It will take time to close the gender pay gap in cycling

Just days after the completion of the 2017 edition of the Tour de France, The Daily Mail, an English newspaper, exposed the huge pay gaps between professional male and female cyclists.

The headline said it all. The men received over £2 million ($3.2m) compared to £24,500 ($40,000) for women.

The article ran just weeks after the BBC uncovered a huge gender pay gap between their top stars.

Gender pay disparity is a very topical issue across the globe. It is seen as society undervaluing women and remains a serious blight, impacting most cultures.

Women’s treatment in sport has always been a function of wider gender inequality in society. Women have in the past suffered from fewer opportunities to play sport, had to endure poorer facilities, were objectified on the field and had inadequate coaching.

Pay inequality just adds another limb to the constant problems that women face in sport. Who can forget the then world number one tennis player Novak Djokovic commenting that male tennis players deserves more money because the spectators love them more?

Times are changing. The US Tennis Open was the first tennis major to introduce equal pay among the sexes in 1973. It then took 28 years for another grand slam tournament to breach the glass ceiling and bring the prize money for men and women into alignment.

Now all four grand slams have introduced pay equity.

So it was not surprising that The Daily Mail splashed across their pages the huge prize money disparity between the men and the women that participated at the Tour de France and women’s La Course.

The men’s prize money for the Tour de France was around £2 million while the women’s race, La Course, was less than a measly £25,000 or around 1.25 per cent of what male cyclists received.

Cadel Evans warming up during Stage 20 of TDF in 2011

While the article was factually correct, it was far from being balanced. The journalist at The Daily Mail only zeroed into one factor behind the huge gap – women only race over two stages compared to 21 stages for the men.

But there are other factors behind the disparity that were not pursued. These include limited media coverage, low income from broadcast rights and limited sponsorship dollars.

After the La Course race, Britain’s Lizzie Deignan from team Boels Dolmans, ‘who was the top earner with £8,500, complained the women were made to feel like “a bit of an afterthought” by ASO, the organisers of both races.

‘At first I was like “what are we a circus?”,’ said Deignan to The Daily Mail. She went on to tell The Daily Mail that “there needs to be changes in modern cycling. We got exposure today but it’s not where it needs to be – behind the scenes, in terms of logistics, we were left wondering what was going to happen at times but I enjoyed the crowds. It’s not something we get that often.”

The journalist missed the point of the quotes from Deignan, which were targeted at the new course and the number of stages being increased to two. Many women participants were not impressed that the course was moved away from the Champs-Élysées where they were welcomed by huge crowds and extended media coverage.

Deignan comments were less about the wage or prize money parity, but more to do about the course.

These two issues are common problems in women cycling. In fact, women cyclists on the professional circuit have been asking for three things for a long time: the same course as the men, the same media coverage and financial parity.

Unfortunately there is no minimum wage that need to be met by UCI-registered women’s team. This is likely to be the case for several years while the UCI continues to improves its racing calendar and ensuring there is more stable financial base for teams and race organisers. The UCI does, however, set minimum prize money for sanctioned events, which is also substantially less than men’s races.

As Anne-Marije Rook pointed out in her 2016 article in CyclingTips, an online cycling journal, unless you are a high provide female athlete like Marianne Vos, the majority of female cyclists on the WorldTour support themselves with a part-time job, a supportive spouse and/or frugal living.

The Daily Mail is part of the problem, not the solution by shining a blowtorch just on pay disparity.

If the paper really wants to help close the financial gap than it should become an advocate for women’s cycling and provide comprehensive coverage of female cycling events on its main pages. But like most media companies, to often its cycling commentary is an afterthought and a poor second cousin to its comprehensive football and cricket coverage.

Everyone recognises that there is a gap in prize money, and it needs to closed. Everyone knows that female need to be better paid. But it will take time.

The last couple of years has seen some positive movements in the prize money of women’s cycling.

The Prudential RideLondon Classique offered prize money of €100,000, the richest race in the women’s cycling calendar. Likewise, the women’s Tour de Yorkshire is one of the most lucrative races on the women’s race calendar, and according to The Guardian, the 2016 winner received a larger purse than the male winner.

