Introduction: In 2019, The Outer Line published a detailed analysis of the pro cycling media marketplace, highlighting over-capacity and predicting an imminent consolidation and industry downsizing. At that time, we estimated that there might be some 50 viable cycling media entities – ranging all the way from large and well-established legacy print magazines and websites to small podcasters, YouTubers, video producers, and independent “labor of love” bloggers. Print magazine subscription rates were collapsing as publishers increasingly gave away free digital news and editorial content. Endemic advertising was rapidly decreasing,as cycling-related brands migrated more of their ad spend to cheaper and simpler Google, Facebook or other social media and big tech platforms. In addition, more teams, events and athletes were producing their own content via social media – and thereby becoming less accessible to journalists. The confluence of all these disruptions seemed to be hastening the death of print publishing, and presaged an imminent but uncertain transition to a more fully digital future media market.

The challenges that confronted pro cycling media at that time reflected conditions in many other niche sports verticals, and many of those predictions have materialized. Change has happened faster than predicted, and niche sports media players have had to evolve quickly. Many traditional titles and familiar publishers are gone. Financial tightening and broader economic headwinds that began to develop in 2022 only intensified the pressure on media companies – triggering severe cutbacks and widespread lay-offs across all types of media companies. Blowback regarding layoffs and shuttered titles lit up social media, and the dust is unlikely to settle any time soon. This article examines the challenges and opportunities going forward – utilizing pro cycling as a microcosm to illustrate trends that are affecting much of endurance sports and outdoor media.

Background: Consolidation began in earnest in the cycling media arena several years ago. Among the key early transactions were Discovery’s purchase of EuroSport and its follow-on investment in GCN; the acquisition of Competitor Group’s endurance sports brands by Ironman; the purchase of CyclingTips by PinkBike; and the reacquisition of CyclingNews and ProCycling by Future Media.

But the primary consolidating force that eventually emerged in the endurances sports media field was Pocket Outdoor Media. Formed in late 2017, the company acquired a small and struggling sports media business from the World Triathlon Corporation – comprising four legacy sports titles (including VeloNews and Triathlete magazines) that were on the verge of closure. After stabilizing the original platforms, and following the implementation of a new management team and significant new investment in 2019, Pocket Outdoor Media quickly assumed the role of industry consolidator in the outdoor and endurance sports media field. During 2020 and 2021, the company conducted a rapid and broad-based industry roll-up, first acquiring a suite of titles from Active Interest Media, then several assets from Big Stone Publishing, a variety of smaller publishing and related companies, and ultimately purchasing Outside magazine and its various media properties. Shortly thereafter, the company also picked up the PinkBike group of cycling platforms, including CyclingTips. By the end of 2021, the company had aggregated more than 30 different titles, including most of the major brands in North American outdoor sports.

After rebranding itself as Outside Interactive Inc. (“Outside”) and bringing in substantial additional investment, the company tried to set about consolidating these various assets into a more compact and efficient organization. The basic strategy followed the logic common to most industry consolidations: (1) the industry was over-supplied; (2) many media companies were headed toward extinction, as they competed ruthlessly against one another for the same advertisers and readers in a crowded marketplace; (3) by rolling many titles together under one roof, the merged businesses could preserve the strongest assets, combine audiences and subscription bases, and maintain the best editorial talent; (4) the consolidated business could then be complemented with adjacent businesses – like sporting events, mapping services, photo apps and so on – to provide a more comprehensive and value-added bundle of services; (5) this would allow the company to attract and retain more customers; and finally (6) a more diversified and economically stronger player could emerge, able to offer more services to more customers over the long-term. Instead of three cycling titles competing each other to death, for example, one stronger cycling title could emerge – better-positioned to survive for the long-term.

Recent Industry Challenges: Many other social and global economic changes were occurring as Outside undertook this consolidation effort. Above and beyond the unique and unprecedented challenges of COVID, subscription/membership and advertising concerns continued to intensify. All media platforms realized they needed to transition their print operations toward digital – to shift their old paying print subscribers to some form of paid digital subscriptions or memberships, or put at least some of their content behind hastily fashioned paywalls. But – largely due to the widespread availability of free news and content – most companies were still struggling in this effort. Print subscriptions were dropping by as much as 20% per year while costs were rising – postage rates were soaring; newsprint costs doubled just during 2022. This confluence of factors put most media companies in an ever-tighter economic squeeze. Literally hundreds of broader news publications were forced out of business during this time period; others were swept up in consolidation, while fewer and fewer remained independent, fighting to survive. Cycling and other niche sports suffered the same challenges on a smaller scale.

The financial resources to support niche sport verticals continued to dwindle as equipment and accessory brands endemic to those sectors continued shifting their ad dollars towards simple-to-use and easily configurable social media or tech platforms. In some niche sports, ad page rates reportedly dropped by as much as 80%, while fill rates declined by 60%. All those dollars that previously supported news delivery, story-telling, tech and travel reviews and training programs were increasingly redirected by the big tech companies into their own research and investment areas – things like artificial intelligence, machine learning and the “metaverse.” This left many niche sports media sites struggling to economically provide their legacy content.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t just the commercial brands that were shifting their dollars and marketplace power away from the sport. Traditional media companies themselves often undercut their own positions by increasingly posting content and links on Facebook, Twitter and other sites. Over time, this allowed the social media companies to build better targeting engines and essentially say to endemic brands, “why buy from the publisher XYZ when we can give you the same audience for the same or lower costs?” Whereas fifteen years ago, 100% of these brand dollars were staying inside to support endemic media, much of that spending was now going outside.

