WIGGINS'S GIRO - A FULL DRESS REHEARSAL...

thamacdaddy

I would expect the growth in cycling interest in the UK has contributed also. They say it's the new golf and I can quite easily believe it. This is an investiment in that growth I expect and considering the coverage golf gets then I am not suprised at all in that investment. I guess it gives them access to have a crack at coverage deals also by havign closer access to those within the sport.

Sky wre sponsoring the track before this team though or was the deal done at the same time I remember them being kitted out in Sky HD skinsuits way before this season at the world champs. They get a lot of coverage also in the papers such as the Guardian so it's not a bad deal in terms of how much advertising costs can be. That added to it being the choice of sports for top execs these days makes it a sensible move.

Abdoujaparov

Sky's sponsorship of a cycling team makes a damn sight more sense than a tubular metal products company (Agritubel) sponsoring cycling! Or how about a producer of liquified gas (Liquigas)?!

Cycling is surely useful for promoting consumer brands (rather than b2b brands like Agritubel) to male, international audiences (with an emphasis on Europe) that have an interest in sports.

I've never understood some of the wierd sponsorship deals going on in cycling, but I guess that, yes, it must be down to vanity projects.

timoid.

Dunno. When a Liquigas guy wins a stage, the company name appears in sports broadcasts and in newspapers for free. Builds brand awareness. Agritubel likewise. We might not have seen the crappy French Cup series races they won, but it will have been covered by French daily's and regionals.

Bernardus

Abdoujaparov wrote:

Sky's sponsorship of a cycling team makes a damn sight more sense than a tubular metal products company (Agritubel) sponsoring cycling! Or how about a producer of liquified gas (Liquigas)?!

Cycling is surely useful for promoting consumer brands (rather than b2b brands like Agritubel) to male, international audiences (with an emphasis on Europe) that have an interest in sports.

I've never understood some of the wierd sponsorship deals going on in cycling, but I guess that, yes, it must be down to vanity projects.

Agritubel does fit in the long standing tradition of combining agriculture with cycling. There are still several other agriculture-related companies in the sport, such as Credit Agricole (until last year), Rabobank en Landbouwkrediet. And a lot of riders still come from rural areas (at least in Belgium, France and the Netherlands, I don't know if this is the case in the "new" cycling nations).

Probably the oddest sponsorship in cycling was ONCE: the Spanish national organization for the blind.

Abdoujaparov

Bernardus wrote:

Agritubel does fit in the long standing tradition of combining agriculture with cycling. There are still several other agriculture-related companies in the sport, such as Credit Agricole (until last year), Rabobank en Landbouwkrediet. And a lot of riders still come from rural areas (at least in Belgium, France and the Netherlands, I don't know if this is the case in the "new" cycling nations).

Probably the oddest sponsorship in cycling was ONCE: the Spanish national organization for the blind.

Aren't Credit Agricole, Rabobank and Landbouwkrediet are consumer (and trade) finance companies? If so, that makes sense. Can see why an agriculture link works though.

Still, I think it makes more sense for companies that want to grow international (especially European) profile to sponsor cycling teams. If you don't care about international, you're effectively paying for something you don't want.

Anyway, this is digressing into a fairly random conversation on advertising!

mroli

I've got a couple of mates who work for Sky and they say that Sky are really hot on pushing the "green" stuff, from recycling, to cycling to work etc etc. Apparently they bulk bought a load of etape places, there was a rumour (not true I believe) that they were going to get preferential rates on the dogmas. The cycle to work scheme they run is a bit clunky app, but I am told that they certianly but their money where their mouth is with respect to encouraging their staff on bikes as well as their sponsorship of stuff like the skyrides.

I think that they see cycling as a (relatively) cheap way to get involved with a high profile, popular sport that has a lot of "middle class", wealthy participants - just the sort of people that they want watching Sky so the advertisers spend the money. Its all brand recognition isn't it - if you said to the average man on the street in the UK, name a cycling team, they'd all go "Sky". If you said name a formula 1 team, you'd get "ferrari/mclaren/virgin/red bull" etc etc. Liquigas italian innit - cycling much more in the public eye than it is here, which is why it makes sense for them.