Unfortunately, it is not replicated across the women’s WorldTour calendar. The winner’s purse from the RideLondon Classique was more than 20 times the amount received by the winner of the 2017 Giro Rosa, which is a ten stage event.

What makes the difference between the UK races and the other WorldTour races that have poor prize purses? It comes down to the UK races having a naming sponsor as well as receiving comprehensive live TV coverage, both on Eurosport and free to air.

Unfortunately the majority of women’s cycling events do not have these income streams.

Forcing the cycling event organisers to introduce pay equality now is likely to have a detrimental impact on female cycling and reverse the gains that have been made since the introduction of the women’s WorldTour calendar.

With the lack of sponsorship and broadcast income for most female events, the profits of most race organisers will be reduced if pay equity is enforced or they could even make a financial loss, placing both male and female events into jeopardy.

The UCI and event organisers are aware they need to put prize money for women on a par with men’s racing. Achieving this will require increased media coverage and more commercial investment. Exactly what the UK races have in their favour. However, if race organisers can provide an extra hour of television coverage for each of the women’s WorldTour events it will open up new markets for business to invest.

The likes of The Daily Mail could also increase their coverage of all women event on the WorldTour. Not just ad hoc gender pay disparity articles.

Female cyclists are no doubt aspiring to achieve the same pay outcome as their tennis sporting colleagues. It took world tennis decades to achieve this. Cycling will be no different.

Race organisers are not in a position to deliver on these aspirations immediately. There is no magic pudding. Improving the attraction for the rapidly developing women’s cycling scene to obtain live TV coverage will take time.

Increased media coverage will show just how exciting women’s cycling is and then the commercial investment will follow. Suddenly we will see the gender pay gap start to narrow.

It is a competition, not a gentlemanly ride around France

It has taken exactly one Grand Tour for cycling’s so-called ‘unwritten rules’ to be thrust back into the headlines.


It seems that some riders of the peloton have learnt nothing from the Giro d’Italia that finished only months before.

The controversy this time involved an attack by Fabio Aru during Stage 9 at the same time Chris Froome had a mechanical and required a bike change. The attack was short-lived as it was quickly shut down by Richie Porte and others. In fact, it appeared that when Porte caught up to Aru, he told him to show some respect for the yellow jersey.

An admirable act at the time by Porte, given that Froome was his main rival.

Again the unwritten rules came into focus at a Grand Tour. According to these rules, riders must wait for the rider wearing the yellow jersey if they have a mechanical, crash or some other misfortune.
Porte and other riders enforced the rule to nullify Aru’s attack.

Aru naturally told waiting journalists that he did not see Froome put up his hand to indicate he had a mechanical. It did not stop the finger pointing. Froome later told journalists “we will have to see what Aru has to say about it”.

He also said “I’ll certainly ask him about it when I see him.”

While Froome was said to be downplaying the incident, other riders were not impressed with the unsportsmanship behaviour shown by Aru. Porte commented that, “this isn’t the moment to attack the yellow jersey when he’s changing his bike”. Simon Yates also told journalists after the stage “I think it’s a dirty move. I don’t like what he did but it’s a bike race and he can do what he wants.”

As the media storm brewed after Stage 9, I started to think that the riders forgot what happened to Tom Dumoulin at the Giro d’Italia. Riders attacked him when he had a violent attack of diarrhoea and stopped for a nature break while he was wearing the pink jersey.

Vincenzo Nibali summed it up well after the Dumoulin incident when he said, “I’m very straightforward. I never expect anybody to wait for me when I stop. Many times, I’ve fallen or punctured and just set off again.”

There are countless other examples where riders have attacked the leader when they had a mechanical fault, such as Alberto Contador’s attack on Andy Schleck during the 2010 Tour.

So why did Aru have to defend his tactics or actions? It is a competitive bike race.

These unwritten rules came into effect at a time when cycling races were amateur or the prize money was almost non-existent. The sport has changed significantly since then.

Now the prize money is substantial for the rider that finishes at the top of the podium (€500,000 winners purse in 2017). Winning sets up the rider financially for the rest of their career. In addition, some of the prize money is also distributed to the rest of the team, including riders and team personnel.

