Scrambled Names – Opportunity Lost

What is the value of a sports team’s name?  Take the Yankees, the Red Sox or the Dodgers.  These famous American baseball teams have changed owners over the years, and the Dodgers even moved across the country.  But their names have remained constant.  Fans have been buying their name-branded merchandise for generations.  Advertisers pay a premium to be associated with those names.  When such a team is for sale, a huge part of the value is allocated to the bundle of intangible assets known as “goodwill” of which the protected name is a major component.  Can you imagine if those teams changed their names every year or two depending upon the changing landscape of advertising sponsors?  The New York Wheaties become the New York Bud Lites, and then the New York Nikes?  The Dread Pirate Roberts understood this concept perfectly!  And what if the same companies advertise with (sponsor) multiple teams?  You could end up with the Boston Geicos and the New York Geicos.  How confusing would that be?  Just think of the lost revenue opportunities from not having a time-honored name?  The Yankees brand by itself is a veritable “golden goose.”  Tossing that name aside in favor of a new sponsor’s name would be financial folly – not only for the team, but even for the sponsor.  Association with the Yankees name itself multiplies the effect of the advertiser’s exposure as a team sponsor.

Yet the above scenario is exactly what happens with professional cycling teams.  Many of them change names every year or two, as sponsors come and go.  There are four Tour de France teams sponsored by lottery systems, and three of them have used or still use the word “Lotto” in their ever-changing names.  It’s almost impossible to keep them straight.  From one year to the next, it is very hard to tell which teams are new and which ones are successors to teams from the previous year.  For die-hard fans who follow all the teams through all the season-long races, maybe this is not a problem.  But for the millions of TDF-only fans – those who only tune in each July for the “Grande Boucle,” the annual name scramble makes it very hard to develop lasting team loyalties.  Forget the fans.  What is the impact on revenues?  It seems to me that the teams and their advertising sponsors are squandering a huge financial opportunity by failing to create and capitalize on a powerful and enduring brand name.

That’s my soap box.  For more information on the ever-evolving names of the teams, see my prior posts at the following links:  http://tourdefrancebypapaduck.blogspot.com/2012/06/pro-cycling-teams-in-general.html and: http://tourdefrancebypapaduck.blogspot.com/2012/06/more-tidbits-on-teams.html

Now, here is the list of teams invited to compete in this year=s Tour de France, along with a few notes:

17 UCI-Qualified Teams:

     AG2R la Mondiale (ALM), France.

     Astana Pro Team (AST), Kazakhstan.

     BMC Racing Team (BMC), USA.

     Etixx Quick Step (EQS), Belgium.  Recently, Omega Pharma Quick Step (and lots of other names – including “Lotto” – before that).

     FDJ.fr (FDJ), France.  Recent name sponsor BigMat is gone.  FDJ is the French lottery. 

     IAM Cycling (IAM), Switzerland.  New team since 2013, sponsor is a Swiss asset management firm.

     Lampre – Merida  (LAM), Italy.  Name has changed frequently over the years.

     Lotto – Soudal (LTS), Belgium.  Formerly Lotto-Belisol, and a long list of other name changes. 

     Movistar Team (MOV), Spain.

     Orica GreenEDGE (OGE), Australia.  Fourth year in the TDF.

     Team Cannondale Garmin (TCG), USA.  Merged from Garmin-Sharp (USA) and Cannondale-Liquigas (Italy).  Both teams have a long and confusing history of name changes.

     Team Giant Alpecin (TGA), Germany.  Formerly Dutch team Argos Shimano.  Another old team with a long and confusing history of name changes – and now a nationality change.

     Team Katusha (KAT), Russia.

     Team LottoNL Jumbo ( ?  ) Netherlands.  Formerly Belkin, Blanco (blank), Rabobank, Novell, WordPerfect, and other names.

     Team Sky (SKY), Great Britain.

     Tinkoff – Saxo (TTS), Russia.  Formerly Dutch team Saxo Bank, with other names over the years.

     Trek Factory Racing (TFR) USA.  Descended from RadioShack (USA) and Leopard Trek (Luxembourg).  Two old teams (USA & Lux) hot rivals, with long list of former names; merged a couple of years ago with Luxembourg registration.  This year changed to USA registration.   