All these factors resulted in a fundamental shift of both dollars and market power – away from the original endemic media and sport, toward companies that don’t really care about sports or the outdoors. Although many media companies and their advertisers still don’t seem to fully recognize it, the long-term effect of losing all these dollars represents a fundamental threat to their own sport and livelihood. If this trend is not slowed or reversed, it could eventually spell the death of many sports media brands.

Current Conditions: Financial tightening and economic headwinds began to impact all industries during 2022 – and media businesses were particularly hard hit. On top of the internal and secular changes mentioned above, emerging economic uncertainties led to (1) greater caution and hesitation in terms of spending on the part of advertisers, and (2) a slowdown in the growth rate of long-term subscription or membership fees on the part of customers. Advertising revenue for many media firms collapsed during the second half of 2022; this quickly proved catastrophic for many players.

Cycling print media resembled a graveyard by the end of last year. Some print magazines like RIDE Cycling Review, Cycling Active and CycleSport had long since been shuttered. During 2022 a number of legacy stalwarts such as ProCycling, VeloNews, Peloton, Bikeas well as newer and short-lived efforts like Betaand Stelvio all closed down their print operations to focus solely on their digital platforms. The venerable and more broad-based Bicyclingwas one of the only print publications still appearing on magazine racks. The larger and more digitally-oriented companies also faced an economic challenge, and Outside was no exception – conducting broad staff reductions in both May and November. New podcasts, newsletters and blogs began to emerge as a flood of laid-off former writers and editors struggled to retain their coterie of fans – all competing in a small market for the same readers and advertisers. Acrimony and bitterness ruled social media discourse, as disgruntled employees grappled to understand the larger forces at work, and the inevitable Monday morning quarterbacks vied to explain why new investment and industry consolidation had already failed.

Many observers are labeling 2022 as the worst year ever for cycling media. But it wasn’t just the media. Major bicycle brands – including firms like Specialized, Zwift, Strava and Wahoo – also began to trim expenses, lay off staff and cut back on advertising. Some cycling media insiders seem to believe that the current upheaval is somehow specific to the industry, or the result of bad decisions at a handful of specific companies. However, the general issues facing the niche sports media industry are virtually identical to those facing all media companies – not just sports platforms. Cost squeezes and adjustments to the rapidly changing marketplace have caused Disney, Fox, Paramount and other larger public media companies’ stock prices to fall by 50% or more during the past year. Massive lay-offs have occurred at most of the major companies, including CNN, the Washington Post, Paramount and others. As 2023 dawns, these cutbacks continue and uncertainties are intensifying, with many economists predicting that recessionary conditions will persist throughout the year.

Building Future Success: The cycling media industry may face its toughest internal and external challenges in decades, but there are opportunities to shift direction, adjust strategies and succeed in the future. We believe that there are five key factors which will determine whether and how the cycling media can stabilize and reinvigorate its business model. While some of these factors may seem somewhat obvious, the ability to adopt and actually implement these strategies will largely determine who lives and who dies. Media firms must strive to: (1)  build back original advertising and find new commercial partners; (2)  develop a more authentic editorial brand and strategy – a “personality” to differentiate oneself from the competition; (3)  identify and define the specific characteristics and size of the target market they wish to serve; (4)  seek out and develop other new and complementary revenue sources that can be logically bundled with legacy media content to add value; and (5)  utilize the economic cushion of these strengths to grow digital subscriptions/membership revenues.

First, niche media platforms need to work even harder and interact more closely and productively with the primary brands in their markets. And that doesn’t mean just trying to bring back traditional advertisers; it means broadening horizons as well, and identifying new potential partners. In the cycling sector, this includes the major bicycle manufacturers – including components, apparel and equipment – in addition to other retailers, training service providers, tourism destinations, environmental and “green” transportation groups, and so on.

For years now, many brands have been pushing their ad strategies toward companies that will likely never engage in their sport. As that happens, legacy media declines, and customers find it more difficult to decide what products to buy, what events to attend, or what places to visit. If these industry suppliers and endemic brands don’t start to plow more of their advertising dollars back into their own industry, they are ultimately killing themselves. Hence, media companies must proactively work harder to convey the severity of this concern, so that endemic ad dollars start migrating back towards the dedicated media sites which follow and promote their sport. Recent evidence shows that, for the first time, the duopoly of Facebook and Google is beginning to lose some of its share of the $300 billion digital ad business. This is encouraging news for traditional media players, although thus far much of that shift is simply going to other big tech players like Amazon, Microsoft and Apple.

Some obvious ways to repatriate historical advertising revenues include exploring partnerships and diversification of sponsored content, building stronger affiliate relationships, promoting key events or hard good/soft good discounts, and other types of digital cross-pollination. If we want advertisers to help us, we have to look for new ways to help them. And there are plenty of ways to accomplish this
without necessarily compromising independence; journalists will have to pragmatically balance editorial integrity against a tendency to cry wolf when asked to work more directly with clients to achieve better results. At the end of the day, media companies must foster a closer and symbiotic relationship between advertisers and customers; if any of these three parties are substantially weakened, the whole sport is jeopardized.

