Remember "MyFootballClub" which has bought the Blue Square Premier club Ebbsfleet United? CrowdRiders is basically the same concept, but for cycling instead.
Crowdriders is an initiative to start a professional cycling team with an international crowd of 40.000 cycling enthusiasts. By paying an annual fee CrowdRiders’ members become owners and managers of this professional cycling team having a vote in all the major decisions affecting the cycling team. A team that will participate in some of the biggest and most famous races all over the world!
Among other things CrowdRiders will have a vote in which riders to attract, which races to ride, riders selection, who should be the sports director of the team and what should be the team’s (internal) anti-doping policy. Even the team’s jersey design will be democratically elected.
This approach will make it a truly crowd managed cycling team. YOUR professional cycling team!!
"We all know that wasn't the real footage of the Worlds anyway. That was just the staged footage to perpetuate the coverup that it was actually Vinokourov that won the race."
Crowdriders’ aims at starting in the 2010 season with an annual budget of 4 million euro which is higher than the very competitive and 2008 Tour de France participating teams of Barloworld and Agritubel.
I see what they did there. They mentioned Le Tour, automatically making gullible fools think they'll get an invite no bother.
The other half of the budget will be financed by external shirt, material and website sponsors. They will get no decision power of any sort.
Rubbish, sponsors are the backbone of Pro-cycling. They don't commit willy-nilly, they'll want to set goals or levels to aspire to before they commit.
They want 40,000 members this year. Not going to happen.
They'd be better aiming for 10,000 at most for now and starting as a continental team.
If they managed to reach 10,000 at €55 and for a start in 2011 or 2012, that's €550,000 and that's a nice chunk for a continental team, add on whatever sponsorship they get in addition, it's a start.
Then maybe as the team becomes established, they'd be able to attract further members, increase the budget and move up.
So, in order to actually suceed at anything, they'd be aiming at getting 40.000 members EACH year? Or do they just think a lump sum of money can finance cyclists forever?
I mean for MyFootballClub that was a good idea, but a football club has a regular income... But a cycling team dont really got the same level of income.
I doubt it's possible within UCI's rules, though
