With the Brabantse Pijl, the head is off for Flanders Classics and Gent-Wevelgem, the Scheldeprijs and the Tour of Flanders are also getting the green light. CEO Tomas Van Den Spiegel about the financial aspect of the Flemish cycling classics and the cross.
1. With the Brabant Arrow, the head is off and Gent-Wevelgem, the Scheldeprijs and the Tour of Flanders are also getting the green light. To what extent is this an attempt to make your organization suffer as little loss as possible?
“The financial aspect has never been the starting point for organizing our prices in October. This is primarily an attempt to maintain our dignity and to show that we can organize important races that have their place on the calendar. I just called Leo van Vliet from the Amstel Gold Race. It is now falling out. Worse than the financial impact is the feeling that you cannot organize. ”
2. Is the occurrence of these four classics necessary for the financial health of your company?
“I think it’s a very loaded term that is necessary. Of course, Covid-19 and its impact leaves traces on us. Had these races not continued, it would have been a lot worse. Much will also depend on what spring 2021 will look like. We are a stable organization that can take a beating, but this is not sustainable for the long term. Another year should not happen to us. This year we had to place many employees on temporary unemployment. Fortunately, we are now again active in organizing races and soon also the crosses. ”
3. Your cyclo-cross World Cup is not going too well. Five of the eleven crosses have already been canceled.
“There is very little we can do about that. The Dutch authorities, the local authorities and the Swiss authorities do not authorize those crosses. You stand by and look at it. These are five organizations that normally attract a lot of people. Foreign crosses such as Villars and Besançon are carried by the cities. They want to make a big party of it, which is difficult if no people are allowed to come. As long as we still have a decent number of crosses, we have to keep going. It remains important to maintain a cross calendar. ”
4. Quite a few cross organizers complain that the compensation to be allowed to organize is too high for you and the Belgian cycling association.
“About the fee I do not agree with the League, but we have cut ours in half very quickly. There are organizers who still want to pay. ”
5. The Cyclo-cross World Cup will bring you little money this winter, which was the intention.
“This is a false start, but we still have the organization of the World Cup in our hands for a few years. It comes down to offering the best possible range this winter. We’ll see afterwards. ”
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