FiT Publishing

Doping seems to be well organized and inherent in the system of professional cycling. This paper provides a theoretical approach, by using a multi-task (training and doping) principal-agent (team manager and cyclist) model, to illustrate the information asymmetry and conflicting objectives between both actors. Three settings are used to represent different situations in which the fight against doping takes place with varying intensity. The comparison of the equilibria in each setting reveals the influence of the fight against doping on the team members’ behavior. The analysis shows that...Read more

Although it is not generally applauded, withdrawing from competition is sometimes the best available option. However, an individual withdrawal may generate external costs that affect people other than the withdrawing individual. As cycling finances increase worldwide, the losses that are incurred due to riders’ withdrawals assume a rising importance. Therefore, we test the determinants for professional riders’ withdrawals by using probit estimations on nine major races (Le Tour de France, La Vuelta, Il Giro, the Tour de Suisse, the Tour of Poland, the Tour de Picardie, Paris-Nice, Tirreno-...Read more

This paper uses a robust (order-m) DEA approach to evaluate the efficiency of Tour de France cycling teams. Since there are multiple ways this event can be successful for a cycling team, we take it that managers face strategic input decisions regarding team and rider characteristics. Specifically, we distinguish between ranking teams, sprint teams, and mixed teams, and compute for each team an efficiency score as due to the team’s performance relative to similarly classified teams and an efficiency score that is the consequence of the team type. We find that ranking teams are generally...Read more

The economic structure of the industry of cycling coaches has yet to be the subject of any apparent published inquiry. This study describes the basic characteristics of practicing cycling coaches and presents economic models of the determinants of commercial success for individual coaches. Data were collected through an independent survey of current and former U.S.A. Cycling (USAC) coaches in 2010 (N = 386). Results of ordinary least squares and negative-binomial regression models suggest that coaching and competitive experience are associated with larger clienteles, but formal human...Read more

This sport marketing study establishes a clearer demarcation between an event sponsor and a sponsored event in relation to investigating the potential value of congruity. Based on 1,615 field surveys, we uncover the asymmetrical impact of event-sponsor fit on the title sponsor and sponsored professional cycling event. Specifically, the study reveals how consumers’ positive perceptions of the sponsor rise when they perceive greater fit with the event; yet, congruity does not influence consumers’ attitudes toward the event. That is, even when the event and sponsor are perceived as a mismatch...Read more