Amstel Gold content -- avoid if holding out for VS coverage

[Brendan Quirk]

As a student of the bike biz, I took interest in last week's debate here about This Year In Specialized Marketing, specifically pertaining to Boonen's tepid spring results & a broken G'steiner bike or two at Ghent-Wevelgem.

My question is a simple one: What redemption, if any, comes from Schumi's win today at Amstel Gold?

Pro: It gives the big S a ton of fuel for the marketing fire: There's no debate that the Amstel Gold is a huge race. And Schumi is undeniably a powerhouse rider for the future.

Con: It's clear that Specialized sponsors G'steiner begrudgingly. They doubtlessly regret that they signed a 2-year deal with them in '05. Quick Step is where they've poured their marketing heart & soul.

Thoughts?

[Bittersweet]

Who's Schumacher? I thought he drove F1? All I know about is a weak beer named Amstel. There is a race?

This is in jest, but I don't think Amstel helps the big S that much. Boonen isn't even on their product right now. If someone on an S-bike wins L-B-L then they are probably marketing neutral for their spring campaign. They then need a good grand tour and it was worth the money for the year.

[BdaGhisallo]

I am sure that Spec was hoping to make the kind of inroads into the Belgian markets that Cannondale made in Italy on the back of their sponsorship of Cipollini in the late 90s. With all the recent hubbub over Boonen and his incompatibility with the stock Spec bikes, I can't see Spec making too much of a dent in Ridley's recent lock on the belgian bike market. Irony of ironies is that fact that Boonen's current alu steed, was probably made to order by Ridley! Ridley were big supporters of Boonen in his amateur days and I am sure they were happy to help him out recently.

Ridley got real big, real quick, by being big supporters of the amateur scene in Belgium. When they made their move into ProTour sponsorship, they already had a bedrock of support in the Benelux markets.