Rock Racing - Good for Cycling?
Q: What do you get when you infuse the swagger and showmanship normally associated with professional wrestling into pro cycling world?
A: Rock Racing.
If you're not familar with Rock Racing, the team is a new one (2007) on the scene in professional cycling. Sponsored by Michael Ball of Rock & Republic clothing brand ("each piece designed for sexy, confident men and women"), the team arrives for events in a half-dozen matching black Cadillac Escalades and features a number of "bad boy" cyclists -- riders previously tied to doping scandals including Tyler Hamilton, Oscar Sevilla and Santiago Botero.
Thanks to the Operation Puerto doping shadow carried by this trio, they were ousted from the Tour of California and replaced by other riders on Rock's roster. Ball's response was to have them still show up in Californina and ride around in front of the pack wearing racing outfits with crucifixes on them.
The Rock team sued Tour de Georgia organizers after it looked like they would be excluded from that race. They were granted entry after Saunier Duval withdrew, freeing up a spot. It seems Ball almost looks for such hassle to help get his brand in the news.
“What happened at Tour of California and how we’ve developed since then is really a representation of what the brand is and what I look forward to bringing to cycling. And that is excitement and some new ideas . . . and moving forward into more of an entertainment perspective and a true spectator sport," Ball told a group of reporters in a teleconference last week.
"In other words, so the television and networks can pick it, so the sponsors aren’t paying to be put on the back of a jersey but actually paying to be seen during the televised course of a race."
Sure there are brash teams in every sport, and even entire scenarios where the line between "sport" and entertainment is blurred. Think of professional wrestling and of such circuses as the XFL. Michael Ball is working to carefully calculate this image, and part of his strategy is to serve up controversy and drama everywhere he goes. I suspect this more about selling clothes than bike racing, and in the end, I wonder: Is this sort of thing good for cycling? Comment below.
Image: Santiago Botero/Rock Racing
Comments
I think that it would be good if it had the desired effect. I read the paper daily and read a few online cycling forums and this is the first I have heard of it. Even if its a temporary spotlight it might leave enough after to breathe life into the sport.
I dream for the day when cycling content (other than the TdF) is in the sports section. I ride with a couple really great riders that would love to see their name in print.
I recently attended the last two stages of the Tour De Georgia, and as I expected the hypers were all gone and the crowds were at about 1/3 of what it was during Lance/Floyd/Discovery years. Only the true cycling fans showed. Most people are more interested in a “star” or controversy rather than the actual sport. Rock brings both to road racing, which if you are a spectator is otherwise pretty boring. All controversy aside, Michael Ball started out as a bike racer, and is living his dream by owning a pro team and I think his showmanship brings something positive to road racing. If you look at the team roster and exclude the the one’s under a shadow most of these guys are solid pro’s that have been racing a long time. If the lines at the Rock Racing section of the expo each day is any indication, I think Rock has nothing to worry about. Plus they probably have the coolest team kit in the pro ranks.
I don’t know that much about the team but their outfits are smokin’ hot!
There is no doubt that Michael Ball is a great promoter. Anyone who can get rich selling $300 jeans knows something about marketing. Some people may love to hate the Rock Racing team, but there is no doubt that they drawing a lot of attention. At the Tour de Georgia, they were the only team I saw who was actually selling a lot of team merchandise. I think they were 8th overall as a team, so that popularity certainly wasn’t based on their race results. Like them or not, I think cycling needs a bit of the dramatic flair that someone like Michael ball can bring.
I wasn’t at stage 7 in Atlanta, but I don’t think the stage 6 crowd was 1/3 that of previous years. I have been to the Brasstown Bald stage every year since 2004, and I think the crowds were pretty good this year- even when compared to the years that Lance and Floyd raced. I will be curious to see the estimated attendance numbers compared to 05 and 06.