Rodrego Hernandez

Kléber wrote:

James Murdoch is a big cycling fan so the team has the whiff of a play-thing. He runs BSKYB, the UK operation that is behind the team.

In backing the road team, they also get access to the track team in time for 2012. Whilst the Olympics will be on the BBC, the riders will have discreet Sky logoes and will be featuring on Sky, giving exclusive interviews and more. The UCI have moved the goalposts here though in recent days.

Similarly, I'm sure some execs are enjoying listening to hearing Rai staff talk about Sky in their broadcasts, it's like asking Coca-Cola to name drop Pepsi, Berlusconi and Murdoch hate each other, big rivals.

All that said, I'm not sure if the team makes financial sense, it has a colossal budget but can't reach a lot of its target audience. In many cases sponsoring a cycling team is good value for the sponsor, the coverage can exceed the cost of the team. But in this case, I'm not so convinced.

JM is Chairman of BSkyB, he doesn't run it. All financial decisions have to be approved by the Board, not just 1 man.

No logos can appear on Olympic kit. Interviews etc are handled by the BOA, nothing exclusive there.

Backing the road team doesn't get them access to the track team. They sponsor that too and have a seperate Sky+HD track team.

They want to get 25% of their staff cycling to work and to get an increase of 1million people riding in the UK. Not a bad ambition really.

fastercyclist

I'm surprised at people who don't believe they're doing it for brand awareness/improving their image.

Sky has a really bad image in the sense that Murdoch is a dirty word. I wouldn't be surprised if this is seen as a very cheap (it's Sky, remember) PR exercise more then anything else.

Getting covered on rival networks is a nice kick back too. Having said that, they're overpaying for what they're getting. Not that I care really.

Rodrego Hernandez

At least they are putting money into the sport, not just a pro team but local sky rides, schools and other grass roots initiatives.

petejuk

I just like the fact that its a British Team, has plenty of money that its willing to invest and is clearly ruthless in its pursuit of its goals (the buying up of riders in contracts etc). Rest assured they will be asking questions of their riders if they under perform. However, they are still constructing a world beating team and it may take some time to get some good, consistent results.

sherer

nice to know I started a bit of a debate about the team

One other strange sponsor seems to be Lotto as that is the Belguim lottery so not sure them racing in France really helps them much. A bit the same with US Postal.

I guess any company putting money in is a good thing

greeny12

sherer wrote:

nice to know I started a bit of a debate about the team

One other strange sponsor seems to be Lotto as that is the Belguim lottery so not sure them racing in France really helps them much. A bit the same with US Postal.

I guess any company putting money in is a good thing

That was supposed to be all about their "international" services wasn't it?

iainf72

Abdoujaparov wrote:

Sky's sponsorship of a cycling team makes a damn sight more sense than a tubular metal products company (Agritubel) sponsoring cycling! Or how about a producer of liquified gas (Liquigas)?!

With outstanding timing, Pez have done an interview with Liquigas' press man. When asked why they sponsor a team

A large part of the Liquigas market is people in small towns in the mountains who cannot get connected to the main gas distribution system and must use liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to cook; newspaper and TV doesn't do a good job of communicating with them, but to have the team travelling around Italy is an excellent way to spread the brand

There you go. Solid commercial reason.

The whole thing is worth a read

http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=8255

mroli

Interesting interview that - for every 4 million of Euros they put into the team, they expect to get 22 million Euros worth of advertising out. There's your rational right away....

Kléber

Rodrego Hernandez wrote:

JM is Chairman of BSkyB, he doesn't run it. All financial decisions have to be approved by the Board, not just 1 man.

True but the family owns a majority stake in the company, if they want to do something, they will. Investing in a cycling team isn't pissing it up the wall but clearly the personal connection works.

Rodrego Hernandez wrote:

No logos can appear on Olympic kit. Interviews etc are handled by the BOA, nothing exclusive there.

Except there will be other features pre and post the games with the riders in preparation etc.

