The future of some of Portuguese cycling's biggest races, including the Volta a Portugal, is in doubt after the Portuguese Cycling Federation (FPC) cancelled its contract with race organisers Podium Events a year early.
The deal with Podium Events had been running since 2017 and was due to run until the end of 2026. However, the FPC has now brought an end to the contract, citing "repeated non-compliance with contractual and payment obligations" by the company.
The organisational contract between the FPC and Podium Events covered the main race on the Portuguese cycling calendar, the Volta a Portugal, as well as the early-season Volta ao Alentejo, and the Volta a Portugal do Futuro.
"The Portuguese Cycling Federation (FPC) has decided to terminate, with immediate effect, the concession contract for the organisation and commercial operation of the Volta a Portugal cycling race, signed in 2017 with the company Podium Events," the FPC announced on Tuesday.
The FPC stated that the decision was taken due to "repeated non-compliance with contractual and payment obligations by Podium Events, a situation that worsened over the past year, despite several attempts at amicable resolution promoted by the FPC."
It remains to be seen whether the FPC will run the races in-house in future, or if the federation will instead find a new company to take over the organisational contracts.
The FPC stated that the decision was taken to guarantee "defence of the public interest, of Portuguese cycling as a whole and of the Volta a Portugal itself", adding that "compliance with contractual obligations” is “essential" going forward.
"The FPC will very soon make the necessary decisions regarding the new organisational model for the Volta a Portugal and the other races previously covered by the concession contract," the FPC concluded.
In response, Podium Events released a statement on Facebook. The company highlighted the negative financial effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as calling out the FPC for not doing enough to deal with the various doping scandals which have plagued Portuguese cycling over the years.
"We deeply regret this stance taken by the FPC: pending negotiations regarding the regulation of financial matters in the contract, it has declared the contract terminated on the basis of alleged non-compliance by Podium," the statement read.
"Podium has been organising the Tour of Portugal since 2001, and has been, in a continuous and duly grounded manner, warning the Federation of the profound and irreversible impact that the COVID-19 pandemic and the doping scandals have caused on the economic conditions of the contract
"Despite the inability shown by the FPC to prevent and mitigate the serious problems of doping, evidenced, among other things, by the recently published cases involving Délio Fernández, Venceslau Fernandes and António Carvalho, as well as by the serious allegations made public by José Azevedo at the end of the last edition of Volta, the Federation has kept himself unavailable for constructive dialogue, continuing to ignore this balanced review."
Podium Events stated that the company had asked to meet with the FPC, but wrote that the federation had refused and instead "imposed on Podium an alleged debt that it does not recognise."
"We deeply regret the position taken in the face of the attributable work of the Podium that has still been refrained over the years by the Portuguese Cycling Federation on pertinent issues of sports valuation.
"We reaffirm our commitment to Portuguese cycling, we will continue to work with this incredible modality, with the same dedication and integrity as always, in collaboration with all those who share this purpose and who, like us, are for good."
