The cycling is going to change a lot in the next few months and years after COVID 19. Social distancing in cycling will be an issue and not easy to handle.
We still don’t know much about the future of professional races, but it seems quite clear that there are 2 factors that will make it very difficult to be back to the “normality”. One is that the professional peloton is always about 150-180 racers of different teams, most of the time the bunch pedaling very close to each other. The second thing is that cycling is one of the only sports that you can watch live for free. Then, there are many people watching the classics or the Grand Tours stages live, especially the ending. This will not happen until a vaccine for COVID is found. On the other side, it is not easy to prevent the people to attend to theses kind of open-air events. Hard to imagine a 15 km long climb closed with fences.
Now, not just about professional cycling, but also about popular events like the sportives or Granfondos. There are many events open for popular cyclists all over the world. Some of them reaching over 30.000 people attending (yes, 30.000!), but there are many of them with over 5000 or 10000 cyclists. It won’t be possible neither for a while. No masks could prevent any infection among so many people cycling together (and breathing heavily, spitting, etc.).
Worth to mention that during confinement, the indoor cycling raised hugely. Even in Spain (at least) the rollers and indoor trainers were sold out. Amazing how the races in Strava Zwift have been so popular!
Then, what is the near future for amateur cycling? Given the social distancing in cycling, solo riders and solo travelers will be the only unaffected. The cycling business will focus on individuals (private guided tours) or on very small groups and very customized experiences, also away from large hotels and very crowded destinations. Time to be back to nature at remote places. Welcome, another kind of cycling.
