BETWEEN THE TAPEA lot has been said about MathieuVanDerPoel
and his diverse exploits across cyclocross,
mountain biking and road cycling.Muchlike
Pauline Ferrand Prevot and MarianneVos,
Mathieu has experienced great successmixing
disciplines while racing them withinthesame
calendar year. There are other riderswhohave
diversified their interests but not quitewiththe
same success.
Nino Schurter dabbled in road cyclingfortwo
World Tour races, the Tour of RomandieandTour
de Suisse, in 2014. His results weren’ttoobad
with a couple of top 10s but, regardless,thiswas
positive for MTB XCO as road cyclingmediaand
fans learnt the name Schurter. PeterSagan’s
foray back into MTB XCO at the RioOlympicswas
another coup with road cycling fanskeentosee
how the big star would go on the dirt,whichlikely
led to them tuning into the race.
Adventures into other disciplinesto‘dipthetoe’
is one thing but to build your calendarandteam
around a multi-discipline approachtocyclingasa
whole is something unique and onethatMathieu
VanderPoel’sCorendon-Circusteamhasdone
verywell.VanderPoelistheirstarriderbut
acrosstheteam’sMTB,RoadandCrosssectors
theyarestillverystrongwithridersfocusingon
eachdisciplineandoccasionallydiversifying.
Couldtheybestrongeriftheyfocused100%on
onediscipline?
Maybe.ButIforonewouldbeawholelot
lessinterestedintheteamiftheywerea
standaloneroadteam.Thisisthebigdrawcard
foradiversifiedteam.Theycanbridgethedivide
betweendifferent‘sports’andshowcasetheir
sponsorstoawideraudiencebase.Theymight
notbeabletodominateonedisciplineinterms
ofreach,butthefingers-in-many-piesapproach
couldbemorestable.Ifonedisciplineisunder
performing,theyhaveabackupplan.
Otherteamsareseeingthebenefitsof
diversifying,especiallyinacompetitive
sponsorshipmarket.EFEducationFirst,a
WorldTourroadteam,isallowingriderstorace
‘alternative’raceslikemountainbikeraces,such
astheLeadville100,andgravelraces,liketheDirty Kanza, for 2019. This was done with the aim
of bridging the divide between the top competitive
side of bikes and where the consumer base is on
theground.
Onmountainbikes,wehavealsoseenriders
fromdownhillteams,likePivotFactoryRacing,
doingtheEnduroWorldSeriesalongsidetheir
usualdownhillWorldCups.Duringtheweekend
thatheldboththeEWSLesOrresandVallnord
downhillworldcupraces,thePivotteamdidwell
withEddieMasterstakingthewinatLesOrres
andEmilieSiegenthalergetting4thinVallnord.
ThiswasgreatforPivotandtheteam’ssponsors
asitshowedthediversityoftheirbrands.
TheXCworldseessomeriderstakeupthe
marathonorstageracechallengethoughoften
thefocusisonXCduringtheseason.Thepre-
seasonCapeEpicandMarathonWorldChamps
aretheusualgo-toeventsforXCOWorldCup
racersthoughsomedonationalroadracesas
tuneupsduringtheseason.I’vealwaysliked
addingsomemarathonorstageracingduringthe
seasonwhenitfitstospicethingsup.
GiventhemodelexecutedbytheCorendon-
CircusteamandEF,itwouldn’tbetoosurprising
toseeotherteamsdiversifyinthefuture.Sure,
noteveryonecanbeVanderPoelandwinthe
AmstelGoldroadraceoneweekendandwinanXC
WorldCupthenext.Butjusthavingridersracein
eachdisciplinecanputteamsinastrongposition
intermsofreach.Itwouldbeinterestingtosee
ifaWorldTourroadteameverinvestsinXCor
marathonracingtodiversifytheirinterests.Time
willtell!BETWEEN THE TAPE
WORDS: SEBASTIAN JAYNE PHOTO: PHIL GALEDIVERSIFY
http://www.ambmag.com.au - 35