History Lesson #63 for July newbies

From: JonJonJon )
Subject: Corestates story (long)
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Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.racing
Date: 1996/06/08


Philadelphia Daily News
SPORTSWEEK
Thursday, June 6, 1996



By Lynn Zinser
SAME-DAY DELIVERY
The U.S. Postal Service is bolstering its image through the team of
cyclists that's in town for
Sunday's CoreStates race

The riders were prepared for the worst. They were briefed to prepare for
the worst. When you align
yourself with the post office, whose major public relations work in recent
years has been practiced by gun-toting former employees, you learn to
brace yourself.
"It's funny because the Postal Service people actually talked to us about
fielding negative questions and criticism," said rider Darren Baker. "We
thought people might look at us like the IRS. Nobody likes the IRS.
"But we haven't experienced that at all. We haven't gotten one question
like that."
A team of bicyclists took on a new sponsor earlier this year, became the
U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling team and learned that the post office
ranks surprisingly high on the government popularity meter.
They zip along streets in towns around the country and absorb public
opinion from the fans gathering curbside. They will race here in Sunday's
CoreStates USPRO Cycling Championship and they will be easy to find. Their
jerseys are emblazoned with the familiar Postal Service logos and
commemorative stamps ' which change monthly; the current stamp is Louis
Armstrong, next up is James Dean ' and they draw far more cheers than
jeers. Silliness, yes. Hostility, no. "OWhere's my mail?' That's about the
worst thing they yell," said Waldek Stepniowski, team trainer and
assistant director.
Once people are reassured that their tax dollars aren't going to keep
Baker and Co. in stretch shorts and helmets ' the U.S. Postal Service is
self-supporting and hasn't relied on tax revenue since the early O80s '
they seem to rally around the idea. "Actually it's kind of cool," said
rider Nate Reiss. "People like the stamps."


The bike team is a marketing strategy, not much different from a new set
of TV commercials except these ads roll around a road course at about 25
mph. The cyclist-as-billboard is an age-old concept and sponsorship money
has fueled cycling since its birth as a pro sport. But until now, the U.S.
government hasn't been much of a presence.
The Postal Service isn't your average arm of government. It funds itself
through revenue from postage and stamp collecting and advertises its
products to compete against private companies, the FedExes of the world.
It ultimately is under government control, but it operates as a
capitalist, if nonprofit, enterprise. In other words, there is little
danger of the State Department following suit and sponsoring a bobsled
team.
The goal was to find a vehicle to promote the Postal Service at home and
overseas. It aims to xxxincrease revenue without continually increasing
the cost of stamps, and the international market xxxhas the most room for
growth. It launched Global Priority Mail and is trying to expand the idea
of xxxstamp collecting internationally.
Postal officials stress the teamwork aspect of cycling, the emphasis on
speed and diligence, and want xxxto identify the post office with a
healthy lifestyle. The group that put the words "disgruntled xxxworkers"
into common use is staging an assault on its image, and cycling is one
attack front.
"We wanted to leverage the image of cycling as high-tech and global," said
Vicki Provost, a spokeswoman for the Postal Service. "We saw it as a great
metaphor for what we're doing."
Provost is the program manager for the Postal Service's cycling
sponsorship and was ready for all the questions she would get when her
company launched this sponsorship. But she wasn't totally ready
for the public reaction. "People seem to look at it as unusual, but if you
think about it, it makes perfect sense," she said. "I didn't realize
people would perceive this as unusual until I got to the first race. I was
as popular as the riders.''
What the bike team became was a dream for any marketer. It was so unusual
it created its own stir. Who needs press conferences when you have
cyclists riding around with a stamp on their backs?
Cycling sponsors usually are car makers (Chevrolet, Saturn) or fitness
products (Nutra-Fig, Shaklee), and the best largely American team is
sponsored by an electronics company (Motorola). Throw the mailmen into
that mix and you have an automatic eyebrow-raiser.
The team was going through a usual revolving door of sponsors, changing
its name from Subaru-Montgomery to Montgomery-Bell, and while it
maintained its relationship with Montgomery, a securities firm based in
San Francisco, it needed a strong title sponsor. It was a young team with
a core of promising American riders.
"We went for about two weeks when they wouldn't tell us who our new
sponsor was going to be,"
said rider Tyler Hamilton. "When we found out, I couldn't believe it.
Everyone was definitely surprised. But it really made sense for their
company."
Any initial skittishness by the cyclists dissolved after they learned a
few details: The Postal Service signed them to a three-year deal and it
would be a very generous sponsorship. The numbers weren't revealed, but
the length of the contract alone is unusual. Most sponsors sign on a year
at a time.
Motorola, for example, is pulling its sponsorship after this year ' and it
sponsors the team led by America's top cyclist, Lance Armstrong.
The new Postal Service team signed a healthy crop of European riders, and
there might be more to come because the team's main goal is to qualify for
next year's Tour de France. To do that, a team must rank in the Top 16 in
the world rankings or be one of four invited teams, an unlikely
possibility for a young, largely American team. Teams earn points based on
the success of its riders in international races. If the USPS team signs,
say, Miguel Indurain, it gets all his points.
The team's four foreign imports already have helped. Sven Teutenberg, of
Germany, won a stage of the Tour DuPont last month, the most prestigious
stage race in the United States But the American contingent has been
impressive as well.
Four finished in the Top 10 in the Olympic cycling trials. Hamilton, a
25-year-old from Nederland, Colo., finished fifth and was named first
alternate to the Olympic team. Reiss finished seventh, Baker ninth and
Clark Sheehan 10th. Hamilton missed being one of the two coaches' choices
for the Olympic team, despite finishing higher in the standings than the
two chosen: George Hincapie and Greg Randolph, who are Motorola teammates
of U.S. gold medal hope Armstrong.
"I think we've definitely surprised some people," Hamilton said. "Last
year we didn't have the results we're having this year. We're really an
up-and-coming team. I think we've turned some heads."
The biggest name on this team is one of the USA's most successful
cyclists, Andy Hampsten, but he isn't the focal point of the races.
Hampsten, 34, is a two-time Top Five finisher at the Tour de France and
the only American ever to win the Tour of Italy and the Tour of
Switzerland. He is winding down his career with the USPS team and has
taken on the role ' along with 38-year-old Mike Engleman ' of experienced
leader. They are trying to teach the younger racers how to work together
as a team and win major races.
"Andy always seems to come through with the right things to say," Hamilton
said. "I'm a little too anxious at times. He tells me everything is going
to work out, and 95 percent of the time, it does."