Second, media companies must strive to better create a unique editorial identity – a unique brand “personality” that is recognizable, and that is independent of any single editor. Companies must differentiate their product to stand out as a distinctive voice within their target community. A common criticism heard today is that many websites look the same – they often mimic each other, chasing after the same news stories, generating similar tech or travel pieces, and failing to differentiate themselves much in the marketplace. If one website doesn’t look that different from another, neither is going to generate much customer loyalty. And even the largest firms shouldn’t try to be all things to all people. It will be increasingly critical for firms to focus on developing this kind of clear brand strategy, and the authentic personality and purpose that will endear them to their specific community of customers.

Third, media players really need to better define and understand their target audience. This can’t be over-emphasized. Even though broad participation in cycling has grown (particularly during the last few years), the cycling media has done a poor job of addressing and expanding its potential market. To their own detriment, most of the cycling sites have chased customers who look, think and ride like their editors, providing elite-focused coverage of interest to only a tiny and often vitriolic sliver of the overall enthusiast base. The main cycling sites often seem to be fighting over the same 250,000 skinny, white guys. Meanwhile, Bicycling magazine – disdained as a “proletarian” product – has maintained a strong business by successfully catering to a broader audience. Absolute scale is important in this business; if parochial cycling sites can’t find it within themselves to broaden their horizons and address new audiences, they may be doomed to repeat the self-cannibalizing practices of the past.

Fourth, media firms must identify and affiliate with other products and services of interest to their customer base. For many, it will no longer be enough to simply provide the news and stories; that ship has sailed. New media companies must seek out opportunities for bundling different services together, to make subscription or membership in their services more attractive and compelling to customers. This could include things like bundled access to multiple paywalled websites, event and registration services, marketplace forums to swap ideas or trade equipment, training programs, collectibles or loyalty programs, and live sports programming. Additional utility-based revenue sources could include mapping or fitness apps, or external commercial and merchandising partnerships. Within the endurance sports market, for example, Outside has estimated that their average consumer is involved in at least three different activities – underlining the potential value of bundling. Highly successful bundling strategies have been developed in other sectors by companies like Disney, Walmart and Amazon. Scale will obviously convey competitive advantages in this regard.

Finally, firms that are able to make progress on these first four factors will have a cushion for survival, and thus a far better chance to maintain and grow their subscriber or membership base. Building a comprehensive understanding of the size, characteristics and primary desires of targeted customers – and particularly that core audience that represents the bulk of digital engagement – will help facilitate the design of a specialized and high-quality set of products. As a firm builds that suite of products and services, it gradually becomes more necessary or indispensable to its audience, and membership grows.

Major media platforms like the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Guardian are often held up as models for other smaller media players to emulate. For some of these publications, digital subscription revenue is now more critical than advertising revenue (though that can bring its own set of problems). One of the best models to consider is the Times, which has been able not only to preserve its news, commentary and opinion content, but has also bundled these legacy services together with new offerings – like sophisticated product review capabilities (Wirecutter), in-depth regional and local sports coverage (The Athletic), an array of games and puzzles, and detailed food and travel coverage – a diversified package which helps to build and reinforce the loyalty of online subscribers. The Times has
consistently grown its digital base to almost ten million subscribers by bundling this more diverse set of offerings.

But there is a hard reality here, which must be understood by niche players – and that is again the issue of scale. The New York Times might have a potential digital audience of, say, 100 million people; if ten percent of that audience actually signs up, it will provide sufficient revenues to run a high-quality journalistic and economically viable business. On the other hand, the potential market for a niche sports digital membership may only be 250,000 people. Even if ten percent of those sign up for the service, it may not provide sufficient revenue to support a viable business.

From this perspective, many niche sports media sites face an existential challenge; for some, the total potential market – even under the most optimistic scenario – is perilously small. To have any chance of success, they will have to work even harder and be even more creative and innovative, in order to capture a significant share of that potential market. They will have to operate with a sharper pencil – assessing more accurately the size and interest level of their potential market, achievable audience conversion rates and subscription fees – in short, determining if the market is big enough to support a financially viable media business.

Maintaining Good Business Practices: While there are unique challenges facing the niche media industry, attention to standard “tried and true” business management fundamentals will always be critical for success. All of the basics that we discussed four years ago are just as important today, including the “blocking and tackling” type of day-to-day management skills; better monitoring and control metrics; better people management, guidance and motivation, and; an ability to recognize your weaknesses and fill in the gaps. Delineate your own strategy and then stick with it – don’t worry about mimicking what everyone else is doing. Finally, maintain the proper balance between creative/content objectives and financial targets.

With respect to the last item, it is instructive to think of media firms as existing on a spectrum – with the creative/editorial features of the business on one end, and the financial/profitability aspects on the other. In firms that are biased toward the creative side, management tends to view the reader as being the customer; with the help of advertisers, their main objective is to provide quality content to their readers. On the other hand, firms that lean more towards financial goals may view the advertiser as the customer, with the primary objective being to deliver maximum eyeballs. The optimal balance here is complicated. We all know media companies with great content that have expired because they failed to create enough revenue; at the same time, it is axiomatic that no media company can survive without good content.

