Where are you getting this from?

I know Rapp is no longer with Specialized but haven't heard of anyone else.

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blog

Holy crap - really??? I hadn't heard that. I'm not exactly on anyone's speed dial, but surprised I hadn't heard it already.

twomarks

I've heard rumors that Trek is down to just a few athletes...I Can't find their sponsored athletes list.

Read his latest post...

http://blog.rappstar.com/

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blog

Well, sure, if you want to take the easy way and go to the source:)

twomarks

I could see many of them just going to a lower level of support. You don't get paid, but you get a free bike. For lower level pros, you just get a heavily discounted frame. I wonder if they are seeing athletes, not exchange rides as quickly as in he past and so overall revenues are flat even if the sport is still growing slowly. Plus, there is even more completion in the market with Niche start-up brands suck as Falco and Dimond.

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TrainingBible Coaching
http://www.trainingbible.com

This is a trend that's emerging throughout sports: sponsor a team, sport, or event rather than just sponsor individual athletes. Less risk of blowing money on an athlete that doesn't pan, gets injured, ends up in a scandal, etc.

In professional golf circa 2005, if you had your tour card you'd make ~$500k/year in endorsements easy. Now I know a lot of guys who are 40 and down on the money list who are making less than $100k in endorsements and 80 and down have been relegated to ball/shoe/glove/bag deals. Purses have trailed because the PGA requires seven year deals but cuts to those are coming as well.

BOOOORRRRING.

That story needs more juice, I heard that Rapp rode a black painted Cervélo P5 and tweeted "Specialized can kiss my ass!".

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How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

Jordan does a nice job with his sponsors and former sponsors...Though it may be a bit dry, it is wise. Word is that the big S is down to Crowie, Gomes, and Hoffman. Don't know about the women.

Some of the larger bike companies are becoming title sponsors of pro cycling teams, as the larger non endemic partners shy away. This likely eats up a huge part of the marketing budget.

Just my thoughts.

Jake

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Get outside!

Not my source.

Probably because they won't announce their 2015 team for another month.

Calm down, Francis.

John

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Top notch coaching: Francois and Accelerate3 | Follow on Twitter: LifetimeAthlete |

It doesn't effect me, so I will remain calm. The interest is more in the support of our sport from within the industry. Is a pull back on sponsorship a harbinger of hard times for triathlon?

*affect.

Unless you want to cite the source of your "rumor", about all anyone can do is spit in the dark until the new rosters and sponsorship agreements are released/announced. And I would argue that the bike sponsors are not the best indicator. Bikes for triathletes are a necessary thing, and sponsoring or not sponsoring a handful of pros will likely make close to zero difference in their sales.

Now, if some of the wetsuit manufacturers, shoes, GU, and those types of manufacturers start pulling back on their sponsorships, then I might see a better case for the beginnings of a mild concern.

John

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Top notch coaching: Francois and Accelerate3 | Follow on Twitter: LifetimeAthlete |

They kept Hoffman over Jan Frodeno?...very interesting...(pink font)

The Rags to Riches to Rags (being obviously facetious here but you get the point) dilemma in golf is 100% related to the Tiger Woods Effect. He was bigger than the industry and that wild ride from 1997-2009 will never be repeated. Every golfer cashed in on that jackpot. The future is certainly not as bright, as you noted.

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

And this is how Lance gets back in!

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Zen and the Art of Triathlon. Strava Workout Log
Interviews with Chris McCormack, Helle Frederikson, Angela Naeth, and many more.
http://www.zentriathlon.com

They are cutting a roster of 21 down to 3 or 4 people? I find that hard to believe but I also won't consider it completely out of the question. Seems very strange that they'd scale back that much. Here are the Triathletes listed on their site as of this afternoon.

Craig Alexander
Bevan Docherty
Tim Don
Paula Findlay
Jan Frodeno
Javier Gomez
Melissa Hauschildt
David Hauss
Benjamin Hoffman
Dan Hugo
Gwen Jorgensen
Chris McCormack
Richard Murray
Angela Naeth
Lisa Norden
Jordan Rapp
Ruben Ruzafa
Non Stanford
Conrad Stoltz
Jesse Thomas
Lukas Verzbicas

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"Train so you have no regrets @ the finish line"

What you did there. I see it.

I thought some guy named Dave Scott was on that list too.

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Suffer Well.

The best thing you can do for a sponsor is win. The rest is details.

Seems in line with WTC phasing out the pros. Even the most thought-out arguments over why we should even have tri pros don't hold water at all and basically boil down to: we need people to look up to (wtf?). I buy a new bike 95% as a function of aero data vs price, and the other 5% is if I think the bike looks good. We all know that XYZ pro is paid to ride that specific bike, so the fact that they're riding that bike has zero bearing on whether it is the best bike or even a good bike. This is regularly said, but it is also proven by the fact that someone like Rapp will tell us how great the Shiv is, then as soon as Specialized drops him he immediately moves to a Cervelo. If a guy like Rapp is choosing to ride a P5 without being paid, then to me that speaks volumes more than his years of touting Specialized.

There's really no need for companies to be giving out free bikes/gear to pros, especially if it makes the margins slimmer for the company or increases the price of them for me. If I were a company like Specialized or Trek or whatever, I would probably pay really productive/visible pros like Craig Alexander or Macca or former Olympians moving to tri, but can't see paying someone just to constantly race and make top 10 or whatever.

On the surface this seems like a good move and consistent with the current direction of tri. I suspect in five years, all WTC pros will be racing in only a handful of races that have a pro field and many pros will be over in the middle east trying to get their hands on the Challenge money.

Except in ProTour cycling, where they're trying very hard to run away from dependence on the team sponsorship model. But I don't think they're trying to go to individual sponsorships, but rather to getting a cut of TV deals.

But it seems hard to find a team model that really works in long course triathlon. There are a few "teams" out there, e.b. TBB, but they're not really teams in the same sense that a ProTour team is a team. And my sense is they're a very weak brand just because long course isn't much of a team sport. Even short course is a weakish team sport.

I heard that a whole bunch of people were getting cut and some of the athletes were shopping around some deals to other bike companies that seemed pretty ridicilous in my eyes. I mean I guess you can ask for the world, but rule number 1 is that you have to both be in the same ballpark to even have a chance at playing ball. From the athletes on the list I can see a whole bunch getting dropped. The decisions are tough when you are deciding between Olympians, World Champions, or future Olympians and World Champions. I would imagine part of the problem is that all are costly and you just can't have a roster of all Derek Jeters.

Questions though, will we ever see Rinny with Specialized?

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