Rodrego Hernandez wrote:

Backing the road team doesn't get them access to the track team. They sponsor that too and have a seperate Sky+HD track team.

Does anyone know where Sky ends and British Cycling begins these days. Clearly Sky has plenty of influence.

Not to knock it all, it's fantastic. I'm just curious as to the reasons why it's happening, it came about following the track cycling sucess. I hope other British companies would be interested in getting onboard.

pedro118118

intothe12 wrote:

I think this all needs to be put in context...

Sky have an impressive setup, buses, bikes, very slick look, etc.. and some good riders. I like EBH, Flecha...

I think the reason Sky have rubbed people up the wrong way is due to the way they went about hiring the likes of Wiggo and swift that were still in contract with other teams, the “will he won’t he” tug of war that went on with Garmin & Vaughters just got on people’e tits. People just got fed up of the whole nonsense.

Added to that, the Oscar Wilde, Cravat wearing, dress sense that Wiggo has is clearly a crime against fashion and makes me want to punch him in the face. All in all, he is a very good tester, and had a great tour last year, although he is unproven as a consistent GC contender at any level (small stages and large tours), and I fear that he will go the way of CVV or other nearly-Tour men. If he focused on getting some serious small stage races under his belt, and graduated from there, well fair enough, the respect level would climb, but thinking he can focus on the Tour after one year is a bit much in my book.

Lastly, the other reason sky rub me up the wrong way is that I don’t like yates. I dont like where he came from, and when I hear him on the phone being interviewed on Eurosport he sounds like he is on some mushroom fuelled psychedelic trip.

Whilst a little off-topic - you're absolutely right. Whenever I hear Yates speak from the team car or provide punditry in the studio, he looks and sounds as though he's drunk. Moreover, he struggles to string together any kind of coherent sentance and is reduced to cringe-inducing gobbledegook. And this guy is 'masterminding' Sky tactics on the road?!

intothe12

I thought this post was meant to be about Wiggans? it has turned into a "why sky sponsor cycling thread".

back to topic...... Wiggo can do all the dress rehersals he likes, but I would be astonished if he gets top 5, maybe a top 15....but I never liked riders betting their entire season on one race.... At least Contador races hard (and wins) most of the small stage races he enters. Non of this poncy boll*x about easing back not wanting to go over lactic threseholds etc... the wee lad races flat out.

pedro118118

Agreed, although that's the way cycing is in the modern era - the price you pay for the scientific approach to 'building form' and achieving 'peak condition' at the right time.

Contador seems to be a different animal to the rest though, as even when he's not at 100%, he's better than everyone else. The likes of Wiggins, VDV, Armstrong (comeback 2.0), Nibali, Basso, Schlecks need to be at 100% to compete with a 90% Bertie.

Wiggo (and his team) obviously feel he needs to be at 100% in order to compete at the Tour and are prepared to put all their resources into making this happen.

My own personal view is that if Wiggo is on his absolute top form/ideal weight, he can achieve a podium finish. He's relying on a certain amount of good fortune/bad luck (crashes, illness, mechanicals) to others to have any hope of winning. We have never seen Wiggo gain enough time against the GC riders (either in the mountains or against the clock) to win - he doesn't attack. Perhaps that's something he's working on?

Kléber

[quote="pedro118118"Whenever I hear Yates speak from the team car or provide punditry in the studio, he looks and sounds as though he's drunk. Moreover, he struggles to string together any kind of coherent sentance and is reduced to cringe-inducing gobbledegook. And this guy is 'masterminding' Sky tactics on the road?![/quote]
He's actually useful on the road, he knows what happens and scares the riders a bit, when he says something, the riders do listen.

But yes, he's not got a slick studio presence. That's just the way he is, he sounds like an escapee from a late 80s rave..., but I've heard that he has some sort of heart problems/stroke and this made things worse but this could just be nonsense.

pedro118118

Kléber wrote:

[quote="pedro118118"Whenever I hear Yates speak from the team car or provide punditry in the studio, he looks and sounds as though he's drunk. Moreover, he struggles to string together any kind of coherent sentance and is reduced to cringe-inducing gobbledegook. And this guy is 'masterminding' Sky tactics on the road?!

