auscyclefan94 said:
It would probably be good to get an Australian rider because the Australian sporting public are very nationalistic because we only really support players who are from the team we support or who are from Australia
We are a very nationalistic nation and that is mainly because we are so isolated from the rest of the world and have to build our sports from within the country and until recent years had very little international exposure....probably why the Commonwealth and Olympic Games have been so popular here.
If you made up a dichotomy of cycling support within Australia there is still a very strong group on the anti cycling side but those on the pro cycling side of the dichotomy are growing quickly. If you graded the pro side of the dichotomy from 1-10 and had mild interest at 1 and purists at 10 the bulk of the supporters are going to be in the 3-7 range. They won't know what the monuments are, they will recognize 3 or 4 teams only, they won't know what a HC climb is, etc but they are starting to understand the peloton, what a breakaway is and some basic team tactics. This knowledge is growing as we get more tv exposure to the sport. In very recent times exposure for much of our population would be the home races such as Bay crits, TDU and the Herald Sun Tour (highlights on SBS) and moving from highlights of the TDF to now watching the full race. We are now adding in PR and highlights of other big races.....especially if Aussies do well in it.
Going back to the point of being nationalistic, the majority of Aussie cycling fans will still get their national fix but now also have a team to support. Cadel, Rogers, Porte, Renshaw, etc will still have a lot of support but added to this will be a team of very well known and "who's he" riders. The bonus to cycling will be that tv coverage will grow, especially where they see opportunities of Aussie or GreenEdge success. Will the majority (not the purists) care too much if GE doesn't have overall contenders for the GT's, probably not, at the current time as they will still have Aussie riders to support in those races. Into the future and as the learning develops, that may become a national expectation.
These are my opinions only and based on my group of sporting friends, some who cycle a lot, some who ride to work and others who play other sports but enjoy cycling for the sport it is. For most of them, GreenEdge will be fantastic but it could take some time before they begin to know more than 50% of who is on the roster