Summary: Over the last two decades, the broad-based shift to digital and the creeping loss of advertising revenue has turned the media business upside down. The old models no longer work; many niche sports media operations find their longer term future in jeopardy. Media firms must continue to bang the drum more loudly on these challenges, while providing the kind of quality content and value that reinforces brand relationships and recurring customer revenue. They must also gently but constantly remind their customers that good quality journalism and editorial content are not free. If we as consumers want good content and more diversified services, we have to be willing to help pay for it.

Change in future media markets will be constant, digital behaviors will continue to evolve, and the pace of that change will probably accelerate. New and rapidly evolving technologies like artificial intelligence will likely complicate the industry in ways we scarcely imagine today. In striving to achieve a good balance between the five critical factors above, firms must be laser-focused on (1) constant innovation to produce and deliver the kind of differentiable and valuable content packages that advertisers are willing to invest in and customers are willing to pay for, and (2) building, scaling and efficiently managing a business that is proportional to the size of their market. When the chips are down, the important guiding light to remember is that there is still an audience out there – fans will continue to demand interesting news, stories, reviews, training programs, recreational suggestions and advice, and other content about their favorite sports. For many niche sports like cycling, it may not be a huge audience, but it is still there, and it still demands to be served. Media brands that can figure out how to build, scale and manage a business to tell the stories of a beautiful sport and satisfy – or delight – their consumers, will be able to achieve long-term financial stability.

(Disclosure: Steve Maxwell was one of the founding partners of Pocket Outdoor Media, and is a minority shareholder in Outside. He writes regularly for VeloNews, but is not involved in the management of the company. Previously, he ran a boutique investment banking business serving the environmental industry. He is also the Co-Editor of The Outer Line.)

There have been numerous video calls, in which everyone showed willingness to find solutions and work together. We tried to secure one set of unambiguous rules across all major races but unfortunately this turns out to be impossible.

As is the case with the UCi’s medical protocol for teams and race organisers, it is impossible to give one set of guidelines because every country has different Covid-19 rules and are dealing with different levels of contagion and risk.

The organizers of the races have to follow and respect their governments, provinces and municipalities which all set different rules and conditions for the continuation of a cycling race. As a consequence, the media also have to respect and obey each race protocol, even if they are often different.

What we achieved

The AIJC secured the basic right to work at races for the media and then pushed to have the best possible access and working conditions, to safeguard the health of the riders and teams in their bubbles and also the health of the media at races.

We tried to obtain a safe mixed zone in the paddock around each team bus that including safe distancing, masks, etc. This idea that was received positively by quite a few teams. ASO wasn’t against this either but the Tour de France organiser had to respect the rules imposed by the French government and the UCI. The protection of the team bubble is considered vital. 

The best solution was to create a safe mixed zone near the bus paddock, so that riders can talk before or after arriving at their team bus. We believe this is a safe and reasonable solution. Of course, the work of team press officers will be vital in making this mixed zone work well. However, we have also established good relationships with most teams and press officers and they share some of our goals. 

So far at the races

We noticed a willingness to work together at the Vuelta a Burgos and Strade Bianche.

There was no mixed zone at the team bus paddock at Strade Bianche but despite initial limits in the race protocol, on the day there was access to the bus paddock, the start area, and the finish area where some riders talked to both TV and written media. RCS Sport also arranged a press conference with the winner, which was also streamed online and audio files where available from the mixed zone reserved for TV rights holders. 

Although the number of media accreditations was limited at Strade Bianche due to the size of the press room, there was obligatory social distancing in the press room, checks on entry and even temperature controls access points to the finish. 

In the Vuelta a Burgos social distancing and other precautions were strictly in place for the media, with obligatory PCR tests prior to the race, regular temperature checks in the press room (and the rule of non-admittance and exclusion for any journalist who showed a fever was applied) and the removal of a mixed zone (as decreed by the state’s health regulations) from the start and finish areas for interviews.  There was also a special CoViD-19 committee overseeing the whole situation. The race organisation did an excellent job of sending interviews with the leader, stage winner and other riders leading the classifications. 

 In Spain mask wearing is obligatory in all outdoor spaces and fans were overwhelmingly very respectful of maintaining social distances with riders/teams, although on the last day’s climb the numbers of fans were so great social distancing between people lining the route was not possible. Working was possible for journalists at starts and finishes interviewing (at a distance) staff and some riders (depending on the team) at the team buses area. As stated a mixed zone area near the buses would seem to be the way to go, but it very much depends on teams’ collaboration. One conclusion from Burgos would be that the press officer’s role in facilitating interviews regularly is absolutely critical in this situation and teams need to realise that they may have to boost their press department in order to respond to that if they want to generate maximum publicity. Some teams are truly working hard at this, others are not.

For future races and the right behaviour

We are looking to create similar working conditions and establish access at other races, especially to reward journalists and media who take the trouble and incur the costs of traveling to races at times when it is challenging  both economically, with so many media outlets suffering during the ongoing pandemic, and in practical terms to do so.

Teams and race organisers understand the value of the media attending races and are helping us but also have their own objectives and strategies as in the past. 

The seriousness of the COVID-19 situation should not be underestimated. 

Races are still being cancelled because they cannot be organized within the Covid-19 rules of the countries concerned. 

