Equipe CMI Pro Cycling
Press & Info Package
The Team:
Presentation: Equipe CMI is an international cycling team. The team fields an Elite International team consisting of riders from Europe, the US and as far away as Australia. The team participates in UCI/Pro stage races (multi day events) around the world, while also promoting cycling, a healthy lifestyle and sharing their stories of world travel with cycling fans and friends. All members of the International team are passionate about the sport of cycling and love to travel to faraway lands and meet new and different people. One of the team’s aims is to race in as many different countries as possible. With the globalization of today’s society, we believe that sharing and promoting not only the sport of cycling, but also healthy living and the value of teamwork around the world is important. Cycling is a sport that reflects the difficulties and hard work required for individuals to shine, while also reflecting the importance of having good support and teammates around you. Overcoming adversity is what the sport of cycling is all about. With our many participations in events on the African continent, we feel cycling is a good media for motivating and showing people how adversity can be overcome, how perseverance, hard work and good relations can help you in everyday life. In many countries the sport of cycling is also used as a political statement. Cycling is a comparatively cheap sport, and many countries use the sport to promote their nation or to show the world the improvements they have made, or the changes they have gone through. A good example of this is the Tour of Rwanda, where the country has used the sport of cycling to invite cycling teams from around the world as well as the world’s media to show how successfully they have overcome their past. Our team members share a form of easy-goingness and seriousness that is rare for an entire team. The team has strong results on the international circuit, but has shown that enjoyment of the sport, and sharing that with others is just as important as winning races.
Team Ethos: The CMI ethos is what drives the team. While every team wants to win races, and although this is without a doubt one of the main aims of the CMI team members, CMI is about more than just a race. CMI has 3 basic aims.
1) Winning races: Needless to say every team aims to win races. Bike racers have a natural drive to race and to win. This is the most standard goal of any team and CMI has had impressive results over the years, with stage wins in big Pro races in Europe as well as on the Chinese and African Pro circuit revealing a variety of skills and abilities, ranging from fast sprints to overall stage race wins via young rider classifications. Over the years, CMI has amassed an impressive amount of UCI points far outweighing it’s budget or rival teams, often outranking well established and longstanding Profesional teams. Fastman Sebastien Jullien wins stage 7 of the UCI 2.1 Pro Tour of Taihu in China in 2012
2) Bringing people closer to the sport: CMI wants to bring the general public closer to the sport of cycling. It is very easy to find articles, videos and documentaries on races, race results and team’s endeavors in various races; but CMI wants to bring people one step closer. We aim to give people a true behind the scenes look at Pro Level racing. Are riders always lodged in nice hotels? Are they always well fed, what is it really like to travel the world and adapt to different races in different countries, what kind of training to the riders do, what happens when you are sick? etc.
#InspiredToRide bringing people closer to our sport
CMI wants the general public to be able to relate to the riders at Pro level races and see what it’s really like day in and day out, through a series of “CMI Lifestyle” videos and articles. The team also aims to bring people closer to the sport via a series of #InspiredToRide concepts. As the team travels the world, coming into contact with different people and ways of life, riding in various terrain, we plan CMI cycling trips and holidays, where everyone can to inspire people to get out and ride their bikes share the joys of riding in exotic places through a series of short #InspriedToRide videos, stories and articles available both online and in print from our CMI Lifestyle Magazine, and cycling trips/vacations to share the experiences of riding in locations such as the Pyrenees, the Sahel desert or Spanish Cost Brava hand in hand with cycling fans.
Articles online and in print via CMILifestyle Magazine
3) Youth Development: The third string to the CMI bow is the development of young riders. Aside from National Team programs that are often limited to one type of rider (eg: track rider support from the British Cycling Federation) there is very little actual youth development. Many teams and clubs aim to help and support young riders, but very few offer them access into Pro races around the world, exposing them to different styles of racing and to experienced teammates from whom they can learn and hone their cycling skills. Cycling also offers a great opportunity for young people to travel the world and broaden their minds and cultural knowledge of the world and of how people live in other countries, not only serving them well on the bike, but also offering them a great experience for later in life.
Young CMI riders get to race and develop in the bigger races
Four of the team’s development riders get to learn from their more experienced counterparts in a Pro Stage race in Romania
GOALS: CMI’s goals are simple: progression! The team has established itself as a team that can perform well at the Pro level on a comparatively small budget thanks to careful management, passion and strong team unity; however the drive to perform is reflected in the team’s drive to progress. The team aims to move up in the cycling world by getting into bigger and better races, while also increasing the amount of races they participate in, thus increasing the team’s visibility and potential for results as well as increasing our interest and the ability to develop younger riders into better more rounded people. This requires a progression in budget in order to race on two different fronts at any given time, and in order to travel further and more regularly to get to some of the world’s best and most exciting races. The team’s drive to progress doesn’t only apply to its sporting values. Progressing the team also means increasing the team’s fan base and “followship” both through the media, social media and direct interaction with the public through cycling trips, holidays and “training camps” throughout the year.