For the past month, the team has been split. The American members have
been competing in the series of Olympic trials races and the foreign
members have been racing in Europe. Two of the Europeans, Teutenberg and
Remigijus Lupeikis, came here to race in the CoreStates, and they will all
be reunited for the Tour of Switzerland. The team flies to Switzerland
Monday and the race starts Tuesday, part of a blistering schedule they
have undertaken this spring.
The Olympic trials ended on a disappointing note for the team when
Hamilton was passed over for a spot. The final trials race, last Sunday in
Charlotte, was a team exercise in helping Hamilton win, a strategy most
teams employ after a leader has established himself. But no one could
establish a breakaway to get Hamilton to the front and the race ended in a
massive sprint of the 19 top riders to the finish. Hamilton finished 10th.

The course in suburban Charlotte was lined with mostly novice race fans,
most there by the accident of having the course run down their street.
Most got a kick out of seeing the Postal Service riders for the first
time, and more of a kick from the race support vehicle behind the riders:
an Isuzu Trooper splashed with U.S. Postal Service logos and stamps with
spare bikes and wheels perched on top.
Team director Eddie Borysewicz didn't join the team in Charlotte, so
Stepniowski took over, driving the Isuzu and helping his team plot
strategy. And in the course of a nearly five-hour race, there's plenty of
time for community relations, and trying to convince streetside picnickers
to donate a hamburger or two.
"We get a lot of attention from being the Postal team," Stepniowski said.
"Everybody works together. If the team does its job and succeeds, it
brings exposure to the Postal Service. If the sponsor does its job, they
bring exposure to the riders. It's fun being a part of it."
Also along the course are friends and family of the riders. Baker's
parents are fixtures at the U.S. races, holding up signs made from Express
Mail envlopes and cheering loudly each lap. They bring the family dog '
dressed in a little jacket with Postal Service logos. They seem to have
more fun than anyone else. Sometimes actual mail carriers show up, usually
after the team has made an appearance at a post office in conjunction with
a race. The team visited Pittsburgh's biggest mail facility before the
Olympic trials race there and the Postal Service usually sets up a VIP
tent for its employees at races.
It's an unusually active role for a sponsor, but the team members take it
in stride.
"In this country, they're trying to build the morale of the Postal
Service," Reiss said. "It's cool to think of us as a part of such a big
organization. It's a real Americana feel. The post office is so important
to people. Now, every time we see a mailman on the street, we can relate
to him a lot better."
While in Philadelphia, the team will stage a bike safety clinic tomorrow
for an invited group of third graders at the Fairmount Station. The team
also will begin appearing in some of the Postal Service's television
commercials.
"It really is a great sponsor," Hampsten said. "It will be even more fun
when they get the local postmasters more involved. I was talking to my
mailman in Boulder and he didn't even know they had a Postal team."
Word is getting out slowly as the team makes its way to higher-profile
races. When they competed in a Grand Prix race in Atlanta (where they
finished second), the Postal Service bought billboards along highways and
in subway stations.
Everyone was prepared for ridicule and expected at least a little
criticism, but what they found was an amused and supportive public.
"People in America don't know much about bike racing, but they've heard
it's fun,"Hampsten said. "It's not like in Europe, where people go because
their father took them when they were a little kid.
Our team gives people here something they can identify with. We get a lot
of support because we look like a bunch of mailmen riding their bikes."


