Something for Everybody in the Tour's First Week; Girmay's Historic Victory; More Gravel in the Future? Good Racing, but Fewer Ways to Watch; Is China Coming to the WorldTour?
Key Takeaways:
● First Week of the Tour: Something for Everyone
● The Historic Victory of Biniam Girmay: The Origins of Eritrean Cycling
● More Gravel Coming in the Tour de France?
● Good Racing, but Fewer Ways to Watch
● Will China Enter the WorldTour?
● Giro Donne Kicks Off
The first week of the Tour de France offered a little something for everybody … eight different individuals and eight different teams winning on the first nine stages … crowd favorite Mark Cavendish using his vast experience to finally thread a perfect line past his competitors and earn an historic 35th Tour stage victory, setting the all-time record … Biniam Girmay making history by achieving the first stage win in the Tour for a black African, for Eritrea, and for Team Intermarche, and then doing it again five days later, while building almost insurmountable lead in the green jersey race (see below) … the first real introduction of gravel racing on stage 9 – which generated plenty of controversy (see below) but didn’t really shake up the standings … Richard Carapaz becoming the first Ecuadorean to wear the yellow jersey, if only for a day … the UCI handing out seemingly unnecessary penalties for riders who stopped to kiss their wife or watch the sprint finale on a big screen … and – as of the first rest day – a race that still sees all the top favorites within a minute and a half of each other. The race has all the markings of an exciting next two weeks.
Although there has already been a good deal of ink spilled on the historic nature of Girmay’s victory on stage 3, we’ll pile on a bit. It should be recalled that he was also the first black African to win a single-day classic event, when he took Gent-Wevelgem two years ago, and the same year was the first to take a stage of the Giro as well. The rise of Girmay, and several other strong Eritrean cyclists can be traced back to 19th century colonial occupation, during which time several regions of northern Africa (including Libya, Eritrea, Somalia and Ethiopia) were under Italian control. The Italian influence included a proliferation of bicycles used for everyday transportation and sundry tasks like mail delivery, and of course, for race competitions – in which the Eritreans were not permitted to participate. But that restriction changed over time and a full team of Eritrean riders competed at the 1964 Rome Olympics, despite the country having already been annexed by Ethiopia. Girmay himself was a junior participant in the World Cycling Centre, a program founded by the UCI in Aigle to help riders from poorer backgrounds or less established cycling cultures – and one which should be credited with helping to create a particularly inspiring and historic athlete in this case.
The current Eritrean cycling renaissance began in the mid 1990s after the country regained its independence from Ethiopia, and in a true sporting irony, it may have actually been accelerated by regional competition with its adversary next door. The Tigray region bordering both countries is a hotbed for cycling, but has also been a flashpoint for territorial conflict – the borders are still disputed today. Eritrea is strategically located on the narrow straits between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden – one of the most critical shipping routes in the world - and is perpetually one of the lowest ranking countries in the world in terms of economic freedom and human rights, with an estimated 70% of its population living below the poverty line. This background and context only amplifies the historic nature of Girmay’s accomplishments this week, and one hopes that perhaps they can help to reshape the country's image – from that of a perpetually embattled police state to one with a more progressive future.
There was a good deal of controversy on stage 9 around whether the venerable Tour de France should be surrendering to popular pressure by including multiple gravel sections in the race. Some team directors and riders weighed in with strong opinions that there is no place for gravel in the Tour – that it involves unnecessary danger and could – in a single moment – eliminate the Tour hopes of lighter, or more climbing-oriented GC contenders. This criticism has been leveled before when the Tour visited the cobbles of the Roubaix region in 2003 and 2014, for example; but while the gravel roads in the Champagne region did introduce another layer of uncertainty, theoretically increasing the odds of a flat tire or a crash, the day also produced the most exciting stage of the Tour so far. With non-stop racing from the gun, and hilly roads featuring both pavement and short gravel sections, the entertainment and competition aspects of the race were riveting.
