by Zach Bigalke

Created on: June 23, 2007

In two weeks, the marquee event of the cycling calendar kicks off in London. Long removed from its humble inception in 1903, the 94th edition of the Tour de France has blossomed into one of the world's greatest sporting spectacles. Started as a promotion for a French daily sports newspaper, the Tour de France has grown into a month-long parade throughout France and Europe. Viewers in well over a hundred nations will be glued to television sets to witness the two-hundred cyclists battle for the yellow, green, white and polka-dot jerseys awarded to the top competitors.

While the current incarnation of the Tour de France bears little resemblance to its forbears, one facet of the race remains constant. The race organizers, Amaury Sport Organization, continue to place greater emphasis on revenue streams and marketing opportunities than on the health of the sport of cycling. Begun as a marketing ploy, the race continues to exploit every available channel for revenue generation regardless of its effect on the sport as a whole.

And though the race will surely offer the best that cycling has to offer, it will do so without a former winner of the green points jersey and a team unjustly relegated to the sidelines despite its seeming membership in the league of elite teams. To see the organizer of the preeminent race battle the efforts of the International Cycling Union (UCI) to codify the sport and attract new sponsorship and fans is to witness an organization bent on getting its way at all costs.

The UCI ProTour, an elite league composed of the best cyclists, the strongest teams and the hardest races, is now in its third year of existence thanks to the efforts of former UCI president Hein Verbruggen. With the World Cup calendar of one-day classics dissolving at the end of the 2004 season, Verbruggen recognized the potential to crown the greatest cyclist throughout the racing calendar. Where the World Cup only rewarded those warriors of cobbles and long miles with explosive finishing sprints, the ProTour aims to reward the best all-around riders. Compiling results from stage races, classics and grand tours, former winners Danilo Di Luca and Alejandro Valverde were rewarded for their yearlong efforts and successes.

Comprised of twenty teams since its creation, the ProTour was formed with the goal of ending the revolving-door sponsorship of the past in favor of solid financial support from a select number of dedicated sponsors. Because each team is guaranteed entry at

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