Javier Guillén, director of the Vuelta a España, has been elected president of the Association Internationale des Organisateurs de Courses Cyclistes (AIOCC) at the body’s General Assembly in Copenhagen, succeeding long‑serving Tour de France boss Christian Prudhomme.
According to Belgian daily DH Les Sports, Guillén marked his first hours in the role by stating in a presentation in French that he is “against paid access to race routes”, setting a clear line in the sport’s intensifying debate over crowd control, security and money. The position aligns with recent statements from Tour organiser ASO, which told La Dernière Heure last week that “cycling is by definition free” and ticket sales “are absolutely not being considered”.
The AIOCC, founded in 1956, unites the organisers of major events from the WorldTour down.
The elections have produced a more rounded mix of race organisers. While Prudhomme’s presidency inevitably gave ASO a symbolic prominence, the new leadership marks a shift toward broader representation. Renzo Oldani, organiser of Tre Valli Varesine, has been re-elected to the board, and Giusy Virelli, linked to the Giro Women, joins the management team – strengthening the voice of Italian one-day races and women’s racing within the organisation.
Safety, money and the limits of free access
Guillén steps into the role after a string of high‑profile incidents that have pushed rider safety and crowd behaviour to the top of the organisers’ agenda.
Since the 2021 “Opi‑Omi” crash at the Tour de France, cases have accumulated: Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) being brought down by encroaching fans on Alto da Batalha at the 2024 Vuelta, objects thrown at Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) during the 2024 Classics, and the 2025 Étoile de Bessèges stage that saw multiple WorldTour teams refuse to start because of vehicles on the course.
More recently, former pro and team boss Jérôme Pineau suggested “privatising” the final kilometres of climbs such as Alpe d’Huez, charging spectators to generate revenue and enable tighter access control. That proposal was quickly shot down by ASO, yet it crystallised a dilemma: without ticketing or significant TV‑rights revenue flowing to teams, the cost of securing hundreds of kilometres of open road continues to fall largely on organisers under national law.
The UCI’s SafeR body has responded mainly on the regulatory side, introducing a yellow‑card system for riders and tightening rules on barriers, signalling and finish zones from 2025 onward. Those measures address part of the risk but do not directly solve the funding and policing challenge around dense crowds on iconic climbs and urban finishes.