To win a Grand Tour requires a superhuman effort. A rider must withstand significant mental pain and physical stress on their bodies. Their cycling equipment needs to endure all types of conditions.
They need to prove they are the best rider, the fastest rider and also the rider with the best equipment. But that is not all, they have to stay healthy for three weeks and keep their bike upright in different conditions.

The final descent into Chambéry on Stage 9 illustrated the importance of having good bike handling skills, after several riders came down in treacherous conditions.

Secondly, cycling seems to be the only sport that requires participants to wait for the race leader when they have a mechanical or a crash. Have you ever seen a Formula One or a Supercars race where competitors circle the course slowly while the leader returns to the pits to get a new car after a mechanical fault or crash?

The answer is no because to win the race you need the perfect car setup as well as being a very good driver. In fact, race teams employ the best engineers to help get an advantage over other teams regarding car step up.

So if it does not happen in motor racing, why does it continue to persist in cycling? Also, why do only some riders enforce this rule?

It is time to banish this unwritten rule to the rubbish bin once and for all. Cycling’s governing body need to interject and outlaw the behaviour to provide certainty to riders when this situation arises in future races.

There is clear evidence that not all riders follow the rule and they will attack the leader. Just like Aru did. And before him Nibali, Nairo Quintana and Ilnur Zakarin at the Giro. Riders should not be placed at a disadvantage all because the race leader has some type of mishap.

Others will think that this practice is unsportsmanlike. But team leaders are not protected like this in one-day races. So why should Grand Tours be any different?

The team leader does, after all, have eight other riders in their team to support them in their quest to return to the peloton.

Post first appeared in Roar Sport. http://www.theroar.com.au/2017/07/12/competition-not-gentlemanly-ride-around-france/

Giro d’Italia: Poor sportsmanship or just changing times?

It has been another exciting and riveting Giro d’Italia. With one stage to go, there are four riders within one minute of each other. The decisive factor will be an individual time trial.

But it also been a race clouded in controversy.

With the Giro entering its last week, Tom Dumoulin was in the maglia rosa (pink jersey) with Vincenzo Nibali and Nairo Quintana breathing down his neck.

What came next was either poor sportsmanship or straight out professionalism.

After the descent of the Stelvio on stage 16, Dumoulin was left by the side of road stranded after a sudden and violent episode of diarrhoea forced an emergency nature break. Rather than slowing down for Dumoulin to catch up, Quintana, Nibali and Ilnur Zakarin attacked, leaving Dumoulin to struggle up the Umbrail Pass by himself.

Despite Dumoulin’s misfortune, he managed to hang onto the maglia rosa by the time he finished the stage in Bormio. However, his 2 minute 41 second lead was significantly cut.

Quintana, Nibali and Zakarina showed no respect for pro-cycling’s age-old ‘unwritten rule’. The leader of the general classification (GC) is afforded the luxury of the peloton waiting for him (or her) when there is a mechanical, crash or other misfortune.

(Photo: Team Sky)

Twitter lit up and the commentary team on Eurosport debated the actions of the riders.

It did not seem to perturb Nibali, the eventual stage winner, when he faced the media. As he explained to journalists, “I’m very straightforward. I never expect anybody to wait for me when I stop. Many times, I’ve fallen or punctured and just set off again.”

Nibali went on to say, “I don’t know, maybe we could distort cycling and have a referee who stops the race in front and behind … I don’t know what to say. This is my opinion, even if many people might attack me for saying this.”

Nibali might be right. What he did not say was whether any of these events occurred when he was wearing the maglia rosa or maillot jaune.

What was even more surprising, it came after an amazing act of sportsmanship earlier on the stage.

King of the Mountain (KOM) jersey holder Omar Fraile let Astana cyclist Luis Leon Sanchez take the KOM on the Cima Scarponi (top of the Mortirolo) in honour of his fallen teammate, Michele Scarponi, who was killed before the Giro.

It was an act of kindness that left Fraile in second spot on the virtual KOM points tally after the Mortirolo climb. But sometimes, honouring the memory of someone is more important than a jersey. Fraile would end up losing the KOM jersey to Team Sky’s Mikel Landa by the day’s end.