5 Wild-Card Teams:

     Bora Argon 18 (BOA), Germany.

     Bretagne Séché Environment (BSE), France.

     Cofidis Solutions Crédits (COF), France.  Slight name change.

     MTN – Qhubeka (MTN), South Africa.  New team since 2013. 

     Team Europcar (EUC), France.  An old team under various names; has new name and new vision for development of French riders since 2011.

4 Teams that have disappeared:

     Euskatel - Euskadi (EUS), Spain.  Basque team with distinctive orange kits (uniforms).  They folded for lack of funding, and declining results.  Basque riders with their wonderfully unpronounceable names can still be found on other teams.

     Liquigas - Cannondale (LIQ), Italy.  This team has merged with the US team Garmin.  (See list of 2015 TDF teams.)

     Vacansoleil (VCD) Netherlands.  Folded end 2013 when sponsor withdrew.

     Saur - SoJaSun (SAU), France.  Folded end 2013 when sponsor withdrew.

Jeff Louder (BMC) on the verge of winning Stage 4 (Park City) Tour of Utah 2010.  BMC is one team that has kept its name and image consistent over recent years.

Langeveld, Clarke & Vachon, leading the breakaway at Stage 12 (Lyon) Tour de France 2014.  They are riding for Garmin-Sharp, OricaGREENEDGE and Bretagne-Séché-Environment respectively.  For 2015, Garmin merged with Cannondale and now goes by "Team Cannondale Garmin."

  

Astana (light blue kits) riding together in the peleton to protect their GC contender Vincenzo Nibali (yellow jersey third from right) in Stage 12 (Lyon) Tour de France 2014.  Nibali ended up winning the GC prize that year.

Ladagnous and Gallopin riding for two of the lottery sponsored teams - FDJ and Lotto-Belisol, Stage 12 (Lyon) Tour de France 2014.

The BMC team car following the peleton, Stage 12 (Lyon) Tour de France 2014.

The Trek team car following the peleton, Stage 12 (Lyon) Tour de France 2014.

And Now for the Mountains!

After the rest day, the Pyrénées await.  Stage 10 ends with a 1,300 meters climb over 23 Km to a mountain-top finish at La Pierre-St-Martin.  Stage 11 has another summit finish at Cauterets, with two punishing mountains in the middle – Col d’Aspin and the legendary Col du Toumalet.  Stage 12 also finishes with a climb to Plateau de Beille, after three intervening summits.  At this point, the Yellow Jersey race will be coming into focus.  Meanwhile, the sprinters will be lucky to survive.

The Pyrénées!  By July, the snow will have melted enough for the roads to be open, but this will still be a hostile environment.

Nan Kennard, Matt & Ashley Jensen climbing the east approach of the Col du Tourmalet - May 2011.  (Aaron Kennard taking the photo.)

Aaron & Nan Kennard and Matt & Ashley Jensen at the summit of the Col du Tourmalet - May 2011.  (Was Jurgen Van Den Broeck taking the photo?)

Four flat-to-rolling stages will next bring the peleton first to Valence on the Rhône River, and then to the foothills of the Alps at Gap.  These stages (plus the rest day to follow) will give the GC riders a chance to recover their strength for the Alps.

 How's this for a hostile cycling environment?   The Alps in winter - Mont Blanc in the middle distance.

The four stages in the Alps feature 14 categorized mountain climbs; and three summit finishes.  The crowning jewel will be the famous Alpe d’Huez!  These will be the last chances for the challengers to overtake the rider who emerges from the Pyrénées with the Yellow Jersey.  The Polka Dot Jersey (for best mountain climber) will also be decided here.  As always, the winner must not only be world-class strong; and generously lucky; he absolutely must have the support of a strong team.  “Lucky” you say?  For sure!  A mechanical failure at the wrong time, or a crash on one of those frightening downhills can destroy the success of a brilliant climb.    

Remember, the mountain stages will not necessarily be won by the Yellow Jersey or his challengers.  These riders will battle amongst themselves throughout those stages, to be sure.  But for all the other teams with no other hope for glory, these eight stages offer the chance to send their favorite sons off in the breakaways, in hopes of stealing a stage win.  Even one TDF stage win on a rider’s resumé can transform him from an “average Joe” – a mere domestique – to a rising star.  Whoever wins the climactic stage to Alpe d’Huez will have his name forever marked on one of the 17 hairpin corners – immortal fame!  Cycling enthusiasts from all over the world climb that mountain by the thousands every year.  It is perhaps of the sport’s most “holy” pilgrimage site.  Imagine the glory to have your name enshrined on one of those magical corners!