Six riders haven’t started because of Covid-19 risks Silvian Didier missed the Strade Bianche because of a late positive Corona test. Juan Sebastian Molano, Christian Camilo Munoz and Andres Camilo Ardila didn’t start on day two of the Vuelta a Burgos because they had had contact with a person who had tested corona positive. Alex Dowsett and Itamar Einhorn were not able to start in Burgos because they had previously been at the table with teammate Omer Goldstein who had tested positive. 

These case highlight the risk of the races and COVID-19.

At the AIJC we feel it is important that the working conditions for our media are safe. We do not want any media to be infected with COVID-19 at races or elsewhere. 

That’s why we’ve indicated to all parties that journalists who don’t comply with the Covid-19 rules and protocols should be first warned of their unsuitable behaviour and then lose their accreditation in case of a second violation. 

The media has to behave professionally in the accredited race areas and away from races in hotels and even at home.  if we want to retain our access at race and with teams. We want to be part of the solution to ensure professional races continue, not part of the problem.

So far, we are happy to see that almost everyone has behaved in a disciplined manner at the recent. 

Strade Bianche and the Vuelta a Burgos where both held safely, with the race organisers respecting the needs and the role of the media. 

The working conditions were reasonably good under the prevailing circumstances and we hope they continue so and even improve going forward. 

We all have a role to play in ensuring this is the case.

Thanks,

AIJC board

Raymond Kerckhoffs
Stephen Farrand
Gregor Brown
Alasdair Fotheringham

The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and Aigle-Martigny’s Organising Committee have the pleasure to welcome you in Switzerland.

In order to facilitate your accommodation, we are happy to offer you the below preferential rates atseven hotels:

Single Occupancy -between € 112 (CHF 120) and € 230 (CHF 250), depending on duration of stay and room category. Rates include breakfast and Wi-Fi.

Hotels are located in Verbier, located 25 km (45 minutes) from the Championships finish area (Accreditation Centre, the Media Centre and the TV compound) in the town of Martigny.

The Organising Committee will provide a shuttle service from Verbier to Martigny. Details will be communicated at a later stage. If you wanna have more information about the hotels, the AIJC has sent an email to all members. If you didn’t receive this, please contact me: raymond@cyclingopinions.com

The AIJC created the most media-friendly award in 2015 as a form of recognition of those members of the professional cycling community who make a special effort to work with the media and who respect the media’s independent role in professional cycling. In 2015 the Giant-Alpecin team won the most media-friendly award in recognition of its efforts to work with and assist the media throughout the season. In 2016 the prize went to Colombian Esteban Chaves. In 2017 to Dutchman Tom Dumoulin.

In 2018, most of the members voted for Thibaut Pinot. The French rider is praised by journalists for being available to the media in good times as well as in bad times. After a disappointment, as in the last mountain stage in the Giro d’Italia 2018, he was also available at the end of the stages. And after his great successes in for example Il Lombardia, he tells his story extensively. The award of the AIJC prize is also a reward for the media policy of Team Groupama-FDJ. By attracting Marion Zimine-Gachies (formerly ASO and IAM Cycling), the team shows that it wants to invest in a good relationship with the press.

After Jean-Paul Oliver, Jim Wilcockson and Graham Watson the board of the AIJC honoured Bennie Ceulen with the Outstanding Achievement in the field of Cycling Journalism Award. As a teammate with the French team Gitane of the Tour de France winners Bernard Hinault and Lucien van Impe, Ceulen ended up in the world of cycling. After his active career he was a journalist for thirty years at the Limburgs Dagblad and De Limburger. He also worked as a delegate of the Tour de France in the Netherlands. For years he was the press officer of the Amstel Gold Race. For the last ten years he has been active as press officer of Skil-Shimano, Argos, Giant and Team Sunweb. Ceulen worked in this position mainly with Tom Dumoulin, who lives about 10 kilometers away from him. He made Team Sunweb one of the most media friendly teams.

The AIJC was created in 1976 to bring journalists from different media and different nations covering professional cycling together, with the aim of promoting solidarity among sports journalists throughout the world. The AIJC works with the UCI, race organisers, teams and riders to sustain and develop a professional working relationship and the correct reporting of the sport on a worldwide basis. The AIJC strives to constantly improve the working conditions of its members and as a consequence the reporting of professional cycling.

Raymond Kerckhoffs is the current president of the AIJC, with delegates and representatives in numerous parts of the world. The AIJC has more than 300 members from more than 30 countries.

New this year is the ‘Proud Cycling Moment’ category to accompany the existing categories; ‘Professional’, ‘Enthusiast’, and ‘Smartphone / Action Cam’. ‘Proud Cycling Moment’ is a celebration of the moments in life that make us proud of our loved ones and ourselves. An example image could be the thrill and satisfaction of reaching the peak you’ve always dreamed of, or the pure exhaustion. Both equally ‘Proud Cycling Moments.’

CyclingTips.com – who are backing the Awards again – and Leeanne Gatien (Mark Gunter’s wife) invite professional photographers, budding amateurs, and the happy snapper or iPhonologist, from anywhere in the world, to enter. Last week marked three years since the cycling community lost Mark and his talent. Renowned as one of Australia’s leading cycling photographers, he ‘captured moments in time’ and preserved them forever. These Awards are his legacy for all to share, and in the process, we are unearthing new talent from all over the world. The continued impact of Mark’s work is evident through the comments from previous Awards’ entrants: “Mark was one of my first inspirations to pick up a camera.”

