'This is a wake-up call': How will pro cycling address its own climate crisis? | Kieran Pender
12-Aug-2020 17:30:32 | The Guardian
Cycling may have strong green credentials but at elite level the sport’s relationship with the environment is vexed
When it comes to climate change, professional cycling faces something of a paradox. The sport is, on one hand, the high-performance version of a climate-conscious form of transit and exercise; governments and activists have long promoted the climate benefits of bike riding. Yet at the same time, elite cycling has a hefty carbon footprint and has long been the brand-washing vehicle of choice for major polluters.
This week, a group of climate-minded Australians gathered via Zoom to mark the launch of their response to how cycling will adapt as the climate crisis intensifies. An Adelaide-based collective, Fossil Free SA (FFSA), is commencing a new campaign, #BreakAwayFromGas. It hopes to pressure the organisers of the Tour Down Under, the first race on the World Tour calendar each January, to drop the naming-rights sponsor Santos, a major oil and gas producer.
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