"You're a French brand. What are you doing for the Tour?"
I can't remember if someone asked me this question, or if I rhetorically asked it to myself. But like every July, the week before Le Grand Depart had me scrambling to find enough change in the sofa for a Peacock subscription. And at the same time I'm feeling both anxious and nostalgic about the greatest sporting event on earth (fight me in the comments), but I have to say I'm especially nostalgic this year because it's my first one back in the bike business after a long absence.
My first idea for a content piece was go back to our beginning - 1987 - and catalog the number of wins TIME forks, pedals, and frames played a part in delivering. But it was so many that even the almighty ChatGPT couldn't compile it accurately. Seriously - what I thought would take seconds ended up taking the AI several days to deliver a CSV file that I couldn't access.
So, I decided to go analog with my search and found something that stopped me dead in my tracks: Six years ago, before TIME exchanged hands between Rossignol and our current ownership, this video dropped. Watch it, and then read on.
Or don't. Honestly, if this doesn't get you excited about Le Tour, nothing will.
The palmares of TIME pedals is epic, but Voeckler, Chavanel, BOONEN, and BETTINI rode TIME bikes to stage wins, classics podiums, and world and olympic championships in what many consider to be a golden age of modern cycling. And yes, it's been a while since we were in Le Tour. And it may be a while longer before we get back.
But you know what I realized?
That doesn't matter. The MEMORIES matter.
Why? Because it was in those moments that many of us decided cycling was the sport for us. For the die-hards among us, those victories are burned into our brains like the guitar solo from Hotel California or the Star Wars theme.
So, from us to you - enjoy Le Tour this year. We're three stages in at this point and it's already one for the ages. Oh and tune in next Monday for my take on the first week.
-Andy Clark, VP Sales & Marketing
