The event pitted four of pro cycling’s stars against each other, but whatever potential it had is lost in obscure objectives and a costs controversy.
With three of the top stage racers in the world in attendance, the Andorra Cycling Masters should’ve drawn crowds more like the Tour de France, but it wasn’t to be.
Cor Vos
A recent pro cycling event had all the ingredients for great racing and drama. It featured two-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard and his archrival, four-time Tour winner and all-galaxy talent Tadej Pogačar. It also included an elder statesman of the sport and one of its most enigmatic quote machines, Primož Roglič, as well as one of its most exciting rising stars, Isaac del Toro.
In a twist, the race was rider-to-rider, so Del Toro and Pogačar being trade teammates on UAE Team Emirates-XRG didn’t (in theory) matter. Instead, the student got another chance to see how he stacks up against the master. Just four riders and an open road.
But if you hoped to watch the Andorra Cycling Masters, there were only two choices: head to Andorra to catch it in person, or wait for a planned documentary, with details very much TBD.
I say “very much” because the exact plans for said documentary aren’t known, and in the days following the event, media in Andorra and Spain have covered a growing controversy over its cost and the transparency – or what critics say is a lack of it – Andorra Turisme is offering on the project.
At the TdF Saitama Criterium, only the vibes are real, but that’s enough
What better way to spend a Sunday than watching some real/fake bike racing?
Numerous media reports put the cost of the event at €1.2 million, and appearance fees for the four riders supposedly made up half that (organizers would not confirm the rider fee figure). That’s pretty nice work if you can get it, but here’s the twist: Jordi Torres, minister of tourism and commerce for Andorra, declined to publicly confirm the budget, citing confidentiality clauses in the contract with promoter IPG Mediabrands and with Wakai, the Spanish sports agency and media production company behind the planned documentary.
Some Andorran politicians, including from left-wing party Concòrdia, have criticized the lack of transparency around the spending, and although officials will reportedly be provided with the project budget, Torres reminded them that they’re not allowed to share it publicly. Even in a low-tax country, that doesn’t sit well with residents concerned about the high and rising cost of living.
All that might be the stuff of local politics, except that it involved some of the sport’s biggest stars in an event that was almost impossible to watch, so you might be curious what the whole thing was all about.
Ostensibly, the event is about promoting Andorra as a tourism destination. “Our ambition was to create a one-of-a-kind event that merges sport, spectacle and narrative,” wrote Emma Coll, a PR representative with Andorra Turisme, in an email response to Escape Collective. Further, the plan is “to share it with a global audience through leading international streaming platforms.”
OK, let’s take that from the top.
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