Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2012/07/19
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I heard during the TdF coverage that it is arguably the largest free sport event globally with something like 20-30 million spectators over the course of 3 weeks (and it's all free of charge). It's the only spectator sport event I watch because I ride and this is an incredible competition. I have ridden over some of the famous (amongst cyclists :) mountain routes (Alp d'Huez, Galibier, etc) and I know how difficult some of those climbs are. I don't even watch ice hockey. ;) While the French riders hasn't dominated the GC standing in many years, French riders like Thomas Voeckler who won yesterday's stage in the Pyrennes with an incredible ride-from-the-gut means one day a French GC contender will rise again. For those of you who doesn't ride a bike much, the TdF is similar to running a marathon a day for 20 days. Probably the most difficult multi-day athletic event in the world. If I run a company that wants to penetrate the European market, I would sponsor a TdF team. There is nothing quite like having your company name on all the team members on TV for days. All for a few $M per year. And if your sponsored team is successful, the commentators will be repeat your company names a few thousand times over the course of 3 weeks. I know little about Credit Agricole except that it's a French bank of some sort but I am never going to forget that name. :)) Maybe Leica should sponsor a team? :) Regards, Spencer On Jul 18, 2012, at 5:04, Jean-Michel Mertz wrote: > > Thanks Philippe! I was a Tour de France enthousiast for years, it all > started with Bobet and then Darrigade, Anquetil, Poulidor and the like. > Today this has cooled off a bit ... probably because the French aren't as > good as they used to be and also because there's a shadow of a doubt > hovering above all this ... But it's still a great show and a source of > "bloody" good pictures! Jean-Michel