Thursday 27 September 2018 20:22, UK
Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas are among those that could strike after members of the CPA (professional cycling union) voted to re-elect president Gianni Bugno for a further four years.
Sky Sports News exclusively revealed on Wednesday that 27 top riders had written an unprecedented letter to Bugno demanding change to both the election process, and the union's procedures.
He refused, and was returned as president with a landslide 379 votes in Austria on Thursday, against former British cyclist David Millar's 96 votes - in a ballot which saw only a fraction of the votes from riders themselves.
Millar, who stood promising radical reforms to the cycling union, has the support of Froome and Thomas and many other big names in the peloton.
Both British riders told Sky Sports News that Bugno's re-election was inevitable because of the "rigged" voting system, but they promised to fight for a new election, and said strike action was a distinct possibility.
Millar's argument has always been that the voting procedures are antiquated, requiring riders to turn up in person in Innsbruck to vote, when their contractual obligations make that almost impossible.
Thursday's ballot saw only 17 riders turn up in Austria in person - 12 of those voted in favour of Millar, with the remaining five backing Bugno.
Those in the ballot who are not riders are generally made up of cycling delegates and admin members of the CPA who were attending a general assembly in Innsbruck on Friday anyway.
"I think that's why the riders are border-line revolting now - one rider, one vote, that's what it's about and that's what it should be," Millar said earlier this week.
"Almost 1,000 professional riders and they should each be able to vote and make the decisions for them-self. By doing that, that would bring the peloton together."
In a separate letter from his solicitor - also seen by Sky Sports News - Millar called on cycling's governing body, the UCI, to intervene and crack down on what he says is CPA deception, and allow him to stand on a fair footing for the leadership of the union.
The UCI General Assembly, which could ratify changes to cycling's leadership rules, are also meeting in Austria on Friday, at the culmination of the World Championships.
