Introduction

Abstract

Professional road cycling is one of the oldest professional sports. Throughout the twentieth century it gathered a steady following in some core European countries like France, Belgium, Italy, and Spain. In spite of the problems professional road cycling currently faces, such as financial distress, internal conflicts of interest, and doping, the sport continues to grow in the twenty-first century with increasing media attention across the world, especially in Anglo-Saxon and Asian markets. Although from a worldwide point of view, cycling is still a relatively small and commercially underdeveloped sport, academic interest in the sport started to grow slowly in the past decade. This volume provides the first comprehensive survey of research that is focused on professional road cycling, and it offers a valuable insight into the current overall state of sports economists' understanding of the sport. The first chapter serves as an introduction to the book, and it provides a general description of the contents of the various chapters.