Quintana, Nibali and Zakarin were not punished by the race organisers, as it is an ‘unwritten rule’. But it is one that has been honoured by the peloton for decades.

Quintana’s behaviour seemed the oddest of the three. He seemingly forgot that it was Dumoulin who instructed the peloton to go slow when he crashed on the descent of the Miragolo di San Salvatore only days earlier.

There have been countless examples of riders instructing the peloton to ‘go slow’ while the GC leader caught up after an incident. Probably the most famous was when Jan Ullrich waited for Lance Armstrong on Luz Ardiden after Armstrong was brought down by a spectator during the 2003 Tour de France. Ullrich was repaying Armstrong after he waited for Ullrich two years earlier when the German crashed.

Cycling’s complex etiquette also extends to not penalising riders that are in contention for a race win. Who will forget during the 2012 Tour de France, when Bradley Wiggins controlled and slowed the peloton to allow Cadel Evan (the winner in the previous year) to catch up after he suffered three flat tyres in one kilometre due to tacks thrown on the roadside.

Not everyone in the peloton has followed this etiquette. During stage 15 of the 2010 Tour de France, Alberto Contador snatched the yellow jersey away from Andy Schleck after the latter suffered a mechanical fault. On the final climb of the day, Contador attacked just as Schleck dropped his chain, allowing the Spaniard to gain valuable seconds over his main rival.

Quintana has been caught up in his own controversy with the Giro. During the 2014 race, Quintana attacked somewhere around the top of the Stelvio, when there was confusion around whether the descent of the Stelvio was neutralised. Some riders and teams followed the advice. Not Quintana, who by the end of the stage, unhitched the maglia rosa from Rigoberto Uran and established a commanding lead.

(Image: Team Sky)

Unfortunately for the sport’s purists, the gentlemanly act of respecting the leader’s jersey may have just been thrown onto the scrap heap. It seems that professionalism has won out over this time-honoured etiquette.

Cycling is no different to any other professional sport – it is a business.

Sponsors throw large amounts of money to have their name blazed across a cycling team’s jersey. They want to see it on the finish line, and also on the maglia rosa or maillot jaune. Riders stopping could mean the difference between coming first or second. A team could miss out on a substantial amount of prize money or bonuses if their riders decide to wait.

Unfortunately, the financial resources attached to the sport are significantly more today than when this honourable code started to take shape.

While sportsmanship may have been the real loser after stage 16 of the Giro, it’s time for everyone, including riders, commentators and the fans, to recognise that this is an ‘unwritten rule’ that’s losing relevance in today’s professional environment. Riders are now less likely to abide by it and no amount of discussing it will change that.

Nevertheless, when the dust settles on this issue, I am sure that the peloton will not forget. Nibali, Quintana and Zakarin better hope that they do not suffer any misfortune in the future, as the peloton will not be rushing to do them any favours.

This post originally appeared on Roar Sport - http://www.theroar.com.au/2017/05/29/giro-ditalia-poor-sportsmanship-just-changing-times/

Let’s not forget what the long game is for Australian cycling

The Australian Cycling Team’s performance at the recent World Track Championships in Hong Kong resembled the old days where Australia was feared and seen as a genuine threat to other countries’ chances of standing on the top spot of the dais.

After the five days of competition, Australia topped the medal count with 11 medals (three gold, five silver and three bronze).  The nearest competitor was France with five.  Australia smashed the competition like they did in Melbourne in 2012 when they topped the medal tally with 15.   

What was even more surprising about the performance of the Australian team was the immediate rebound from a disappointing performance at the Rio Olympics when they came away with only two medals (silver and a bronze) and sat in equal 13th spot with Poland.

Expectations of success in Hong Kong would not have been overly high.

Australia had only appointed a new High Performance Manager in Simon Jones and the ink on Australia’s blueprint for success at the Tokyo Olympics would have only been drying. The team had a number of new fresh faces and there was no Anna Meares. There was also a rider defection to Russia.   

So to top the medal count was nothing short of outstanding. There were a couple of factors in Australia’s favour.  Our greatest nemesis, Great Britain, was missing both Jason Kenny and Laura Trott (now Kenny) and Great Britain was still in damage control from the bullying scandal that led to the scalp of Shane Sutton, British Cycling’s Technical Director.     

