29: Pro Cyclists- Commissioned Artists or Employees?

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The team discusses recent cycling headlines involving professional cyclists Andrew Talansky and Jessica Varnish. This leads to an insightful discussion on the dynamics of professional cyclists as artists vs. employees.

American pro cyclist Andrew Talansky revealed his thoughts to CyclingNews at a Cannondale training camp on Monday about the state of professional cycling and why he thinks it’s not garnering enough popularity in the states, “Whatever the UCI rule that exists that prohibits World Tour riders from doing local US races is killing cycling in the US,” Talansky spoke passionately about his thoughts on racing locally stating,

The reason I want to race local races is because of what it brings to the race. It brings in sponsors, money and it sells out fields and helps those local races that help someone like me, get to where I am now. When you take away our ability to do that, then it kills cycling at the core… We want to help US cycling come back to where it was. Nevada City used to draw every big name and now I’m not even allowed to do it.

We talk about our thoughts on his statement and how that might affect Southern California cyclists.

We also discuss Jessica Varnish being dropped by the Great Britain Cycling Team and her allegations against Shane Sutton sparks a conversation about the role of the athlete within the sport. Whether or not the allegations are true, we discuss if we think that the athlete should be able to speak publicly about the internal workings of the team, and more. Should athletes be considered the same as artists?

Announced Events
April 30th Events
May 1st Events
May 7th Events
LAVRA Monday Night Sprints Monday, May 02
Los Angeles Bicycle Festival Sunday, May 08

Show Links
Talansky: UCI rules are hurting US grassroots racing
Jess Varnish hits out at ‘culture of fear’ inside British Cycling
Cyclist Jess Varnish says Shane Sutton told her to ‘go and have a baby’
British Cycling’s Shane Sutton suspended over alleged comments on Paralympians

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