“It’s a good cause and fun to have your hobby evaluated by the pros.” “So many of us lived vicariously through Mark – what a gift he gave us!” “The celebration of bikes, life and landscape through photography is a wonderful thing to support and I think this is a great initiative and legacy for Mark.”

Over 2,500 images from 34 countries have been submitted in the past two years. We’ve seen a large presence from the USA, UK and Australia, as well entries from Slovenia, Norway, Monaco, Poland, Israel, Brazil, India, and China. Mark was known for his kindness and willingness to help others. All money raised from the Awards will go to cancer research via Tour de Cure and to the Young Cyclist Assistance, an initiative of the Awards to provide a $1,000 grant for up to three young cyclists.

This year’s judging panel sees the return of Graham Watson, famed for his latest book ‘40 Years of Cycling,’ and who shared a strong professional connection with Mark. He’s joined by Russ Ellis, Team Sky’s pro peloton photographer, and Wouter Roosenboom, the Award’s inaugural Professional category winner. We’re thrilled to announce Marianne Vos – World and Olympic champion and Pro Tour cyclist – as the independent judge for the Young Cyclist Assistance. We’re expecting many more inspiring nominations, all vying for the Young Cyclist Assistance. https://bit.ly/2zK9yrz

If you are not a keen photographer but would like to help, donations can be made directly to cancer research at Tour de Cure. https://tourdecure.com.au/events/events-calendar/?id=2146 The competition is open now, and runs till 3rd January, 2019. More information can be found here: https://cyclingtips.com/2018-mark-gunter-photographeryear-awards/ Promotion on social media via hash tag #markgunterphotoawards2018.

On Thursday 8th November the AIJC held its annual meeting with Unipublic in Madrid to discuss improvements for the working conditions for the media in the Vuelta a España. Alasdair Fotheringham represented the AIJC, whilst Laura Cueto, Unipublic press officer, and Sergio Fernández from the Unipublic Production department, were present for the  Vuelta a España.

In general, from the AIJC point of view,  some areas still need working on, in particular concerning the finishes, the shuttle buses and the attitude of some – but by no means all – parts of the Spanish police towards the media at finishes. But that said, the Vuelta a España continues to have a lot of well-working areas, too,  such as the press rooms, zone mixte specifically for written press/internet at finishes, starts, media guide, wifi and press conferences.

Accreditation and general media handling: straightforward as ever. The Vuelta a España organisers continue to ask international and above all local media to respect the deadlines for accreditation, something which local media are notably lax at doing.

The introduction in 2018 of a  media Wattsapp group in English as well as in Spanish to keep press up to date with logistical changes and press releases/results was widely appreciated and will be continued.

Race website: generally good, and very fast at putting the results up. However, the history section is in need of a major overhaul – there are innumerable errors.

Police: this year from the AIJC’s point of view there was a notable worsening in the way the  Spanish national police –  with units present on the entire race, rather than any particular local police, or the Guardia Civil, or in Andorra –  handled the media (as well as the teams) at the finishes. There appeared to be a  failure at times to comprehend what the media’s role was there, what kind of access they should have and where they could or could not be. It was agreed that Unipublic’s press department would try to meet representatives of the Spanish national police force before the race to explain what the media’s role was and that in the event of direct issues arising during a finish – for example if a police officer refused to let a member of the press access to the finish – then a representative of Unipublic would be contactable by phone to try and clear up this situation.
There was also the problem in one zone mixte in Madrid where the police/security failed to stop members of the public getting in, and one journalist being robbed of his bag as a result. The situation remains pending of a resolution.

Internet: excellent.

Press conferences: generally good quality sound (with the notable exception of stage four, although there was zero phone coverage at the finish and a considerable effort was made by Unipublic’s press officer to try and get us a soundfile of the stage winner’s press conference). Excellent translations.

Zone mixte: a very welcome innovation in 2018 at the finishes for the written media/internet and one which worked well when  – and it is a big ‘when’ – the security guards allowed the press to get through to the zone mixte which was nearly always situated inside the finish area.

Press avant – press arriere at the start: clearly indicated and separated  presse avant and arriere at the Vuelta’s starts remains one of the AIJC’s longest standing requests  and one which Unipublic have promised to resolve.

Mobile press tent: one of the best examples of how the Vuelta a España is leading the field,  both practical in itself and which allows for a degree of access to difficult summit finishes for the media (on this Vuelta at Lagos de  Covadonga and Covatilla) which enabled us all to work more efficiently, and, therefore, produce more reports and photographs of the race. With a big increase in the number of tvs already in place, this year an effort was made to ensure the tvs weren’t placed in front of lights – which had made the images hard to see.

The one change here is that there should be more toilet facilities – a request we already made last year.

Buffet – food/drink: one of the highlights of any Vuelta a España is the consistently high quality of its buffets. Not to mention the free coffee in the press rooms.

Results: a very good service online, with this year – as requested by the AIJC – all the documents, including medical/UCI reports, all available. However we are still waiting for a fast distribution system for the stage results and overall classification in paper format.

