Tom Bachmann, dpa
Antonia Niedermaier was fortunate to have been born relatively late. “I timed it just right. I came straight into this well-established system,” says the 23-year-old, speaking about how she got started in cycling.
Niedermaier has been involved since 2021, and the development that women’s cycling has undergone since then can, without exaggeration, be described as rapid. Minimum wages, the return of the Tour de France, greater TV coverage and a massive professionalisation of the structures. Instead of waiting for the race to start on a folding chair in the sun outside the camper van, riders now sit in an air-conditioned coach.
Limited quality
So, is everything fine? It’s not quite that simple – and this is currently evident from the World Championships taking place in Montreal. There, the Germans have several medal hopefuls in Niedermaier, Franziska Koch and Liane Lippert. “But it’s not as though we have an endless supply of talent,” says national coach André Korff.
Instead of the six riders who could have been selected, the German Cycling Federation has entered only five. That is all they currently have amongst the world’s elite. The German team has the advantage in Montreal that the very demanding 180-kilometre route suits the riders’ strengths.
The German dilemma also highlights the ground that the sport still has to make up. Improvements are coming from the top, but the grassroots base is still too weak. A minimum salary was introduced in 2020 – though only for the WorldTour, where jobs are limited. This has risen annually and now stands at around 40,000 euros per year for salaried female riders. Self-employed riders receive at least 60,000 euros. Generally speaking, annual incomes of several hundred thousand euros are possible – for the very best.
The problem with the second division
“Cycling needs to grow everywhere. In our sport, you’re either in the WorldTour or you’re nowhere,” criticises Koch. The 26-year-old stresses that there must be no gap between riders who earn good money and those who ride without a minimum wage. The problem is that these stark differences already exist.
The UCI, the world cycling federation, is trying to counter this. Last year, a second professional league – the ProTeams – was introduced, but it has yet to come into its own. However, the minimum salary is only 20,000 euros a year. This is a marked difference from the WorldTour.
The attention paid to women’s cycling has increased enormously in recent years. The Tour de France and Paris–Roubaix attract large audiences, and as live broadcasts become more widespread, visibility is increasing, and with it the value to sponsors.
A strong new generation
In the past, this meant that the infrastructure developed faster than the sport itself. The calendar became more extensive, without there being enough female riders of the required standard. This situation is gradually changing.
“It’s getting harder and harder to win races,” says Lippert. The 28-year-old remembers how things used to be in her sport. “When we were juniors, we tended to train however we fancied. These days, young riders are very professional; they follow a nutrition plan and go on high-altitude training camps.”
A development that is heading in the right direction. Professionalisation is measurable, but it has not yet taken hold across the board. Measures must take effect, above all, below the WorldTour level. The crucial question, therefore, will no longer be simply whether and to what extent there is growth, but who exactly benefits from it. After all, sustainable growth is determined at the grassroots level – otherwise the elite at the top will remain a small, exclusive group.
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