TDF Trivia: What do those sponsors do?
Category: Sports (Pro/College/HS)...
Posted Tuesday, July 20, 2004 at 10:40 PM [GMT-6]

Ever wonder what lines of work those Tour de France team sponsors are in? Me neither, but here's an article that will inform you nonetheless.

Actually, it's mildly interesting to consider that most of the sponsors are in relatively boring businesses (insurance, banking, flooring, consumer credit, etc.) and the fact that they are investing millions of euros in sponsorship gives you an idea of the prestige the race carries on the other side of the Big Pond.

The article also speaks to the Discovery Channel's taking over sponsorship of The Team To Be Formerly Known As The Posties, reportedly to the tune of $10 mil per year for the next three years.

Now, the Discovery Channel is a sibling channel to The Learning Channel, which leads to many intriguing promotional alternatives for the cycling team. For example, will we see Lance and main squeeze Sheryl Crow face off against Jan Ullrich and his sweetie in an episode of "Trading Spaces"? Will the team be gifted with a fashion makeover by the hosts of "What Not to Wear" ("oh, bubby...that lycra is just so 2001!")?

Tip of the chapeau to Tour de France 2004 for the link (but don't blame 'em for the lame commentary).