All-round Athlete

Chapter 814 Formal Participation (third shift)

In the conference room, most of the top managers of the Tour de France gathered here.

"You should all know about Zhang Guan. I just talked with Zhang Guan on the phone, and he is willing to participate in the next Tour de France as a driver." Prudhomme glanced at the crowd, and then said: "Everyone Let's talk about your opinions!"

A gray-haired race official immediately said, "So what if Zhang Guan reaches the finish line first? He's not a competitor, so the result must be invalid."

"That's right, Zhang Guan is not on our list of athletes. Even if he is faster than others, he is not eligible for the competition results." Another person said immediately.

"I see it differently," said John Granger, director of operations for the Tour de France.

I only heard John Grange say: "If Zhang Guan is willing to participate in the next 20 stages of the race, I think he can be regarded as an official driver. Everyone knows that in the past two years, the European economy has not been Very good, the operation and promotion of our Tour de France has also been greatly hindered, if Zhang Guan can be brought into our competition, it will be very helpful for the marketing of the Tour de France.”

"You are the director of operations, of course you only think about marketing, but have you ever thought that doing so would break the rules and affect the credibility of the Tour de France! The reputation we have accumulated through the Tour de France for a century, How can it be treated as a joke!" The gray-haired old officer said.

John Granger ignored the old event manager, but continued on his own: "Our Tour de France, after 98 years of development, has already saturated the European market, and the European economy has not yet recovered. Under such circumstances, we must open up new markets, and China in Asia is obviously the best direction for our efforts.

In other countries, if we want to promote the Tour de France, we must first get people to participate in the sport of cycling. In China, we don’t have to worry about it. Almost everyone there can ride a bicycle, and bicycles are very popular there. . The bicycle is there not only as a sport, but also as a means of transportation. Through Zhang Guan, we don't need to spend too much effort to gain an audience of 100 million, perhaps more than the audience in the whole of Europe! "

John Granger's words moved many people at the scene, and John Granger decided to add more fire. He continued: "Moreover, Zhang Guan is of great commercial value. His fans are all over the world. Since he Being willing to appear in the Tour de France should be what we wish for. Zhang Guan can attract more attention to the Tour de France!"

The audience group of any sports must have one element, that is, they are relatively familiar with the sport, and some people will take this sport as a hobby in their spare time. For example, many basketball fans not only watch basketball games, but also go to the court to play a game in their spare time. Others, such as table tennis fans and badminton fans, also know how to play twice, and even a few are even masters.

If you don't understand this sport at all, you can't understand anything when you watch the game with black eyes, and naturally there is no audience group. This is better in traditional sports, but in emerging e-sports is particularly evident. For example, people who watch League of Legends games are all League of Legends players, no matter how poor their level is, they can still play. If you don't know how to play at all, don't know what skills the heroes have, and don't know what the equipment is useful for, you must not understand the game of League of Legends.

The same is true for bicycle sports. To train a person who cannot ride a bicycle into an audience of the Tour de France, he must first learn to ride a bicycle, then let him have a bicycle, and then the theoretical knowledge of rules and other aspects. For Chinese audiences, it is not so complicated. With the popularity of bicycles in China, Chinese audiences can understand the Tour de France with just a few simple introductions. Even many smart people don’t need introductions. I can understand what's going on. Therefore, for the organizers of the Tour de France, China is the easiest potential market to develop.

After listening to John Granger's words, everyone in the room nodded, and the old race official obviously represented the traditional forces. He didn't want to see the Tour de France change because of a certain person, so he said: "Let a It would be unfair to other athletes for guests to participate in the game temporarily! I think we should ask other teams for their opinions."

"The Tour de France is a racing sport. The comparison is speed. It is clear at a glance who is faster and who is slower. The reason why Zhang Guan was able to cross the finish line first is because his speed is faster than the other 198 participating drivers! Could it be that the faster person wins the race?" After the competition, will anyone think it’s unfair? I think the 198 contestants should reflect on why they are not even as good as a guest.” John Grange paused, and then said: “As for the team, As I said just now, the joining of Zhang Guan is conducive to the promotion of our Tour de France, and it is also conducive to attracting more attention. The sponsors of each team should be very willing to see this and make the Tour de France big If it grows bigger, the team will also attract more sponsors. In this regard, we, the Tour de France organizer, the team and the sponsors have common interests.”

The old Saihui officer was a little speechless, and of course he was not as good as John Granger when compared to lip service. What's more, John Granger talked about money everywhere, which made it difficult for the old Saihui to talk about feelings in front of interests? Obviously no one would bother him.

The officer of the old competition club was still very unwilling, so he decided to change the angle, only to hear him say: "If Zhang Guan is allowed to participate, there will be a lot of unnecessary troubles. For example, how to solve his equipment? Participating in the competition must not be without bicycle?"

"I believe that the 22 teams are all willing to provide sponsorship for Zhang Guan. They will ask for it. Besides, with Zhang Guan's wealth, it is not a problem to buy a few sets of equipment." John Granger said.

"But Zhang Guan doesn't have a team!" The officer of the old race club continued.

"Then let him race as an independent driver!"

"Independent drivers? What about the logistics? A team has at least 40 or 50 people in the logistics service team!" The old race club officer said.

"Zhang Guan should be able to solve it by himself. He has a net worth of hundreds of millions of dollars. It is estimated that all the teams are not as rich as him. For him, hiring a logistics service team of dozens of people to serve him alone, and It’s not a problem. Maybe it can also boost our employment in France!” John Granger said.

"What about the entry fee? Other teams participated in the Tour de France, but they all paid the sponsorship fee! Is Zhang Guan willing to pay the sponsorship fee?" the old race director continued to ask.

"With Zhang Guan, we can attract more sponsors, which can make up for the problem of sponsorship fees. Besides, Zhang Guan personally carries a sponsorship contract worth hundreds of millions of dollars. I can talk to Zhang Guan's sponsors. If they are willing to sponsor the Tour de France, we can give Zhang Guan more shots during the broadcast. I think those sponsors will be happy to accept it." John Granger answered, as the director of operations of the Tour de France , Extracting money from sponsors is naturally easy for him.

The old Saihui officer fell silent, he couldn't find any other excuses, so he just sat there speechless and sulked.

Tour de France chairman Prudhomme interrupted this awkward atmosphere in a timely manner.

"It seems that everyone has already made a decision, why don't we vote! If you agree with Zhang Guan to participate in the next race as a driver, please raise your hand." Prudhomme said, raising his hand first. And John Granger raised his hand immediately.

Seeing that the chairman had raised their hands, the others did not hesitate to raise their hands to express their support.

...

On the afternoon of July 2, 2011, after being officially approved by the Tour de France Organizing Committee, Zhang Guan will participate in the Tour de France as an independent rider.

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