Olympic Team Sponsorships

[msl819]

Anyone know how the riders or team decide on their equipment for the race? Are the riders at all obligated to ride the same equipment they ride with their pro teams? It would seem to me that if the countries have their own sponsorships they would look for companies inside their country if possible. It is odd to see an Italian rider on a BMC for instance.

[boxerboxer]

I don't think the Olympics allow sponsors. I remember reading somewhere there were strict rules about how many logos you could have on a bike.

[nooneline]

I'm pretty sure riders provide their own bikes. GB's team gives them GB team bikes, but riders have individual sponsors, or sponsors through their trade teams, that give them olympic bikes. At least, that's what was set up for the Olympian I know.

Yup, pretty serious rules on advertising. Something like a limited area - not sure if it's total area, or percentage of the bike - covered with logos. Hence seeing those flourescent S-Works under a lot of riders sponsored by Specialized. They have fewer logos... and yet still manage to stand out...

[justinrchan]

Read an article that for the most part riders provide their own bikes. The US riders rode the bikes that their pro teams sponsored (i.e, Tyler rode his Cervelo).

The UK team was a bit different as the UK developed their own bikes for the Olympics (Pinarello got hosed in that deal). You can actually buy those bikes if you go to the UK Cycling website because technically UCI rules say that equipment that pros use should also be available to the general public.
And they don't list pricing so if you have to ask, you can't afford it.

[justinrchan]

Here is the article - thanks to LegendRider for posting on another post.

http://bicycling.com/blogs/boulderreport/2012/07/27/britains-mysterious-olympic-bikes/

[Climb01742]

Hence seeing those flourescent S-Works under a lot of riders sponsored by Specialized. They have fewer logos... and yet still manage to stand out...

+1
those babies really popped. very smart of the big s. it's always hard to pick out specific bikes, unless you get a good profile shot of someone in a breakaway. but choose one, really bright color, and man, you could see that flash by thru-out the race. clever branding.

[jpw]

In today's race the Italian women were each riding different brands.

[gavingould]

most of the riders are on their "trade team" stuff with minimized logos or national-style paint schemes. looked like David Millar rode his regular-issue Cervelo while the rest of the GB team rode the GB sport institute bikes.