What does CMI offer: What CMI offers its partners, supporters and sponsors is not just a simple “billboard” for your brand. Although in cycling it is possible to sponsor a team for about a 10th of the cost of supporting a football or basketball team of the equivalent level, unless the team you sponsor is playing in the NBA, the Worldcup or riding the Tour de France, it isn’t always easy to quantify a direct return on investment. Other than simply putting your brand in front of cycling fans and spectators around the world, CMI offers a message, a way of life and an image that can reinforce your company’s status in a given sector. The message the team shares is one of enjoyment of the sport, of a healthy lifestyle and the value of sharing our experiences with those we come into contact with, as well as the value of hard work and teamwork. Some commercial partners are supporting the team as a way of validating their presence and position on the market in the eyes of their distributors and shops around Europe. Bicycle industry companies are supporting the team as they share a love and an interest in both travel and in the sport of cycling, therefore their support of CMI reinforces their presence in the cycling industry, by showing their customers that they are involved in the sport at all levels. Other companies have supported CMI as a way portraying an image to their employees to show they are interested in outdoor activities and in their staff’s wellbeing. Supporting the cycling team enables them to offer their staff members short getaway trips or vacations organized by the team’s management company. Of course there is also the more “standard” sponsorship reasons, such sponsors who have sponsored the team to show their name, brand or product to their key demographic (cycling fans and amateur riders and spectators) via race presence and media attention (TV, magazine, Team training camps and trips); as well as industry sponsors who are looking for product feedback from riders on new products by using the team for product testing and development, which can be quite extensive considering the team’s wide scope of racing and training conditions.
Media attention: Media attention is just one of the aspects of the team that enables it to showcase its abilities, sponsors and partners to the wider world. Although CMI does a lot to get its name and concept out to the work via its own media and trips and training camps, media coverage from outside sources is highly desirable. Over the past few years CMI has seen coverage from media sources ranging from cycling specific magazines to TV stations such as TV5 Monde or other National TV stations via newspapers such as LeMonde. (See some examples below)
4 page article in French magazine Planete Cyclisme
2 page photographic spread in Rouleur Magazine
Photo in Cycling Weekly (UK) 22 page article + photos in Rouleur Magazine
Communication: The CMI team is passionate about what it does. The team is used as a communication platform to bring the public closer to the team, to the riders, to the experience of racing at the pro level and to the joys of riding in the great outdoors. Cycling is a growing activity as well as a growing sport in many parts of the world. Some parts of the world see the bike as a lifeline as it can be their only means of transportation, whereas other parts of the world see it as more of a challenge and a sporting or competitive activity. But the common strand between all of these areas is “the bike”. People can relate to cycling in ways that they often cannot relate to other sports. Very few people have never ridden a bike in their lives. As such CMI likes to share this common experience with its fans and supporters, while also sharing and breading a passion for something that is often so symbolic and reminiscent of childhood, of fun and of freedom that it touches a very wide range of people. Whereas some big teams such as SKY and RadioShack want to keep their fans at arm’s length, we want to bring them closer, bring them into the team and give them the full experience. For this purpose, CMI has developed a line of thinking it calls #InspiredToRide. #InspiredToRide consists of a series of videos, posts, photos and trips by the team and it’s riders that will motivate and inspire people to ride bikes. A video of someone riding in a beautiful area, or the idea of going on a trip with a few friends to ride some of the world’s most famous mountains or to enjoy a quiet country road is a strong motivator for people to ride, watch their health and often let off steam thanks to the sport of cycling. The team has also developed a concept we call “CMI Lifestyle”. CMI Lifestyle is a light hearted, tongue in cheek series of videos introducing the viewer to local habits and particularities of the countries the team travels to. With an increase in budget, the team will be able to increase and improve these videos and communications. Both the “CMI Lifestyle” and “#InspriedToRide” content will be diffused to fans and supporters via the many forms of established social media such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc. Needless to say, the team will also maintain regular communication and interactions with fans and supporters via social media, as well as through face to face interactions during trips, holidays and group/shop rides.
Public Trips and Camps: CMI has braught in experienced Cycling Trip and Vacation organisers to take care of the team’s public access trips and camps. CMI will be running trips and vacations for groups of clients to ride some of the fantastic roads that our riders get to enjoy as racers. Our season long access to a base in a quiet village in the Pyrenees will enable clients to not only ride some fo the world’s most famous Tour de France roads, but also relax in the peace and quiet of the Pyrenees National Park while enjoying a drink and taking in the local cuisine. Such trips will also be available to sponsors and suppliers to come along and either interact with the team, or offer some of their friends or business parters a retreat or “active business meeting” or getaway. For the more serious clients CMI will be running “training camps” where clients can improve their riding skills and fitness with the help and coaching of some of our more experienced riders. Camps of various levels will be on offer throughout the year, starting with camps in the sunshine of southern Spain in March through to later camps in the Pyrenean mountains. These trips and camps will serve the purpouse of providing cycling fans with a fun trip that is adapted to their abilities, while also bringing them closer to the team and it’s riders as well as the products and brands of the team’s sponsors and suppliers.
Further information on CMI Tours can be found on our website: www.cmicycling.com or by requesting a catalogue.
CONTACT US: For sponsorship opportunities, questions regarding the Team or any of our trips please feel free to contact us on CMIcycling@gmail.com Follow us: Web: Facebook: CMI Tours: Twitter: YouTube: Blogger:
http://www.cmicycling.com http://www.facebook.com/pages/Equipe-CMI/ http://www.facebook.com/pages/CMI-Tours/ http://twitter.com/CMIGreenover http://www.youtube.com/EquipeCMI equipecmi.blogspot.com
Š Copyright 2014, Equipe CMI, EquipeCMI/BST VA20186 USA C #13692