By Patrick Avenell
When it comes to professional stage race cycling, being in a consumer electronics sponsored team seems to have a positive effect. During the first two weeks of 2011 Tour De France, Garmin and HTC have received enormous worldwide exposure, with those two teams dominating the competition.
Although not currently leading the general classification, HTC-Highroad and Garmin-Cervelo have been ever presents on TV and the podium, with the two teams combining for seven stage victories, seven days in the Yellow Jersey, five days in the Green Jersey and one day in the Polka Dot Jersey.
HTC-Highroad has had the best of the Tour so far, with Manx Missile Mark Cavendish winning four stages and currently wearing the Green Jersey.
After wearing the Yellow Jersey for the opening week of the tour, Garmin-Cervelo’s Norwegian Thor Hushovd stunned cycling experts by winning the extreme mountain stage into Loudres. Hushovd’s American teammate Tyler Farrer added to Garmin’s success by winning the sprint into Redon earlier in the race.
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On top of this individual success, Garmin-Cervelo won the Team Time Trial and currently sits just under 4 minutes behind superstar team Leopard Trek in the Group Standings.
Although the Tour De France is a supreme sporting competition with enormous general interest, it is very much a sponsorship driven event, with all teams needing private funding to compete. When cyclists win stages, wear jerseys or appear in breakaways, it provides enormous coverage and publicity for the sponsors, providing organisations such as HTC and Garmin with a return on their significant investments.
After a rest day tonight in the Tour, the action will continue on Tuesday evening with the medium mountain stage into Gap, in the Alps.