He's actually useful on the road, he knows what happens and scares the riders a bit, when he says something, the riders do listen.

But yes, he's not got a slick studio presence. That's just the way he is, he sounds like an escapee from a late 80s rave..., but I've heard that he has some sort of heart problems/stroke and this made things worse but this could just be nonsense.[/quote]

If that's true, it would explain things to some extent. Don't want to come across as callous, but whatever the circumstances, he's surely best kept off air.

Pross

If I wanted a motivator who has been there and done it and would inspire respect and a little fear from riders (and was in a predominantly English speaking team) Yates would be my second choice just behind Kelly but then he was a bit of a cycling hero when I first started out!

intothe12

pedro118118 wrote:

My own personal view is that if Wiggo is on his absolute top form/ideal weight, he can achieve a podium finish. He's relying on a certain amount of good fortune/bad luck (crashes, illness, mechanicals) to others to have any hope of winning. We have never seen Wiggo gain enough time against the GC riders (either in the mountains or against the clock) to win - he doesn't attack. Perhaps that's something he's working on?

+1

it would be worth Sky getting a wigi board for their bus and a whole stack of four leaf clovers becasue of you as rightly pointed out, Wiggo does not attack or gain enough time in the test to do any real damage to any of the GC men.

intothe12

pedro118118 wrote:

Kléber wrote:

[quote="pedro118118"Whenever I hear Yates speak from the team car or provide punditry in the studio, he looks and sounds as though he's drunk. Moreover, he struggles to string together any kind of coherent sentance and is reduced to cringe-inducing gobbledegook. And this guy is 'masterminding' Sky tactics on the road?!

He's actually useful on the road, he knows what happens and scares the riders a bit, when he says something, the riders do listen.

But yes, he's not got a slick studio presence. That's just the way he is, he sounds like an escapee from a late 80s rave..., but I've heard that he has some sort of heart problems/stroke and this made things worse but this could just be nonsense.

If that's true, it would explain things to some extent. Don't want to come across as callous, but whatever the circumstances, he's surely best kept off air.

It still surprises me that Sky took on Yates. I have said it before on this forum, that his past is questionable to say the least. Not becasue he has tested positive, but more from the point of view that the teams he has been on or managed as a DS have had a lot of suspicon cast upon them. CSC, Postal, Discovery...

and the final nail in the coffin for me on the Yates front was I could never figure out why he could not put his goddamn handles bars in the correct position. they always seem to poiint unnaturally downward. He was clearly a horse of a man, but that handle bar position screams fred to me.

calvjones

iainf72 wrote:

Abdoujaparov wrote:

Sky's sponsorship of a cycling team makes a damn sight more sense than a tubular metal products company (Agritubel) sponsoring cycling! Or how about a producer of liquified gas (Liquigas)?!

With outstanding timing, Pez have done an interview with Liquigas' press man. When asked why they sponsor a team

A large part of the Liquigas market is people in small towns in the mountains who cannot get connected to the main gas distribution system and must use liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to cook; newspaper and TV doesn't do a good job of communicating with them, but to have the team travelling around Italy is an excellent way to spread the brand


There you go. Solid commercial reason.

The whole thing is worth a read

http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=8255

"We have an agency who monitors everything; they take all factors into account - number and size of photos, number of times the name appears and so on, then they apply a mathematical formula which gives us the values"

I love this stuff.

A headline screaming 'Liquigas' Pelizotti Barred from Giro Start under Doping Cloud' = €100,000 of advertising for Liquigas.

No such thing as bad publicity, eh?

Pross

intothe12 wrote:

and the final nail in the coffin for me on the Yates front was I could never figure out why he could not put his goddamn handles bars in the correct position. they always seem to poiint unnaturally downward. He was clearly a horse of a man, but that handle bar position screams fred to me.

He had a very strange riding position altogether as a result of crash injuries (IIRC) and had to have one shoe built up and (possibly) different length cranks.