What happened to John-Lee Augustyn?

[stringbean]

What Dassie said.Tour guide.Saddly he will never race again.

Unfortunately life at the front of the peloton is hard and nowadays short lived.

Contracts are getting harder to obtain and it's become almost impossible to make a living or career out of cycling.I know I sound like a profit of doom but I see more and more ( some of my friends approaching 50) still thinking they going to get a pro contract one day.Pushing their kids in the same way.

There,can of worms is open.My 2 C

[Jaco-fiets]

What Dassie said.Tour guide.Saddly he will never race again.

Unfortunately life at the front of the peloton is hard and nowadays short lived.

Contracts are getting harder to obtain and it's become almost impossible to make a living or career out of cycling.I know I sound like a profit of doom but I see more and more ( some of my friends approaching 50) still thinking they going to get a pro contract one day.Pushing their kids in the same way.

There,can of worms is open.My 2 C

Some of your friends turning 50 still thinking they are going to get pro contract? Haibo!!!!

 

Are you sure they are not just really passionate about cycling?

[stringbean]

It's a fine line.Just as I've seen cycling save many people from a bad place I've also seen many go over that line and loose family,wives and jobs.

Very fine line between passion and obsession.Ive been there.30 hrs/ week on the bike is 30hrs away from your wife,children,job.Easy done in your younger years but as you get older that type of sacrifice will cost you.

[Shebeen]

What Dassie said.Tour guide.Saddly he will never race again.

Unfortunately life at the front of the peloton is hard and nowadays short lived.

Contracts are getting harder to obtain and it's become almost impossible to make a living or career out of cycling.I know I sound like a profit of doom but I see more and more ( some of my friends approaching 50) still thinking they going to get a pro contract one day.Pushing their kids in the same way.

There,can of worms is open.My 2 C

So the zenith of his career will remain that mountains stage at TDF where he went off piste? That must come up a lot with his groups!

[Jaco-fiets]

It's a fine line.Just as I've seen cycling save many people from a bad place I've also seen many go over that line and loose family,wives and jobs.

Very fine line between passion and obsession.Ive been there.30 hrs/ week on the bike is 30hrs away from your wife,children,job.Easy done in your younger years but as you get older that type of sacrifice will cost you.

Very true! Cycling changed my life for the better at first. Became a bit of a unhealthy obsession later. Luckily got that under control and now I just cycle when and if I want to. Enjoy it even more now.

I see that fine line in the workplace as well. Very fine line between loyalty and stupidity.....

[NGUTF]

What is JL up to lately?

 

Who's the dudey on the far right? Looks like well known DJ Marco Bailey?

[Paulst12]

What makes my blood boil is that the cycling industry is so big, with people buying bicycles for ridiculous amaounts of money, and yet sponsorships are dissapearing fast. I can understand that media / TV sponsorships arent in the league of soccer, golf & F1, but then whats happening to all the cash people spend on equipment? Why not reinvest in the sport? I think the manufacturers are getting greedy!!

[Barend de Arend]

What makes my blood boil is that the cycling industry is so big, with people buying bicycles for ridiculous amaounts of money, and yet sponsorships are dissapearing fast. I can understand that media / TV sponsorships arent in the league of soccer, golf & F1, but then whats happening to all the cash people spend on equipment? Why not reinvest in the sport? I think the manufacturers are getting greedy!!

 

So buy from a manufacturer that does sponsor.

 

Part of the problem is that sponsors don't get guaranteed exposure.  ASO just pulled their races from the Protour so that they can invite the teams they want to invite.  That means that if you sponsor at the top level, you aren't guaranteed exposure at the Tour de France.

 

Why would you spend millions?

[TheJ]

Professional cycling is a business, not sport. Riders are race horses decorated with logos and slogans. A billboard on wheels. Went to watch the TdF in 2013 and when you are there it hits home how the cycling plays such a small part. An hour before the riders come past, the sponsors convoy comes past where they throw freebies and other products at you, trying to get you to start buying their products. This takes the better part of half an hour. Then the bunch of riders comes past, 30 seconds, gone.

 

Factoring in the RC doping thing this past week, you know what I'm glad I'm not at that level. I don't want the pressure of having to be in top (doped) shape or else I might loose my spot in the billboard train. I don't want to be the race horse with logos on my back. I race my MTB and do well every now and then in local MTB races, and I've actually decided that I'm happy where I am. 

 

I don't want the life of a Pro.

Edited December 21, 2015 by TheJ

[stringbean]

As guys said,it's a buisiness.Somewhere along the line a accountant will look at the books and say WTF.Just looking at what it costs our local guys,somewhere along the line ,someone in the company askes"you spent a million rand on a cycling team ,what did you get in return?)

And don't give me that advertising exposure BS.Advertising ain't going to make me take up your medical aid or buy lights from your company.Ive been cycling for 30 years,follow the teams and results and today I still don't know what RECM is.

If we look overseas at what it costs in euro to run a team I'm afraid not even Dimension Data will be around for more than 2 years.

[Skott5]

As guys said,it's a buisiness.Somewhere along the line a accountant will look at the books and say WTF.Just looking at what it costs our local guys,somewhere along the line ,someone in the company askes"you spent a million rand on a cycling team ,what did you get in return?)

And don't give me that advertising exposure BS.Advertising ain't going to make me take up your medical aid or buy lights from your company.Ive been cycling for 30 years,follow the teams and results and today I still don't know what RECM is.

If we look overseas at what it costs in euro to run a team I'm afraid not even Dimension Data will be around for more than 2 years.

 

It's about brand awareness and brand exposure more than Advertising.

You might not know what or who RECM is, but you have become aware of the brand.

It might happen that you will need the services of such a firm in the future and when the name comes up you will associate the brand.

[Johan A Marais]

What Dassie said.Tour guide.Saddly he will never race again.

Unfortunately life at the front of the peloton is hard and nowadays short lived.

Contracts are getting harder to obtain and it's become almost impossible to make a living or career out of cycling.I know I sound like a profit of doom but I see more and more ( some of my friends approaching 50) still thinking they going to get a pro contract one day.Pushing their kids in the same way.

There,can of worms is open.My 2 C

 

So, I am not getting that contract after all - wtf  Eish, broken...

[stringbean]

Nope

It's not about brand awareness or exposure.

It's about profit.

If you put out a couple of Mil a year and your return on that is zero,you will be closing your doors very soon.

You can only con the accountants for so long.if you sitting in a recession,cutting back on staff your so called "advertising and marketing are the first ones to go.

[TheJ]

Marcel Kittel's old Giant/Alpacin team, I had no idea what Alpacin is or what they did. How many people on TheHub do? Turns out they make shampoo, saw in the shops the other day. I had no clue. Regarding RECM, they handle money and investments I think?

[Danger Dassie]

Skott is very accurate, it is about brand awareness and the associated awareness of it.
As far as sponsorship goes, especially sports sponsorship cycling as a whole provides  a far bigger return than other sporting codes. 
Ask Phil Buys what the value return was on his Epic performances, it was measured by the sponsors and event. 

Part of the problem is that all to often cycling undersells itself to companies, and business being business they'll leverage on the lowest cost (athletes) on the basis of their passion end up being exploited. It's almost like indentured labour. 
 

[Guest Lancesball]

Amgen is the best sponsor of cycling. Should of had Rourke ride for them if this didnt go vagina up for him...