It has been a very promising start to Simon Jones’ tenure at Cycling Australia.  It was not totally unsurprising given his motivation and background.  He told New Corp on his appointment that “I’m here to win. I’m not here to get the T-shirt or a sun tan,”.

But Simon Jones’ overall key performance indicators must rebuild and guide the Australian cycling team towards a successful 2020 Tokyo Olympics.  Failure like at the London and Rio Olympics cannot be tolerated again.   

While success at international events boost morale and may help to intimidate competition, from a strategic planning point of view there is a question as to why Australia sought to do so well.  It is almost 12 months to the next significant international event, 2018 World Track Championships in Apeldoorn (Netherlands) just prior to the 2018 Commonwealth Games.  Australia’s track cyclists must now continue to remain focussed as they have sent a signal to the other competitors exactly where they stand in terms of times achieved and which Australian cyclists to watch.  

England will bounce back strongly at the Commonwealth Games that start in April 2018.  Great Britain traditionally gives nothing away at events which are over 12 months away from a major international event like the Olympics or Commonwealth Games.  At the 2015 World Cycling Track Championships, England only won three medals.  Wind the clock forward 12 months and Great Britain dominated the 2016 World Track Championships with 16 medals.  They went on to reign over the competition in Rio.  

While success at Hong Kong will be a huge uplift in the morale of Australian cyclists, Cycling Australia cannot lose sight of the long game. And that is the Tokyo Olympics.  

Under the Australian Sports Commission’s ‘Winning Edge’ strategy, the key benchmark for the allocation of funding over a four-year cycle is success at the Olympics.  Therefore, topping the medal tally at a World Championships three years out from the next Olympics will do little to ensure much additional funding from the Australian Government for cycling events.   

The Olympics must remain part of Cycling Australia’s pivotal strategic planning to ensure podium appearances at benchmark events including the 2018 Commonwealth and 2020 Olympic Games.  That means Australia must follow more closely the training methods of Great Britain, which ensures its athletes peak at the World Championships in the year of the Commonwealth or Olympic Games. It does not let World Championships in other years be a distraction to its ultimate goal - Olympic glory.

It is also important that Simon Jones, as the new High Performance Manager, does not get focussed on attempting to be successful at every event, but sticks to a strategic plan that centres around peaking at the Commonwealth and the Olympic games.

Podium success at these two events is where the Australian public will judge our cycling athletes and Cycling Australia.  Not at every World Cup or World Championship.  Not to mention that Australian Government funding for Cycling Australia will be ultimately tied to Olympic glory.  

Also published at Roar Sport http://www.theroar.com.au/2017/04/25/lets-not-forget-long-game-australian-cycling/

TV broadcast changes to cycling will hurt the fans

Cycling returns to free to air TV screens tonight with the Tour of Flanders.

This was after cycling fans tuned in to watch cycling’s first ‘Monument’ on SBS, the Milan-San Remo, only to be greeted with the English Premier League and then another movie repeat.

A hop, skip and jump to the study to crank up the computer to stream it on Cycling Central also left many with a blank screen.

The only option to watch the first Spring Classic, or ‘La Classicissima’ was through Eurosport on Foxtel or through some dodgy stream.

This situation will be repeated several times over during this year as SBS has lost the TV rights to several of its regular cycling events, including all the Italian races.

During the Milan-San Remo, SBS’s Mike Tomalaris explained why the channel couldn’t broadcast the event in response to growing fan anger.

No rights to #MSR17 or #Giro100 but #sbscycling will screen everything else in 2017. Italian races can only be viewed on pay TV globally.

— Michael Tomalaris (@miketomalaris) March 18, 2017

Tomalaris also pointed out that SBS wasn’t even given the chance to bid for the event.

The transfer of RCS Sport races (the operators of the Italian races like the Giro and MSR) to pay-TV operator Eurosport was confirmed in an INRNG post.

The article explains that the Giro d’Italia and other RCS races will not be on shown on SBS in Australia any longer. But this pay-TV only model is not just limited to Australia.

Exclusive coverage is not new to cycling or international sport.