The Roster
Men
Rider Age Residence '96 Wins
* Darren Baker 28 Santa Rosa, Calif. 1
Dariusz Baranowski 23 Walbrzych, Poland 5
Tomasz Brozyna 25 Kielce, Poland 1
* Michael Engleman 38 Hesperes, Colo. 1
* Chad Gerlach 22 W. Sacramento 5
* Eddy Gragus 28 Boulder, Colo. 2
* Tyler Hamilton 25 Nederland, Colo. 3
* Andy Hampsten 34 Castagneto Carducci, Italy 0
Marty Jemison 31 Salt Lake City 0
* Remigijus Lupeikis 27 Klaideda, Lithuania 3
* Nate Reiss 32 Fort Collins, Colo. 1
* Clark Sheehan 37 Boulder, Colo. 2
* Sven Teutenberg 23 Mettmann, Germany 7
Women
Rider Age Residence ' 96 Wins
Phyllis Hines 34 Atlanta 0
Rebecca Twigg 33 Colorado Springs, Colo. 0
* Scheduled to ride in


SPORTSWEEK'S PICKS
by Kevin Donohue


Lance Armstrong, America' most successful bike rider, won't be at the
CoreStates USPRO Championship
Sunday, and while that might lessen the star power, it also might make for
a more interesting race.
Last year's race involved 150-plus cyclists waiting for Armstrong to make
his move, and when he did, Saturn's Norm Alvis and Brian Walton controlled
him and catapulted Alvis to the biggest win of his life.
This year's race has no such favorite, and almost all the contenders are
coming off a grueling series of Olympic trials races.
Our pick: U.S. Olympic team member George Hincapie, of Motorola.
GEORGE HINCAPIE
Motorola, USA
Hincapie is a strong sprinter who came in second in the final Olympic
trial in Charlotte and was named to the U.S. team. He's the best finisher
on the strongest domestic team.
FRANKIE ANDREU
Motorola, USA
Andreu is a strong all-arounder who last weekend locked up a berth on the
U.S. Olympic team alongside teammates Armstrong, Hincapie and Greg
Randolph. He would be very dangerous in a late breakaway.
FRANK MCCORMACK
Saturn, USA
McCormack, 25, earned the third-highest amount of points in the Olympic
trials series and was named an alternate for the team. He's the current
U.S. national criterium champion (criteriums are races on ususally flat,
closed courses).
CHRIS HORNER
Nutra-Fig, USA
Horner was a part-time bike racer and part-time bike mechanic until this
year, when he secured a full-time ride with Nutra-Fig (don't ask us what a
Nutra-Fig is). Then the 25-year-old won a stage of the Tour DuPont and the
first Olympic trial. He could be very dangerous as part of any late
attacks.
SVEN TEUTENBERG
U.S. Postal Service, Germany
Teutenberg is a strong sprinter and he'll be expected to deliver if the
race comes down to a field sprint.
GRAEME MILLER
Scott-Bikyle-Flyers,
New Zealand
Miller has been racing well this season and has a string of good results
here. At 34, he is an experienced veteran who hasn't been knocking himself
out at the Olympic trials, which might leave him a bit fresher for that
final trip up the Wall.
BRIAN WALTON
Saturn, Canada
Walton worked with teammate Norm Alvis to wear down Armstrong and set up
Alvis's victory in last year's CoreStates. Walton finished fourth (third
the year before) to cap a strong '95 campaign.
NATE REISS
U.S. Postal Service, USA
We might see an early attack from Reiss, who usually is an aggressive
rider. He finished eighth in last year's race.
TYLER HAMILTON
U.S Postal Service, USA
Hamilton was named an alternate to the Olympic team after finishing fifth
in the trials series. With many riders fatigued from the grueling Olympic
trials, anything's possible.
STEVE HEGG
Chevrolet-LA Sheriff, USA
Another Olympian, Hegg, 32, won three of the five trials. But can he find
motivation for Philly when he knows he's going to Atlanta?
Four women to watch
JEANNE GOLAY
Saturn, USA
Golay, 34, was named to the U.S. Olympic team and is one of the strongest
all-around cyclists in the country. She is the current women's national
road racing champion, but never has won here.
LINDABRENNEMAN
Chevrolet-Klein, USA
Brenneman, who gave birth to a son in 1994 and took the year off, was the
surprise champion of the
women's Olympic trials. She did have a strong comeback season in 1995 and
has been a two-time member of the U.S. World Championship team.
DEDE DEMET
Saturn, USA
An alternate on the U.S. Olympic team, she has won the last two Thrift
Drug Women's Invitationals and finished third here in '94. Demet, 23, is a
versatile, all-arounder who could complete a breakaway victory.
MARIANNE BERGLUND
Team Body Wise, Sweden
Berglund is a fearsome sprinter who won this race in 1994. She has more
than 100 wins to her credit and would have to be considered the favorite.


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