Just some of the 17 switchbacks on the climb to Alpe d'Huez.

Matt Jensen rounding corner No. 10 at Alpe d'Huez (May 2011).  If he could win this stage at the Tour de France, his name would appear on that sign along with Federico Echave, stage winner in 1987.  (In your dreams, Matt!)

 Nan Kennard, climbing through corner No. 17, just before entering the ski resort village of Alpe d'Huez.  (May 2011).  I hate to tell you, Matt, but Nan has a better chance of getting her name on the sign than you do.  Matt may never win a stage at the TDF, but he wins props for organizing the very challenging Three Kings Bike Race, held each June in North Salt Lake.  Any cyclist who claims climbing prowess should conquer the Three Kings before boasting too broadly.

The final stage will be the ceremonial ride into Paris.  The Yellow Jersey winner, and probably all of the other prize jersey winners as well, will have already been decided.  They will all ride casually through the crowds toasting their teams and all the fans with champagne.  The only drama will occur at the very end, when the sprinters will jostle for one last stage win.

I can hardly wait for the Tour to begin! 

I’m Baaack!

Perhaps you noticed that I was unable to create my full complement of blogs for the 2014 Tour de France.  Ironically, I was in France.  Suzanne and I were serving as volunteer office staff in the France Lyon Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints   I did manage to break away one afternoon long enough to watch Stage 12 as it passed through the outskirts of Lyon.  But we were too busy to be able to post as many blogs as I have done in previous years.  Well, 

we are home now, and I plan to pick up where I left off.

The Route for 2015

The First Week:

For the first nine days the Tour will move from Holland, through Belgium, and then along the Channel coast of France into Normandy.  This is the reverse order of the liberating Allied armies of 71 years ago.  Back then, the entire area was a bleak, black-and-white, crater-pocked moon-scape – as if color had not yet been invented.  Today, it is a vibrant colorful region of flowers, forests and farms; of big bustling cities and quaint villages.

This field of Lupins growing in the area of this year's Tour de France opening week represents the 20,000 tons grown annually in France.  The seed is as nourishing as peas.  The plants are so hardy they do not require insecticides.  

The Tour begins with two stages in Utrecht, Holland.  First, a short individual time trial – 13.8 km (less than 9 miles).  This should favor the power-house riders more than the endurance ones.   The second stage from Utrecht to Zeeland will be long and flat, and will likely end in a bunch sprint to open the competition for the Green Jersey.

Stage 3 goes from Antwerp past Brussels to Huy (all in Belgium) and ends with a short-but-steep climb – 1.3 km at 9.6%.  Stage 4 cuts back across Belgium from Seraing (near Liège) to Cambrai (France), and incorporates more than 13 km of the brutal cobblestones from the one-day Classic Paris-Roubaix.  One mistake on the cobbles can cause an early exit from the Tour, even for the favorites. 

The next three stages are flat ones (ideal for the Green Jersey sprinters), and follow the Channel coast southwest into Normandy.  Stage 8 from Rennes to the Mûr de Bretagne (heart of Normandy) is also flat, but ends with another vicious climb: 2 km at 6.9% avg – max 15%  This will certainly spread out the peleton, and may give a clue to the contenders for the final Yellow Jersey.  The final stage of this first portion of the Tour will be a team time trial. 

As the first rest day arrives, the General Classification (GC – Yellow Jersey) competition will still be wide open.  No victor will yet be certain, but there may be some certain losers.  This can be the result of accidents/injuries, illness, or poor results in the time trials or on the two hill-top finishes.  

This is Omaha Beach, one of the landing beaches for the Allies on D-Day, June 6 1944.  Today, sail-cars race on the beach, and the turmoil of long ago is only a memory.  These racers can reach speeds of up to 140 miles per hour!  The 2015 Tour de France will pass near this location during its first week.  

This is the lighthouse of Tévennec, located near the finish of Stage 8 of this year's Tour de France.