The speech of Michel Thétaz lays the foundations of the debate. In the opinion of the company IAM’s director, stick its image on a cycling team is a risky gamble today. But it’s a gamble that he decided to take, being fully aware that the wheel will turn in the future, and then, it will be much more complicated to get a place in the cycling world. This “countercyclical” choice is difficult to make in a business logic, and yet, the payoffs are well worth it.
The interview with Michel Thétaz, director of IAM :
Like Michel Thétaz, Vincent Lavenu regrets that cycling maintains a relatively tarnished image in the eyes of the general public and a fortiori, of potential investors. To the AG2R-La Mondiale’s manager, cycling has changed, but it needs to reflect this situation outside the rather closed circle of this sport. Lavenu is however delighted with the attitude and loyalty of the French teams’ partners. He is himself at the head of his team for 25 years…
The interview with Vincent Lavenu, AG2R La Mondiale manager :
If sponsors do not come to cycling, so cycling should go to them. This is somehow the general idea of Yvon Sanquer, also well aware of the label still sadly sticked on cycling. The manager of Cofidis also appreciates the loyalty of partners in France, but knows that it is not these companies cycling needs to convince. Convince means giving arguments and evidence of the merits of sponsorship in cycling. And to Sanquer, there is plenty.
The interview with Yvon Sanquer, Cofidis manager :
MPCC chairman Roger Legeay adopts a more optimistic approach. According to the former manager of Crédit Agricole, the partners are still present, even more than in the past, and they inject more money than they did a few years ago. He conceives that the market is a bit blocked at the French level, but argues that there is room for new sponsors internationally.
The interview with Roger Legeay, MPCC chairman :
Marketing director of the Belgian lottery, Marc Frederix is the only representative of a sponsor in this debate, together with Michel Thétaz. To him, it is clear that the dark page of the cycling history was turned, and that is what cycling have to put forward and present to potential new partners. According to Frederix, cycling still lacks a “communications platform” that would allow the sport to seduce and attract even more new sponsors.
The interview with Marc Frederix, marketing director of Lotto:
La retranscription de l’entretien :
“A lot of teams are very well aware, and especially the riders are aware that doping is not the future of cycling. I think that the sponsors that come on board today have more chance to find a cleaner sport than they did ten years ago. And they have more chance to have a sport with cycling than in others sports. Pressure in cycling is so high and there are so many controls that doping in cycling has become a minor case and not a major case anymore.
Cycling would need a communication platform to prove to big companies that cycling is cleaner now than a lot of other sports. There is a lot of passion amongst the fans of cycling. So the popularity and the passion. I think too that the name of the team is the name of the sponsor, and also the accessibility. I think that is very important that you can approach the riders. It is a little bit different than in a lot of other sports where the champions are the kings and you can not approach them anymore. So, it is very accessible for the general public.”