For once a genuine international brand was buying into pro cycling as a means of marketing but once it got the chance to quit, Belkin exercised a break clause. The team is now scrambling for a replacement sponsor and to hold onto its core riders.
Is this a sponsorship crisis or should we confront the fact that pro cycling isn’t a vehicle for an international marketing campaign?
Mathias Frank, Bauke Mollema and Rui Costa are on the attack knowing they have to put time into Tony Martin in order to get on the podium. This was the moment the race was won.
Like the Dauphiné the final stage of the Tour de Suisse saw a reversal of fortunes although this time the script was more predictable with Rui Costa riding away to win the stage while lower down the mountain Tony Martin was left to pace himself in a private mountain time trial.
Le Journal du Dimanche (JDD) has followed up its piece on last Sunday’s Affaire Froome with allegations that the UCI doesn’t have the proper process in place to issue Therapeutc Use Exemptions (TUE). The JDD quotes WADA boss David Howman as being “concerned” by this and how he’s “asked the UCI to rapidly fix the insufficiencies seen in this case“.
This is going to be a quick read because it’s a simple matter of whether the UCI or the JDD is telling the truth.
Etape by Richard Moore
The Tour de France brings three weeks of racing but also extensive media attention. But what if there were many untold stories? It’s not really a question, the focus on the day’s stage winner and the jersey wearers means a lot of blurred edges. Add in some hindsight, a variety of source material and you have the ingredients for Etape, the tale of 20 stages from the Tour de France.
Hopefully you’ve seen the on-bike footage above from the Tour de Suisse. You might note each time we seem to see footage it’s from Giant-Shimano. Some teams are supportive of the use but others are outside the loop. A reminder that the IMG inCycle videos are there to showcase the member teams of “Project Avignon” meaning Astana, Ag2r, Katusha, FDJ and Europcar are not part of this. So while we might want more footage and for it to be on TV, we don’t have a unified front. So while the footage is progress it also speaks to the dysfunctions and divisions in the sport.
With just over two weeks to go here’s a downloadable calendar of the Tour de France for your electronic diary or smartphone.
In recent years, sports betting has become more and more popular. It’s glory days for the bookmakers but also for the event organizers. Due to the rapid increase in sports betting and thereby property and image exploitation, the event organizers naturally want a piece of the cake as well, writes Mikkel Condé.
Eddy Merckx has just turned 69 but the number has another significance for him: 1969. It was the first year of Merckx’s domination, the first feast for his cannibal appetite. This book chronicles that year via a series of rich images.
The Dauphiné brought great racing with the top contenders for the Tour de France in Alpine action. The Tour de Suisse promises more of the same but also racing of a different kind with riders struggling to be themselves, competing for the eye of their managers and with whole teams in racing against time to save their future.
Andrew Talansky leads the breakaway on Stage 8 of the Dauphiné. He’d gone clear in a maxi-breakaway early in the stage and became the virtual race leader on the road. By now Alberto Contador was chasing and eating into the lead but Talansky was driving the pace almost as if in a solo breakaway. This was the moment the race was won.