In today’s era of power meters, precise nutrition, and highly specialized training, the sport is obsessed with removing question marks and unforced errors, and yet those are precisely the things that make sports more exciting – when you can’t be sure of the outcome of an event and the unpredictability of the playing field can create an unexpected but worthy champion. We can foresee the Tour including a full gravel stage in the future, something that would allow bike and equipment brands a chance to showcase an entirely different category of gear – exactly like time trials do. And with gravel racing skyrocketing in popularity around the world, a pure gravel day would likely attract a whole new group of fans to the race. And in the end, on this first gravel experiment in the Tour, there were perhaps fewer crashes and flat tires than in a normal paved stage, and there was almost no shake-up in the overall standings. Hence, it seems likely that the Tour will continue to experiment with gravel in the future, just as it has with cobbles in past editions.
While this edition of the Tour delivered an exciting first week of racing, the true measure of its financial impact isn’t who sparked the action, but rather, who and how many watched the action. Broadcast viewership via television and streaming channels drives worldwide marketing opportunities for a variety of ASO content licensees – well beyond the roadside fans and month-long French tourism spike that the race generates. It bears repeating that pro cycling isn’t like other global sports which have exclusive rights and partnerships with a small number of media channels. Instead, the content distribution of the Tour is similar to the U.S. regional sports network (RSN) model, in which individual regional channels have exclusivity. These models often block out many fans when specific channels are not included in a cable package, are priced too expensively, or require a separate subscription. And as we noted last week’s AIRmail, there is only one source for the content in the U.S.; broadcast quality, as well as the cost and accessibility barriers may be dissuading fans from legally purchasing the viewing stream. The actual viewership numbers will surely be picked apart when the race concludes in a couple of weeks – and we’ll finally be able to measure the true market impact of its first gravel stage.
One interesting item regarding Team Astana flew a bit under the radar this week, given all the excitement and drama surrounding Cavendish’s historic win. Several sources have now reported that the team may be taken over by major Chinese bicycle manufacturer XDS, and see its proposed budget thrust up into the “super team” level, akin to UAE or Visma-LAB. It remains unclear exactly what type of financial relationship would be put in place, though indications are that the Chinese would invest funds to become at least a part owner of the team. The company has made it known that it would like to become one of the world’s top bicycle brands. What is less clear is why the company would focus on the Astana license as a way to achieve that objective – since the team is hovering around the relegation level and doesn’t have much time to buy its way out of that dilemma with new riders for 2025, the last of the relegation cycle. Also unclear, if the team is jointly owned between the Chinese company and Astana, is who would be calling the shots and how the team would be managed.
Trek was one of the last major bike manufacturers to have its market woes made public just a few months ago, and now the brand’s market realignment strategy is coming into clearer focus. In addition to its “right-sizing” efforts, it announced to its dealer networks a move into the direct-to-consumer marketplace. Web-based ordering is nothing new for Trek ‒ previously it had a model for consumers to buy a bike and have it sent to one of its dealers for assembly and pick-up. Now, it joins others like Specialized and Canyon where the consumer can have the bike delivered in a nearly ride-ready state to their home. There are upsides and downsides to this move, not the least of which is further alienation and potential shrinkage in its dealer network due to reduced local sales and service attrition. But the ubiquitous WorldTeam sponsor would do well to learn from the mistakes of other high-profile brands which have been rocked by over-reliance on a shift to DTC. None was more public than the billion dollar stock price and operational drubbing Nike took when it had to drastically reshape its business units, manufacturing channels, and retail outlet agreements as a result of lackluster online sales. Any such financial consequences to a bike brand in today’s volatile market could be fatal, by comparison. Still, the opportunity to address a part of cycling’s consumer channel that has considerable sway (those who prefer to purchase online to avoid going into a bike shop) is tantalizing, as it might provide a relief valve to offload prior year stock which has been suppressing current model sales and 2025 product releases.
Finally, we turn back to women’s pro racing with the Giro Donne, which is shaping up to be the first showdown for all the sport’s top WWT stage racers and a likely portent for the Tour de France Femmes in August. The stage 1 time trial and stage 2 road race are already wrapped, with Elisa Longo Borghini winning the TT for Lidl-Trek and Chiara Consonni of UAE breaking the SDWorx-Protime leadout stranglehold to sprint for the win on day two. There are six stages to go and the big showdown on legendary climbs like the Blockhaus this coming weekend, but we hope that the coverage – limited as it may be – doesn’t get too buried under the current men’s Tour de France media cycle. Unfortunate as that may be, women’s racing is still gaining popularity and it’s inevitable that some of these showcase events are overshadowed from time to time, but some good may come of it as the stakeholders address calendar planning in future years and find opportunities to elevate the sport.