Cycling alone: Team Sky’s difficult quest for credibility during the 2015 Tour de France

Abstract

This article aims to address the question of credibility as a key issue for sports stakeholders. Due to the number of doping scandals, professional cycling offers an interesting example to understand how agents try building credibility after facing mistrust. The present study provides an example of how a professional team (Sky) faced controversy during the 2015 Tour de France. The dispute about Sky riders’ performance reflects the rejection of their occupational self-definition. Relying mainly on Goffman’s sociology to analyse public interactions, we have observed how Sky tried to convince their audience that their performance was credible. However, the team’s quest for credibility remains uncertain for two reasons. First, the legacy of doping scandals in cycling – in addition to the low trust in the organizations in charge of anti-doping regulations – weakens its credibility. Second, the mistrust in cycling drives journalists and experts to stage their independence in order to avoid being considered an ally or accomplice. As a consequence, collaborative networks were rendered fragile, and Sky could not rely on a large ‘team presentation’ to face criticism. This research shows that the lack of credibility is a central issue for the sport since it threatens its whole economy.