Shuttles: some suffered from a serious breakdown in communication, with the worst issue arising on the last day up to Andorra when there weren’t enough places for all the media. It was agreed, at the AIJC’s suggestion,  that rather than wait for the second last day before taking names of journalists wishing to use the shuttle in question that the lists  for those wishing to use the shuttles would be open permanently, from the start of the race with registry possible online. This option would be explained and included in the media guide as well as the usual explanation 24 hours in advance.

Route book: generally pretty good. The media guide, in English and French, is a hugely useful addition that other bike races would do well to introduce.

Team buses at the finishes: Several journalists complained to the AIJC that their work was rendered hugely complicated by the frequently spread-out nature of the finishes, with team buses parked in one place, the press room in another and the finish itself in yet another, often at a big distance. The distances between the different places could be at times considerable, making for stressful, time-wasted evenings (with finishes already later than we’d like) and on top of that the bus parking for the teams was often not where indicated in the route book.
The Vuelta organisation explained that this spread out nature of the finishes was due to the race’s use of finishes which were often with very limited access and that their over-riding policy was to place the team bus parking area as close as possible to the finish. The AIJC asked – and Unipublic agreed  – that in future where bus parking areas can be placed in equally practical locations but which were closer to the press room, the organisation would go for the latter option to make it easier for journalists to reach the buses.

Signalling: generally very good, although the parking signs at the press room in Andorra were very poorly placed, this was the exception that proved the rule.

Transfers to finish: the AIJC asked, once again, that the route alternatif would have its own indicating arrows next year. Unipublic continued to agree to consider it.

Press room schedules were found to work, by and large, with opening times from 12 noon to 2100. It was agreed that as in 2018, when the mobile press room was used,  it would close at 2030 given the logistical complications of dismantling it. If however, there was an exceptional reason for the press room to remain open, such as a press conference or a breaking news story, then the mobile press room would remain open til 2100.

Finish areas: whilst there were some notable improvements, such as a much bigger tv in the media area at the finish, the continuing problem of an excessively high numbers of guests and VIPs in incorrect zones  was noted, as was the continued presence of team soigneurs in the press tent. Unipublic agreed to try to ‘clear’ the area of those people without a specific job to do in the finishes.

Changes for 2019:

An improved history section in the website

A detailed pre-race meeting between Unipublic, their press officers and the Spanish national police to try and resolve the problems over access at finishes.

More mobile toilets when the mobile press tent is used.

Zone mixte: more information to be passed to the security guards at the entrances to the finish area to ensure that the media can get through to it.

Press avant-press arriere: a solution will be found. We hope.

Results: paper results for stage/GC to be delivered faster in the press room.

Shuttles: It was agreed  that rather than wait for the second last day before taking names of journalists wishing to use the shuttle in question that the lists would be open permanently, from the start of the race with registry possible online. This option would be included in the media guide.

Finishing areas: it was agreed that in future, the  team bus parking at finishes would be placed as close as possible to finishes, as usual, but where various options were available, the one closest to the press room would be taken. Also that an effort would be made to ensure that press had access to the zone mixte and the number of invités blocking the finish area would be reduced.

Conclusion: It was agreed to keep open the lines of communication between the Vuelta and AIJC for what has become a very productive working relationship.

In order to ensure the best working conditions to race officials, UCI Commissaires officiating at the Tour de France will not address the media, even in exceptional circumstances.

If approached, officials will direct media to the race communique.

If further explanations are required, UCI Communications team will respond to the journalists. Instructions in that sense have been passed on to Commissaires Panel and to the organisers.

By doing so, media will be appropriately accommodated while commissaires will be focused on their sole and essential task: judging the race.

The AIJC will send to all their members the numbers of the persons of the UCI communicationsdepartment.

Raymond Kerckhoffs and Stephen Farrand gave this presentation. They worked together on this subject with the editors of The Outerline.

You can download the presentation slides here.

On November 23rd the AIJC held its annual meeting with Unipublic to discuss improvements for the working conditions for the media in the Vuelta a España. Alasdair Fotheringham represented the AIJC, whilst Laura Cueto, Unipublic press officer, and Sergio Fernández from the Unipublic Production department, were present for the Vuelta a España.

The Vuelta continues to set a great example for many other races. Notable improvements this year included the new mobile press tent, both practical in itself and which allows for a degree of access to difficult summit finishes for the media which enabled us all to work more efficiently, and, therefore, produce more reports and photographs on the race. The new media guide is another big new plus, as are the press department Wattsapp group for the media (an innoviation to be extended to French and English next year) the results on-line, the history section of the Vuelta, and the much improved Internet service.

Amongst the key areas that need revising, however, are the shuttle system for difficult finishes, the printed out results, the parking at starts, and the rest day press rooms.

There are numerous areas that now function smoothly in the Vuelta and did not need any discussion: these include accreditation, signalling to the Grand Depart press room and permanence, press`parking at finishes, catering and water supplies in the pressroom, press conferences, signalling (in general), the website and Radio Vuelta. It was also agreed that the overall winner’s final press conference would continue to be on the evening of the second last stage of the race.

History section: finally, we have the return of the history section on the Vuelta’s webpage, a long-standing request. Many thanks.

Results on line: these appear now as fast as they are published, and with the new improved Internet, access is much improved.

New media guide: an innovation for which we have to thank Laura Cueto, and which is a) well put together b) informative c) easy to use. Please continue!

Internet: a little wobby in the first week, after which it worked very well. The fact that it is free of charge is an example that other Grand Tours would do well to follow.

