the teams that appeared in the inaugural UCI ProTour in 2005 have evolved into today’s UCI WorldTour teams – and in so doing, has highlighted some of the big shifts in professional cycling seen over the past decade.

The graphics, which you can find here, focus on six countries – France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and the United States – are easy enough to understand, even if you don’t speak French, and each has a headline summarising how that country has evolved in terms of top-flight teams.

France itself is described as “resisting well,” although of its five ProTour teams in 2005, one, Credit Agricole, ceased at the end of the 2009 season, while Cofidis and Direct Energie have dropped to UCI Professional Continental status, leaving just AG2R-La Mondiale and FDJ at the top level.

Italy, however, has “disappeared,” with its final top-flight team, Lampre-Merida, folding at the end of last season and providing the structure for the new, United Arab Emirates-based UAE-Abu Dhabi team.

Spain, another of the sport’s traditional heartlands, has seen its involvement shrink, with Movistar its only WorldTour team. Casualties over the years have included Liberty Seguros, engulfed by doping scandals (and forming the basis for Kazakhstan’s Astana) and the much-missed Basque squad Euskaltel-Euskadi, which folded due to financial problems.

In the Low Countries, the Dutch are “in danger” – the defunct Rabobank another high-profile casualty of links to doping and now succeeded by LottoNL-Jumbo. Following changes of name and country of domicile, what had been Skil-Shimano is now German-registered Sunweb – while in Belgium, Lotti-Soudal and Quick Step Floors are still going strong.

Meanwhile, the United States, which in 2005 had just one ProTeam – Discovery Channel, with the broadcaster having taken over sponsorship from US Postal Service that season – now has three, all characterised by some form of merger. Both current sponsors of Cannondale-Drapac, for example, previously backed teams that were merged into the team owned by Slipstream Sports and run by Jonathan Vaughters that for much of its life had Garmin as its lead sponsor.

As for the other two current American top-flight outfits, BMC Racing’s roots lie in the Swiss team Phonak, while Trek Segafredo took over the licence formerly held by Luxembourg-based Leopard SA.

Combined, the graphics in L’Equipe only account for half of the 18 teams currently in the UCI WorldTour, and mask some significant changes in the sport.

The most startling, of course, is the global nature of the sport now, with all five UCI continental circuits – Africa, Asia, Americas, Europe and Oceania – home to at least one team. Three – Astana and the two 2017 debutants, Bahrain-Merida and UAE-Abu Dhabi – are from Asia, while Orica-Scott comes under Oceania and Dimension Date is Africa’s representative.

And while continental western Europe accounted for all bar one team 12 years ago, including  Great Britain’s Team Sky and counting Katusha-Alpecin as Russian (its country of origin, although it is now registered in Switzerland), fully half the teams are from outside cycling’s traditional heartland.

That change, of course, reflects the UCI’s pursuit of globalisation of the sport, something that for better or worse – remember the lack of crowds at last year’s World Championships in Doha, Qatar? – shows no signs of slowing down.

It's reflected too in the calendar. In 2005, all 28 ProTour events were all in Europe, and shared by just eight conutries. this year's expanded WorldTour has 38 races across 17 countries, including Australia, Abu Dhabi, China, Turkey and the United States.

One country missing from the graphics is Germany, which had two teams – Gerolsteiner and T-Mobile in 2005, and now has two in the WorldTour, Bora-Hansgrohe and Sunweb.

But the intervening years saw the sport go into crisis in the country following the doping scandals that caused those two sponsors to pull the plug, and broadcasters to stop screening the Tour de France.

A new generation of riders such as Andre Greipel and Tony Martin, followed by Marcel Kittel and John Degenkolb, have helped rehabilitate the sport there, and encouraged sponsors and media channels to return.

The surest sign the sport is being embraced by the country again will come this summer however, when Dusseldorf hosts the Grand Depart of the Tour de France.
For the record, here’s the full list of ProTour teams in 2005 and WorldTour reams in 2017,

UCI ProTour 2005

Team CSC (Denmark)     
Phonak (Switzerland)     
Rabobank (Netherlands)
Davitamon–Lotto (Belgium)     
Liberty Seguros–Würth (Spain)     
Gerolsteiner (Germany)
Saunier Duval–Prodir (Spain)     
Discovery Channel (United States)
Crédit Agricole (France)
Illes Balears–Caisse d'Epargne (Spain)
Cofidis (France)     
Quick-Step–Innergetic (Belgium)
Fassa Bortolo (Italy)
T-Mobile Team (Germany)     
Liquigas–Bianchi (Italy)
Lampre–Caffita (Italy)
Bouygues Télécom (France)
Domina Vacanze (Italy)
Euskaltel–Euskadi (Spain)     
Française des Jeux (France)

2017 UCI WorldTour teams

AG2R La Mondiale (France)     
Astana (Kazakhstan)     
Bahrain–Merida (Bahrain)     
BMC Racing Team (United States)
Bora–Hansgrohe (Germany)     
Cannondale–Drapac (United States)     
Team Dimension Data (South Africa)     
Quick-Step Floors (Belgium)    
FDJ (France)     
Lotto–Soudal (Belgium)     
Movistar Team (Spain)
Orica–Scott (Australia)     
Team Sunweb (Germany)
UAE Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates)     
Team Katusha–Alpecin (Switzerland)     
LottoNL–Jumbo (Netherlands)
Team Sky (Great Britain)     
Trek–Segafredo (United States)