Like a can of peaches [cringe], the Tour de Georgia is on the shelf. It’s been the best in North America from a pure racing standpoint, although they have had financial trouble in the past. The dismal economy obviously isn’t helping their cause, but I don’t think that’s really the problem. It’s that bike races always cost a lot to put on, but the value for sponsors depends on where the event is held. Unfortunately, the Tour de Georgia is probably too big and expensive to stage in small towns like Dahlonega, Georgia (Pop. 3,638).

Without a significant TV or web audience, the best thing a bike race like the Tour de Georgia can monetize is feet on the ground. A lot of people would say media coverage too, but I think the value there is more about marketing the event itself than delivering direct benefits to the sponsors. In any case, small towns in Georgia can’t send a lot of foot traffic through the expo and have little value for corporate hospitality. Atlanta is a good location for the final stage, but apparently not lucrative enough to offset spending $150,000 a night on hotels in places like Tybee Island.

Sure, the Tour of California costs a lot more to organize and sponsor. But look at the large and bike-loving Nielsen DMA’s it will run through in 2009: #2 (LA), #6 (Bay Area, twice), #20 (Sacramento), #28 (San Diego). This year’s TdG, meanwhile had one day in #8 (Atlanta) but the next biggest market was #96 (Savannah).

I think the lesson is that you need to tailor your bike race to the to revenue potential of your local market. Or, if you have your heart set on running a UCI 2.HC stage race, you need to find a really big market.

(image: Ben Jacques-Maynes on Brasstown Bald, 2006 Tour de Georgia)

VeloNews.com is reporting that the folks at Barloworld have changed their minds about the decision to withdraw from their team sponsorship following a positive doping test during the Tour de France. As I wrote for ROAD, you can’t fault a sponsor for dropping or sticking with a team; both have their pros and cons. Here’s what I find really interesting about Barloworld:

“That decision [to drop the team] was made in the heat of the moment. Afterward, they had time to reflect and even before the Tour was over, they had intended to return,” team spokesman Claudio Masnata said Tuesday, according to The Associated Press.

I can’t think of another time that a company reversed such a visible decision that was neither causing a public outcry nor losing money. No one likes to admit that they made a mistake and companies are especially loathe to acknowledge a bad decision. But it happens and I hope that this decision by Barloworld is part of a larger trend (and I’m not just talking about bike racing sponsors).

Everyone has heard that to err is human, but the second part of the adage is less well known: “…to forgive is divine.” So I admire Barloworld for swallowing their pride, even if they were going to be writing the checks regardless.

Team Inferno is going pro next year as Kenda Pro Cycling presented by Spinergy and touting an “100% American” roster (including staff). I know and like those guys, but the flag waving seems really out of place with cycling culture. Internationalism is part of the sport’s appeal.

From their press release:

“While the program will miss its international contingent dearly, the concept is one that Inferno believes is important. Many teams have collapsed in this pained economy and as such, fewer teams will exist domestically in 2009. This means American racers will be without a home, and to have talented racers from abroad take the few openings that remain simply is not in the best interests of American cycling. This sport is experiencing resurgence in America, and Kenda Pro Cycling p/b Spinergy aims to have Americans at the helm.”

From South Park:

So, it’s true. But will it be with Astana? They denied it very strongly at first, but have since softened their tone a bit. Still, Lance is saying pretty clearly that he’s returning to “launch a global anti-cancer strategy,” not race for free on behalf of Kazakhstan’s state-owned oil companies.

My guess is that his announcement on September 24 will be that he’s forming a new team or taking over an existing sponsorship with Livestrong branding.

(I had Lance’s video from the Livestrong site embedded here, but it starts playing automatically which is really annoying.)

Josh Poertner of Kadisco client Zipp has cornered the Ask Josh market, so here’s my version: Ask Kadisco. I get requests for advice from time to time, and I’ll post my answers here.