SBS has had the exclusive rights to Le Tour de France for years, preventing Eurosport from showing the event to its pay-TV subscribers in Australia.

Losing the TV rights to the Italian races will be tough for SBS.

When the channel lost the EPL broadcasting rights to Fox Sports in 2004, executives were prepared to take the punt to make SBS the home of cycling in Australia.

Cycling fans will be forever grateful for that decision.

SBS has, in the past, televised a large number of UCI World Tour and other road cycling events. It started with Le Tour de France in 1980 and according to its 2016 Annual Report had grown to 17 events, including the two biggest races – il Giro d’Italia and Le Tour de France.

As Australian riders began to win more high profile races in Europe like the Paris to Roubaix, so did the number of races televised by SBS.

By the time Cadel Evans’ won Le Tour in 2011, cycling interest exploded in this country and so did the broadcasting of cycling races.

SBS was suddenly showing all the Grand Tours, the five ‘Monuments’, key one-day races like the Strade Bianchi, Amstel Gold, Fleche Wallone and some key stages races leading up to Le Tour.

But those times are now over unless you have pay-TV.

At the end of February, a Cycling Central podcast announced that SBS had

“..added the German Eschborn-Frankfurt race to complete our Spring coverage which includes the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Amstel Gold, Fleche Wallonne and Liege Bastogne Liege.”

However, since that announcement, the updated Cycling Central schedule on their website is

missing any mention of live coverage of the Fleche Wallonne with a reference to highlights.

These races are fan favourites for Australians, but the Giro d’Italia is going to be the biggest loss for SBS. According to SBS’s 2014 Annual Report, the Giro reached 2.4 million Australians and the live stages averaged 107,000 viewers, an 81 per cent increase on 2013.

In the wash-up, SBS is now left with a weakened and depleted line up of cycling races.

One of SBS’s newly added races – the Eschborn-Frankfurt – appears on the surface to be a ‘network filler.’

SBS has probably overplayed the importance of the race in its marketing material, describing it in as a Spring Classic when even Wikipedia defines the race as a semi-classic.

Many will be asking what the Eschborn-Frankfurt is? It has no historic significance as a cycling race and the race did not even run in 2015. Until this year, it was on the UCI Europe Tour calendar.

Apart from Phil Anderson in 1984 and 1985, no other Australians have featured on the podium. It entails just a city loop race around Frankfurt am Main area rather than meandering through the beautiful historic towns of northern Italy or even southern France.

While it’s hard to criticise SBS for losing the rights to many of its flagship events, the communication of the announcement could have been handled better.

Comments in the INRNG article and on social media show many Australians are still not aware of the significant change in SBS programming.

Lucky pay-TV viewers were treated to fantastic and exciting racing over the last 20 kilometres of the Milan-San Remo.

It’s a huge shame that all Australians could not watch it.

This article was re-produced from Roar Sport - http://www.theroar.com.au/2017/04/02/tv-broadcast-changes-cycling-will-hurt-fans/ 

Why only Swimming Australia?

Australia's cycling program at the 2016 Rio Olympics is winding down with only MTB and BMX remaining.

Our success can only be summed up as extremely disappointing or lackluster with Australian cyclists winning a silver and bronze medal so far.

The only remaining gold medal hope is Caroline Buchanan in the BMX.

The Australian media have put Swimming Australia under the blowtorch with calls for the Board to resign given the lack of success.

As yet, the Board, and CEO, of Cycling Australia has not come under the same scrutiny. Why not?

Cycling's success at these Olympics games has been lower than people's expectations, including the Chef de Mission.

As Britain’ cycling boss said, countries like Australia ‘simply did not show up’.

The lack of success could have ramifications for cycling's future funding levels.

With this in mind, an urgent and independent review of Cycling Australia, including its operations, personnel, governance frameworks, selection policies and funding (how it is allocated, from grassroots to state bodies), is necessary in the wake of Rio.  

This review cannot be left to Cycling Australia and its high performance coaches.A review that must be broader than required by the Australian Sports Commission.

The Australian Government, via the Australian Sports Commission, allocates funding to cycling through the 'Winning Edge program’.

