Wildcards 2014

Anonymous

RichN95 wrote:

sjmclean wrote:

What is the best finish at a GT by a wildcard rider.

Some have won. Cobo at the Vuelta being the most recent. Greg LeMond in 1989 and Lance Armstrong in 1999 were others on Wildcard teams.

Wow. Thanks very much. It's been a learning day today.

frenchfighter

No tA Doctor wrote:

MTN-Qhubeka are a marketer's wet dream.

Can you elaborate on why you think this is the case? Is it just because they are African?

Of all the Grand Tours, I reckon the Giro would be best for them though. I don't think there is anything special about them or their riders and their kit is awful although I have a lot of time for African riders.

FJS

With the current shortage of teams I imagine ASO and RCS are coordinating their wildcards. Colombia for instance would be a fun attractive teams to have for both, but really only has 3 top level riders - a bit thin to spread over two grand tours.
Colombia's selection for the Giro suggests they won't be picked for the Tour.
Similarly, MTN not being picked for the Giro could mean they can get one of the TdF wildcards. Would not be that strange: Cofidis and IAM are certainties, Bretagne probably too, which leaves one place for... hmmmm. As far as I can see there's no real contenders apart from Netapp and MTN. I'd say Netapp has a slightly better line-up, but MTN's not far off really, and as andyp says, has a much bigger story. Of course, ASO could decide to only give 3 wildcards....

Richmond Racer

FJS wrote:

With the current shortage of teams I imagine ASO and RCS are coordinating their wildcards. Colombia for instance would be a fun attractive teams to have for both, but really only has 3 top level riders - a bit thin to spread over two grand tours.
Colombia's selection for the Giro suggests they won't be picked for the Tour.
Similarly, MTN not being picked for the Giro could mean they can get one of the TdF wildcards. Would not be that strange: Cofidis and IAM are certainties, Bretagne probably too, which leaves one place for... hmmmm. As far as I can see there's no real contenders apart from Netapp and MTN. I'd say Netapp has a slightly better line-up, but MTN's not far off really, and as andyp says, has a much bigger story. Of course, ASO could decide to only give 3 wildcards....

To be honest FJS, Team Colombia's looking a little weaker this year, with the loss of Atapuma to BMC and Chaves to OGE (I know Chaves was crocked almost all of last season, but he's a big talent). Thought Duarte and Chalapud are still there.

Having said that, I'm pleased they've made the Giro cut.

No_Ta_Doctor

frenchfighter wrote:

No tA Doctor wrote:

MTN-Qhubeka are a marketer's wet dream.

Can you elaborate on why you think this is the case? Is it just because they are African?

Of all the Grand Tours, I reckon the Giro would be best for them though. I don't think there is anything special about them or their riders and their kit is awful although I have a lot of time for African riders.

Yes, I can. And it's not only because they're African, though that plays a large part.

Every race needs good exposure, we always get plenty of interviews, background stories, "the human angle" articles. Mostly they're fairly boring, because most of the top European and American cyclists have done sod all interesting with their lives other than cycling. There are a few zero-to-hero type stories, poor boy done good etc., but they're generally much of a muchness. And they don't appeal to anyone that isn't already interested in cycling.

At the same time, we get endless doping cases and cynicism. No race wants a drug bust on its watch.

Enter MTN-Qhubeka, with an endless back-catologue of unusual routes into cycling, incredible tales of escapes from poverty, challenges faced etc. Oh, and their sponsor is an organisation that attempts to both empower young Africans and help the environment. They're pretty much impossible not to like. And they have a far broader appeal than most cycling teams. They draw the camera, provide a positive narrative and exude an infectious positive and optimistic attitude. And we all love an underdog.

Any marketing people that didn't immediately see the benefit of getting close to them should be fired immediately. You get masses of good, positive column inches with a broader appeal than the cycling fans who already read everything anyway.

frenchfighter

Thanks for the response and I hear you on all that. Like I said, I have a lot of time for African riders:

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viewtopic.php?f=40002&t=12769559

No_Ta_Doctor

frenchfighter wrote:

Thanks for the response and I hear you on all that. Like I said, I have a lot of time for African riders:

viewtopic.php?f=40002&t=12812704
viewtopic.php?f=40002&t=12840542
viewtopic.php?f=40002&t=12769559

Cheers.

I think most sports have a default setting that "Africa is the future", largely built on either "East Africans can do endurance" or "West Africans have pace and power". I don't want to get into a big socio-genetics debate, but generally it's accepted that Africa has a huge reserve of untapped raw physical talent but tends to lack the funding/infrastructure to develop it. It'll be interesting to see if the African riders on Qhubeka can get some big results, it might open the doors to other teams. I know football has a very different model - and vastly superior financial clout - but most of the big teams now have some form of development squad or sponsorship connection with clubs/academies in Africa.

Art Vandelay

7 wildcards for Liege Bastogne Liege
Cofidis
IAM
TeamMTNQhubeka
Colombia Coldeportes
Top Sport
Wanty Gobert
NetApp

La Flèche Wallonne:
Cofidis
IAM
TeamMTNQhubeka
Colombia Coldeportes
Top Sport
Wanty Gobert
UHC

Crampeur

Wanty also doing P-R

Art Vandelay

Paris Roubaix:
Wanty Gobert
TopSport
Cofidis
Bretagne Seche
NetAppEndura
UHC
IAM