- Sep 8, 2010
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In recent years a lot of cycling races died or were cut down due to lack of sponsorship. Mostly in Europe and mostly because of the economic crisis, of course. So what ways has this sport to become more exciting again for sponsors and fans, because there are quite a few big races, that show, that this sport has still a lot of fans a that it can create a certain kind of attention in the media and also for potential sponsors.
I think that a lot of races are still somehow entangled up in their past. So there have to be typical road stages between 150k and 200k plus a time trial. This is traditional, so it has to be that way. There were times, when cycling offered a lot more of possibilities how stages could be held. Even Grand Tours like the Giro or Vuelta started with something like competition series. There the racers were devided into groups and fought in series for the first leaders jersey. For me this sounds like fun and of course more interesting like boring dead flat prologues. The Friedensfahrt once opened with a relay race, there were criteriums and also pair tt's. Sports like cross country and biathlon showed, that you can and you have to change from time to time to stay or become more attractive for sponsors. I'm also thinking here of possibilities like mountain pursuit races at the end of small stage races or competions like "Escalada a Montjuïc" to close/open a race. There are lots of possibilities.
To sum this up: Creating more attention, through more action and more diversity. And yes you can still mix these kind of stages with long and epic ones.
As it now looks the UCI doesn't want to change anything. They are looking for new markets like China, which seems logical, because there is a lot of money. But it seems also questionable, if you can consolidate yourself on these markets permanently or if you still have to question or change your sport and his modi?
What do you think? Can cycling regain sponsors in Europe and how or is it dying a slow death and will concentrate more and more on markets like China etc? What other ways are there? Change of calendar? Change or elimination of World Tour? Be creative.
I think that a lot of races are still somehow entangled up in their past. So there have to be typical road stages between 150k and 200k plus a time trial. This is traditional, so it has to be that way. There were times, when cycling offered a lot more of possibilities how stages could be held. Even Grand Tours like the Giro or Vuelta started with something like competition series. There the racers were devided into groups and fought in series for the first leaders jersey. For me this sounds like fun and of course more interesting like boring dead flat prologues. The Friedensfahrt once opened with a relay race, there were criteriums and also pair tt's. Sports like cross country and biathlon showed, that you can and you have to change from time to time to stay or become more attractive for sponsors. I'm also thinking here of possibilities like mountain pursuit races at the end of small stage races or competions like "Escalada a Montjuïc" to close/open a race. There are lots of possibilities.
To sum this up: Creating more attention, through more action and more diversity. And yes you can still mix these kind of stages with long and epic ones.
As it now looks the UCI doesn't want to change anything. They are looking for new markets like China, which seems logical, because there is a lot of money. But it seems also questionable, if you can consolidate yourself on these markets permanently or if you still have to question or change your sport and his modi?
What do you think? Can cycling regain sponsors in Europe and how or is it dying a slow death and will concentrate more and more on markets like China etc? What other ways are there? Change of calendar? Change or elimination of World Tour? Be creative.
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