In this first installment, I got an email from a young Canadian who wanted advice on getting a pro contract and personal sponsorships. Here’s my response:

Thanks for getting in touch. I’m not as involved in the team scene as I used to be, but my sense is that there won’t be as my pro spots next year as there were this year. So with that in mind…

Every rider is different – different talent, different mentally, and different luck. So I don’t know exactly what’s best for you (or anyone, for that matter) but if I was standing in front of 200 riders in your position, my advice to the group would be to get on the best amateur team you can and get ready to spend a couple years balancing racing with work/school and living cheaply. If things happen quickly, great. If not, you’ll be ready to wait until you get an opportunity to move up in the food chain. You’re only 20 after all.

As for your personal sponsors, the fact that you already have some puts you in a better spot than most riders. I think your best bet is to reach out through them to their friends and see what you come up with. Create an email list of your sponsors and their friends who might be interested in following your progress, send periodic emails to the list if you get a great result or an article written about you, and update your blog as much as you can. If you think someone might be interested in sponsoring you, don’t be shy about asking.

I guess that my advice is to just hustle and sell yourself, but be ready for it to take a while to pay off. Cool?

Just sent in my column for the September issue of ROAD. The piece talks about the recent sponsorship deals with Garmin, Columbia, and Saxo Bank for the teams formerly known as Slipstream, High Road, and CSC, respectively. Here’s an excerpt:

On the surface, the trio of deals seems like an unquestionably auspicious sign for cycling. But ESPN’s Bonnie D. Ford, a veteran chronicler of the sport and of Slipstream in particular, speculated that the team’s deal with GPS device maker Garmin and High Road’s deal with Columbia sportswear aren’t sufficient to run a Tour de France team. A statement from High Road owner Bob Stapleton seemed to confirm her hypothesis.

If it’s true, it could put smaller teams in a difficult position by setting a precedent that the title sponsorship of a competitive Tour de France team can be had for less than what it currently costs to run one. For a program without the backing of a billionaire like Stapleton or Slipstream’s Doug Ellis, the only choice would be to cut costs, with reduced salaries for riders being a likely result.

The issue hits newsstands on August 14. My past columns are archived here.

Saunier Duval-Scott and Camelbak have come up with a clever promotional concept for the Tour:

After its success in the Tour of California and the Giro d´Italia, Pick Up the Podium, the promotional campaign jointly launched by CAMELBAK and SAUNIER DUVAL-SCOTT, is now coming to France for the Grande Boucle 2008. This initiative encourages spectators to pick up the water bottles thrown by the riders -some 2,000 in a three-week tour- to find great prizes in them. In so doing, they´ll be protecting the environment from unnecessary waste.

The spectators lining the roads in the different stages of the Tour of France will be able to pick up the newly introduced CamelBak Podium bottles used by Riccò, Piepoli, De la Fuente, and the other “red birds.” Besides collecting their favourite rider´s bottles, they´ll have to look for stickers bearing promotion codes. These codes (to be sent to promotions@camelbak.com) will enter competitions for fantastic prizes, including SCOTT, Castelli and Fi´zi:k products.

This works on so many levels. The team promotes its environmental initiatives, which include a reforestation project in Mali, while connecting more with the fans. Camelbak gets its new product into to people’s hands without having to give away any more than they’re giving to the team anyway. Other sponsors get involved too. It’s not a huge campaign, but it’s a really smart one.

via press release
disclosure: I consult for SRAM, which sponsors the team

There’s been a flurry of news in the UK (1, 2, 3) that Dave Brailsford, architect of British Cycling’s dominant track program, is planning a top-flight road team for next year. Not that anyone had to do much digging to find that out. Brailsford has embarked on what amounts to a press tour, outlining his plans in a BBC interview for “establishing a team brand which will be around for the long term, which you can emotionally tie into.” Apparently, he has a business plan ready to go that will derive revenue from sources other than selling naming rights to a title sponsor.

British Cycling seems to be on board but I’m not sure about Brailsford using his position as a publicly funded employee to launch his own private business. Furthermore, his concept sounds a lot like the original model for United Pro Cycling, which didn’t exactly go as planned. However, that model makes more sense for a “Team Britain” with the best British riders racing in the Tour de France than for a “Team America” with second-tier US riders racing on the domestic circuit.

As for Brailsford’s PR campaign, I think it’s a great move. At best, he catches the eye of a sponsor that otherwise wouldn’t have been in the picture. At worst, the embarassment of the team not panning out would be far outweighed by his track program’s near-certain success in Beijing.