Cycling Australia receives one of the highest funding allocations. In 2015-16, it received around $7.4 million in high performance funding. A figure that has probably been given each year since the last Olympics.

This dwarfs the $600,000 that archery received in 2015-16 where one of its athletes won a bronze medal.

It is arguable that Australia did not get much of a return on its taxpayer funded investment during the Olympics.

Sports funding is not just limited to the performance at one event, whether it is the Olympics, World Championships or the World Cup.

Under the 'Winning Edge’ funding model, the Australian Sports Commission looks at the historical performance as well as future potential to determine future investment in sports.

It is this that will be a worrying problem for Cycling Australia. At the 2015 World Track Cycling Championships, Australia won 11 medals, including four gold. Six of the medals being Olympic events.

Fast forward 12 months and the medal haul at the world champs had fallen to five, including 2 gold. Not that encouraging in the lead up to the Olympics.

The trajectory of success at international track events was trending downwards. The medal haul at the Rio Olympics confirms this trend.

Australia has not fared any better at the UCI Road World Championships.  In 2014, Australia was very successful winning eight medals, including two gold. However, this may have been an aberration as in 2015 Australia only secured a silver and bronze at the Road World Champs.

Australia's cycling programs are struggling against our international sporting counterparts. Particularly, against Team GB which is setting the performance benchmark.

We should not let the opportunity of Australia's poor performance at the Rio Olympics pass without undertaking a full and proper independent review, not just its high performance programs.

Failure to address this issue may not only damage Australia's future international sporting achievements, but also grassroot participation - that is, our future Olympic champions.

Time for SBS to bring an Australian flavour to its Tour de France commentary team

Sport evokes emotion, passion and excitement amongst fans.

Part of this comes from the zest, intensity and enthusiasm of the commentators to draw the viewers in and compelling them to keep watching.

There are many examples where sports commentators are known as the voice of the sport.  Murray Walker in F1, Martin Tyler in football and Ray Warren in rugby league and swimming are some examples.

Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen are two commentators that are known as the voice of cycling or at least the voice of Le Tour de France.

Liggett and Sherwin have been gracing our TV screens for years. According to the NBC Sports website, Liggett has been reporting on the Tour de France for 41 years.  While for Sherwen, 2016 marks the 38th time that he has been in charge of the microphone over the three weeks.

There is a whole generation of cycling fans in Australia that only knows them.

Cyclingtips.com states that Liggett and Sherwen are part of the NBC Sports network to provide commentary for their audience. After an exclusive period ends, Liggett and Sherwen provide commentary for other international networks like SBS.

As part of its 2016 telecast, SBS have added Robbie McEwen and Matthew Keenan to commentate from the moment footage begins to the 50 km mark. Liggett and Sherwen take over from the last 50 kms.

Unfortunately both commentators are getting older and the numbers of commentary errors are increasing each year. Liggett was also very vocal about WADA and USADA pursuit of Armstrong as being a waste of money. Something that may have tarnished his image.

It is difficult to retire from a high profile sport.

Ex-Formula 1 commentator, Murray Walker, after a half a century in the commentary box, said in his press conference:

“I woke up one morning recently and thought: 'That's it, the time has come'. I don't actually want to stop but I've always said I will do so when I'm still ahead with the viewers, rather than wait until there's a general belief that I'm past it. I've had a fantastic time. But we are all human, we all wear out and I'm not getting any younger.”

All good things come to an end.

I believe that it is time for SBS to cast Liggett and Sherwen adrift.

England’s ITV television network replaced Liggett and Sherwen this year with their own commentary team this.

SBS would therefore not be the first to cut Liggett and Sherwen.

Matt Keenan and and ex-pro, Robbie McEwen showed during the Giro d’Italia that they are more than capable of filling their shoes.

They bring a fresh and exciting perspective to pro-cycling combining knowledge and racing insights.

It also must be more costly for SBS have Liggett and Sherwen on its roster given they already have Keenan and McEwan in France as part of their team.

It will be difficult for many fans to see Liggett and Sherwen replaced on our screens.

But a quick scroll through different social media channels shows that people want change.

Change is difficult.

But it is now time for SBS to move with the times, refresh its commentary team and drop Liggett and Sherwen.