Surprising views on future plans for British Continental team
With his team winning the first three rounds, Rapha Condor Sharp manager John Herety has stressed the importance of the Tour Series for the Continental squad, saying that it effectively has more sponsor value than the bigger Tour of Britain.
The former professional was speaking in a video interview with VeloNation prior to the final stage of the An Post Rás in Ireland. “The most important race for us in the UK is the Tour series…certainly from our sponsors’ point of view, the amount of TV coverage that gets means it is a really important series for us,” he said. “We had two of the rounds take place this week and we won those two.”
The team then clocked up a third victory yesterday when Graeme Briggs led the riders home in Peterborough.
Herety said that the team had looked into the return from various races and concluded that the Tour Series was optimal. “We have had some research done on the amount of coverage that is possible from the Tour of Britain. There is a big thing about the Tour of Britain being really important for British continental teams to try to do well, but actually from a coverage point of view it is extremely difficult to get the TV coverage,” he explained. “That’s because of the amount of good riders that are there, and by nature [of the fact] that the TV crews are going to be concentrating on the stars of the European scene.
“So while it’s very important, for us this Tour series is far, far more important for our sponsors due to the ability to get TV time.”
Herety outlined additional goals, saying that the team hoped to win the national championships once again, two years after Kristian House took the title. However he acknowledged that it’s a more difficult task than before due to Sky Procycling’s high level.
Looking ahead, he had some interesting views about the future of the team, and also what he believed its role should be. His opinion was very different to what you might expect and, in a sport where there’s often a success at all costs mentality, was refreshingly honest.
View the full interview in the video below.