Brand loyalty and MvdP's deal with Canyon

[charliedid]

Originally Posted by Zackus

As far as the MVDP contract with Canyon being longer term than his with Alpecin, wasn't it a similar situation with Sagan and Specialized. When he moved off Bora Hansgrohe to Total engergies, wasn't that when TE switched to specialized?

It's probably unlikely that MVDP leaves Alpecin because, as I recall he has some sort of partial ownership or minority stake in the team, but i assume if he ever were to move off the team to another one, the bike sponsorship would be a part of the negotiation.

Interesting point as I didn't know about his stake.

[prototoast]

I like riding different bikes, but I would still happily sign an exclusive 10-year contract with any company that will provide me with at least two bikes a year (as long as this company is a high-end company that makes bikes that cover road, mountain and gravel). I don't even need cash on top of that.

[benb]

I would kind of be surprised if there was a clause in there that says he can't go ride his old bike from some other brand on a random day.

[Zackus]

Originally Posted by charliedid

Interesting point as I didn't know about his stake.

I must be wrong about this, as I can't find any info in a quick google to back it up. I remember hearing about it when they made the jump from Conti team to world tour team, but I must have mis-recorded the info in my brain.

[Jaybee]

Originally Posted by benb

I would kind of be surprised if there was a clause in there that says he can't go ride his old bike from some other brand on a random day.

I'm not going to pore through Google Images of MVDP as a junior, but I can't picture him on anything but a Canyon.

I think it makes sense for both parties, in a Sagan/Specialized sort of way. He's going to sell a lot of bikes (rainbow stripes look good in advertisements) and get paid handsomely for it.

[osbk67]

Originally Posted by benb

I would kind of be surprised if there was a clause in there that says he can't go ride his old bike from some other brand on a random day.

I would be surprised if there wasn’t.

[KJMUNC]

I think most of us plebian cyclist care way more about the bikes the pros ride than the pros themselves. It's a tool for them.

MVDP is probably quite happy to be able to make a bundle of cash from his relationship with Canyon, especially considering he's one of the very few that command that level of commitment.

[ridethecliche]

Originally Posted by Hank Scorpio

Given his back injury, which to me doesn’t seem resolved, Canyon is taking some risk in the deal. On the plus side they are tying up probably one of the top three road riders so it may legitimize the brand which consumers can’t touch or feel at the LBS. I had the Aeroad for a while and I can say the ride was a bit rigid. It was a direct mount one so I think I only had 26’s on it. I hope somewhere the contact it is noted that he must keep his mullet for the entirety of the deal.

But for him this means that he might be able to focus on recovery from injury if it ever gets to the point where he needs it and spend a year doing rehab and work as a brand ambassador for them while getting healthy again.

So, that stipulation may be built in. If he can stay away from any annoying controversy, it's a good win for Canyon... I'm sure they have that stipulation built in as well.

[prototoast]

Originally Posted by Hank Scorpio

Given his back injury, which to me doesn’t seem resolved, Canyon is taking some risk in the deal. On the plus side they are tying up probably one of the top three road riders so it may legitimize the brand which consumers can’t touch or feel at the LBS. I had the Aeroad for a while and I can say the ride was a bit rigid. It was a direct mount one so I think I only had 26’s on it. I hope somewhere the contact it is noted that he must keep his mullet for the entirety of the deal.

I think we've seen enough evidence from other sports to know that a 10 year contract given to a 29 year old will almost always look like a mistake by the end. But, I think one advantage that Canyon has here is that they're in the business of selling bikes, not selling tickets to events. Even if van der Poel has to retire from the world tour, he can still show up at Unbound Gravel and post about it to a million instagram followers (about 20x the number of instagram followers Keegan Swenson has), so I think they think he can still sell bikes even beyond his career in the world tour.

[RoosterCogset]

Has any team major sponsor, just scrapped the bike sponsorship thing and told the riders to ride whatever they want and/or can get sponsored to ride?

[callmeishmael]

I don't think Canyon at all expect MVdP to ride for another 10 years; I think they're just locking him in until the end of his career. I'd be very surprised if there wasn't a sunset clause (i.e. the deal ends if MDVP retires before that point, as seems all but certain).

What it also likely does, as others have noted, is stop (or at least make it harder) for a UAE or Ineos to simply throw money at MDVP as the negotiating situation now gets more complicated.

That said (and again as others have noted) I think it's most unlikely that MDVP will leave. The team is largely built around him, he's on big money, and he's not expected to do any of the domestique duties of a WvA (duties that I suspect have a big part in the latter not winning as many monuments as you might have expected).

[Jaybee]

Originally Posted by callmeishmael

I don't think Canyon at all expect MVdP to ride for another 10 years; I think they're just locking him in until the end of his career. I'd be very surprised if there wasn't a sunset clause (i.e. the deal ends if MDVP retires before that point, as seems all but certain).

What it also likely does, as others have noted, is stop (or at least make it harder) for a UAE or Ineos to simply throw money at MDVP as the negotiating situation now gets more complicated.

That said (and again as others have noted) I think it's most unlikely that MDVP will leave. The team is largely built around him, he's on big money, and he's not expected to do any of the domestique duties of a WvA (duties that I suspect have a big part in the latter not winning as many monuments as you might have expected).

I agree that he's likely not asked to domestique at the level of a Van Aert (probably because there are no GC guys on Alpecin), but when he wants to, he's one of the best 3 or 4 leadout guys in the world. And he probably could have played MSR different last weekend and won or podiumed - but when he saw Jasper still in contact after the Poggio he shifted to keeping things together for a sprint. Just to say he seems like a great teammate for a guy who has the skills to be looking for his own palmares every time out.

[mstateglfr]

If a company wants to give me bikes for the next 10 years, I will ride em without hesitation...and that isn't even getting into actually being paid too.

Heck, I would even ride Specialized bikes.

[ssb94]

Originally Posted by makoti

Not that anyone here or at Giro knows or cares, but I am very loyal to them. All my helmets are Giro, and my incoming one is as well.
No discount, no deals.
So to answer your question, yes, I could. I've been riding the same brands of bike for 8 & 12 years (respectively), so it would be easy.

Their shoes and helmets fit me better than any other brand I've tried. As long as I can find a deal when I need to replace either, I always go with Giro.

[ssb94]

Originally Posted by Jaybee

I'm not going to pore through Google Images of MVDP as a junior, but I can't picture him on anything but a Canyon.

I think it makes sense for both parties, in a Sagan/Specialized sort of way. He's going to sell a lot of bikes (rainbow stripes look good in advertisements) and get paid handsomely for it.

I can definitely picture Sagan on a something other than a specialized. Long live the green Cannondales!