Wattsapp group for journalists: a new idea that works well and which contains much useful information in Spanish about changes to starts, finishes, transfers, etctera. This will be extended into French and English in 2018 and journalists will be asked when they get accreditation which Wattsapp group they wish to belong to.

New mobile Vuelta pressroom: overall, this has proved a resounding success, allowing the journalists and photographers much greater access to tricky summit finishes like Los Machucos and Calar Alto. Without it, and in both these cases, working there in the very difficult weather conditions would have been even tougher than it proved to be. Then in Madrid, the new mobile Vuelta pressroom allowed journalists to be very close to the finish line and podium area. Overall the facilities offered inside were of excellent quality, and we will welcome its return in the years to come, but there are some improvements to be made.
1. The televisions need moving to somewhere where they are not overshadowed by the bright lights.
2. More mobile toilets needed outside.
3. In one or two finishes, notably Los Machucos, with so many journalists present, there just wasn’t enough space. The Vuelta is getting too successful!

Other areas in need of revision

Shuttles: this was one area which needs much more detailed information beforehand, in all languages and sooner, and Unipublic agreed to provide it in the Wattsapp groups next year.

Route book needs revising, with possible adaptions from other race route book guides. Discussions to be continued year on year.

Parking at starts: Press avant and press arriere systems, introduced rather haphazardly last year, still need further revising. Any last minute changes to their locations following discussions with local start organisers and police will be communicated via the Wattsapp groups run by the press department, ideally the day before.

Transfers to finish: it was agreed that the route alternatif would have its own indicating arrows next year.

Rest Day Press Rooms: Unipublic commented that on the first rest day the press room was not used by a single journalist. It was agreed that in subsequent years the press room for rest days would be reviewed on a case-by-case scenario, basically studying the logistics, or if there were other reasons why and when it should remain open. It was also agreed that if the press room was closed on a rest day then a ‘mobile permanence’ would be opened so journalists could have somewhere to pick up accreditations or deal with other questions arising like needing new stickers for the car.

Press room schedules: it was agreed to maintain the press room opening times from 12 midday to 2100 with the exception of when the mobile press room was used, in which case it would close at 2030 given the logistical complications of dismantling it. If however, there was an exceptional reason for the press room to remain open, such as a press conference or a breaking news story, then it would remain open til 2100.

Pressroom truck interview video conference. The sound quality of some of the questions and answers, notably in the first week and the third, was very poor in the press room. This needs revising.

Zone mixte media: Attempts were made to set up a zone mixte for flash questions at the finish for the written press, but with very mixed results. It was agreed to try to improve on this, but that under no circumstances would it replace the traditional ‘sit-down’ press conference held later on for all the written press.

Printed results: it was agreed that with the much-improved new Internet service and the access to all the documents from each stage – medical, commissaires, secondary classifications – that the only results delivered in printed format would be the stage results and the overall classification. However, Unipublic agreed that the service for handing over these results would be reviewed next year, given the printed results service operated very unevenly last September.

Accreditations: The Vuelta promised to look harder at the question of race accreditations for journalists. There are still, in the AIJC’s opinion, work to be done on establishing a clear difference between professional and amateur journalists on the race and preventing the latter from gaining access to the race.

Accreditation deadline: Unipublic requested that the deadlines for accreditation be respected more rigorously by the media. They said exact dates will be published on the website.

Conclusion: It was agreed to keep open the lines of communication between the Vuelta and AIJC for what has become a very productive working relationship, with big improvements year-on-year in working conditions.

It’s been 2 short years since Mark Gunter died after a very short battle with an aggressive cancer. His wife Leeanne Gatien, teamed up with CyclingTips last year to start the Mark Gunter Photographer of the Year Awards. 2016 was a success with so many inspiring images entered from all over the world, and all money raised was donated to help cure cancer, to young cyclist assistance, and to start an education fund for Mark & Leeanne’s son Lucas, who is now 3 years old.

As a fellow AIJC Press member, you’re invited to enter now and save! Simply enter the coupon code AIJC15 and enter by 7th December to pay only AUD$15 for 3 images. Enter now! You can enter anytime till the Awards close on the 4th January, 2018 (Sydney time), you’ll just pay the AUD$25 entry fee for up to 3 images.
Last year the Photographer of the Year in the Professional category, was Wouter Roosenboom from the Netherlands, followed by Bryn Lennon (UK), and Jack Chevel (US). Congratulation to you all. See more of the last year’s winning images here.

This year’s Awards have just launched and you’re invited to enter. All the money raised, is being donated to help cure cancer and to Young Cyclists development. Find out more here and see the attached Press Release.
So go on – enter now and be a part of the 2017 Mark Gunter Photographer of the Year Awards. You’ll be honouring Mark’s life and his passion, and help cancer sufferers, and young cyclists worldwide.
Thank you and good luck!

ENTER NOW https://cyclingtips.typeform.com/to/Q8mTIw
DONATE NOW https://donate.grassrootz.com/acrf/2017-mark-gunter-photographer-of-the-year-awards
PRIZES TO BE WON https://cyclingtips.com/2017-mark-gunter-photographer-year-awards-prizes/
LAST YEARS WINNERS https://cyclingtips.com/2017/01/winners-announced-2016-mark-gunter-photographer-of-the-year-awards/