Explaining the development of professional cycling in Europe

Christoph Wagner
Université Gustave Eiffel

When it comes to cycling, public opinion is divided: the accusations range from cheats to liars and back; others meanwhile would argue that cheating, i.e., doping, is widespread and not limited to cycling; in fact that the entire sphere of professional sport and even large parts of amateur sports are befallen by drug use and abuse. Another point of argument is that sport is sport and what goes on behind the scenes is irrelevant to the public. However, one of the objectives of this book is to point out the changing shift in public opinion on cycling and the use of medicine.

The book contains a total of eleven chapters, starting, like many big cycling events, with a prologue. While a prologue shuffles the peloton, Connolly uses it as an introduction to outline the structure of the book. The following sections are neither called stage or étape but are simply numbered.

Connolly employs the figurational theoretical framework developed by Norbert Elias and adapted to sports by Eric Dunning. In this framework, societies are seen as dynamic entities in which individuals and groups exercise control over others; in this scenario, power is never held solely by one figure alone but divided among them all. This theory relies heavily on empirical data to support its conclusions. For this reason this approach may be dubbed “historical sociology”. The theory considers society consisting of dynamic relationships – figurations – which are interdependent. Individuals are not isolated but always part of a network of social relations. These provide people and groups with power which can shift over time. As such, society is considered as a fluid and constantly changing and evolving process and not a fixed system. Think of a game of football in which two teams struggle to get hold of the ball and score a goal: it is a constant back and forth if both sides are of the same quality, yet nuances may the decide the encounter.

The Americans are considered twice as outsiders: in their home country, cycling is a niche sport, while in Europe, they are seen as newcomers.

This volume does not strictly follow a historical narrative but looks at different countries in which cycling, professional cycling, was developed very early: France as the cradle of the sport, Belgium the “second” cycling country, and Italy in third place. As a contrast to all three serves Britain, where professional sports was frowned upon: in Britain amateurism was prevalent. The United States are another case study, seen through the lens of outsiders who come to Europe to challenge the status quo. With women’s cycling, one social group is particularly looked upon as gender relations do not only concern cycling but sports and society in general.

Connolly contends that most writing in cycling is focused on individuals and events; his intention is to look at social positions and functions (p. 7). According to him, there are only few sociological works on professional cycling. This underlines the importance of his book. However, the first two chapters in which the histories of cycling in France, Italy and Belgium are being told, can be challenging: it lacks a degree of fluidity. This is being made up for in the latter chapters, which boost many quotations from cyclists on varying topics such as identity, doping and gender.

In collaboration with John Scotson, Norbert Elias conducted a study to research the relations between two groups on one village. The result is the seminal work The Established and the Outsiders (2008) which Connolly applies to the role of professional cyclists from the United States who ply their trade in Europe. The Americans are considered twice as outsiders: in their home country, cycling is a niche sport, while in Europe, they are seen as newcomers. Surely, this idea is also applicable to riders from Africa and to Australian cyclists.

A very interesting part is that which presents the doping problem in cycling. Again, Connolly proceeds historically. What at first were considered ‘stimulants’ soon were labelled doping such as strychnine. While the use of medicine and other substances has never waned, the public perception has changed: those using substances, were considered cheats. As a consequence, those caught were made to feel ashamed. Yet, the quotes provided underline the fact that the public wanted and still wants to see the best of the best riders performing, ignoring that their physical capabilities may be limited, thus creating a demand for the use of “uppers”. Additionally, until a few years ago, riders had to top up their salaries by starting at various criteria, which often were far apart geographically. Connolly quotes at length from the memoirs of Tom Simpson (p. 82), on which he describes going from Italy to France and Belgium within the space of a week – the week following the Tour de France, i.e., after having ridden 20 days in the hardest race. It is therefore unsurprising that the use of drugs was not frowned upon.

“They weren’t embarrassed”, is the summary of Pierre Dumas, the official physician at the Tour de France during the 1950s and 1960s (p. 94) when speaking about the use of morphine. It is indicative of the power relations between cyclists and their employers, i.e., their teams but also their sponsors, the media and the public and not least the official bodies. The cyclists had the least power in this figuration in the 1950s and 60s but with the shrinking importance of said criteria, as wages increased, the power balance has shifted, providing riders with more power, yet not giving them a controlling stake.

In the conclusion Connolly quotes the reliance of figurational sociologists on historians and historical evidence for their research. This brings to mind a quote from Professor Patrick Murphy, made while teaching at the University of Leicester in 2005/06:

Good historical research is being done sociologically and good sociology is being done historically.

This is the book’s achievement: highlighting the forces within professional cycling over the course of a century to come to the present and present how things came to be the way they are today. The book is aimed at everyone with a sociological interest in professional cycling in Europe, at undergraduate and postgraduate level. It requires some patience to go through the initial chapters but rewards the reader with a rich well of quotes and sources for further research.

Copyright @ Christoph Wagner 2025