[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”1_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”] Michael Drapac has invested in ‘our’ sport for a long time. And now Cannondale-Drapac has a rider, Rigoberto Uran, in second place in the Tour de France with only four stages to go… [/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]

Australian cycling is constantly evolving. There is unprecedented interest in the sport – especially at that time of the year when it prompts plenty of late nights and lots of television viewing. The Tour de France continues to attract people to the beauty of cycling and it’s because of the large following it generates that some businesses have invested in sponsorship.

For Michael Drapac, it’s less about earning coverage or exposure… rather he sees it as “an opportunity for me to express my philosophy”.

The businessman is a co-owner of a team that now boasts a rider in second place overall. Rigoberto Uran has already won a stage and he’s been ranked fourth overall for seven stages. The Colombian finished second in stage 17 and now he is in second place on GC, just 27 seconds behind Chris Froome.

We spoke to Drapac shortly after ‘The Galibier Stage’ to get some comments about how he’s managing his emotions at an exciting time for the sport he’s backed for a long time.

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Click the SoundCloud file to listen to the interview with Michael Drapac and/or read the transcript below.

 

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For more on Drapac’s “philosophy” on cycling, see our extended interview with Michael recorded in October 2016… click the link to the ‘Talking Cycling’ episode (below).

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Q&A with Michael Drapac

RIDE: I’m having a quick chat with Michael Drapac who is the co-owner of a team with a rider in second place in general classification after 17 stages of the Tour de France. You must be pretty satisfied.

Michael Drapac: “Yeah, ‘Satisfied’ is an understatement. [Laughs.]

“I was satisfied after we won a stage [in Chambéry]. I’ve been sort of been walking on egg shells, in a sense.

“If we hadn’t have done anything after the stage [win] and we just packed our bags and gone home, I would have thought it was a good Tour. But the coverage we’ve had and the fact that we’ve been prominent in every break bar one, it’s extraordinary.

“Satisfied is not the word. I can’t find the words to help you – I can’t. I’m overwhelmed.”

 

There is a photo of you and Rigoberto in Düsseldorf. You attended the Tour for one stage. Did you get to know him at all? Do you know much about Uran?

“I don’t know much about him personally other than [that] I speak to people within the team and they’re emphatic that he’s the most laidback, chilled out guy. He’s very humble.

“I have a very close friend who comes from rural Colombia and he’s the most patriotic a Colombian you’ll ever meet and he’s coming to the Tour, he arrives on Saturday, and he said, [Rigoberto] is one of the most loved people in Colombia because of his humility.

“He is a really earthy, really wholesome guy.

“I spoke to him a little bit. My Spanish wasn’t too good and he probably had his mind focussed on other things. But everyone I speak to [about him] can only say very lovely words about him.”

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RIDE Media published a transcript of a speech from a team launch a few years ago titled: ‘The sporting world according to Michael Drapac’. He explains his theories on the true benefits of sport. Click here to read what he had to say.

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You’re coming back to the Tour [in Paris]; are you tempted to sneak down to Marseille for the time trial?

“It has been suggested that I go. I’m not going to rule it out.

“If ‘Rigo’ has a great day tomorrow – and I’m suggesting he may well have [but] I don’t want to curse him in anyway, or put any pressure on him – I’ll have to reconsider.

“I have not intended to go down but my son who is down in Marseille is saying, ‘Dad, you’ve got to come down…’

“It’s under review.”

 

It’s an interesting concept just talking to a team owner. I think Gerry Ryan has got a lot of publicity over the years but your investment in Cannondale-Drapac has sort of flown under the radar a little. I think it’s probably going to start getting a little more prominence perhaps.

“Yeah, I think it probably is.

“If you were to analyse our exposure on this race, if you were to apply some sort of metric to analyse the return or the exposure, it would be extraordinary.

“I still believe that cycling as a medium for commercial exposure is the best value medium in the world – and I’ve done quite a bit of homework on that.

“My original motivation to go into the sport of cycling was really not [for exposure]. The sort of business that I have doesn’t really benefit from widespread market exposure, unlike Gerry’s [brands].

“I think Gerry’s motivation, which is a very valid motivation – he’s got great brands in business – is that he needs to get exposure in the common marketplace, the wider marketplace. Whereas I deal with a very boutique group of clients, a handful of clients… so it’s not that important for me to get my name ‘out there’.

“Another way of putting it, would be to say: I’ve had a very strong philosophy about cycling for a long time and I think that ultimately for me to get to the Tour de France is an opportunity for me to express my philosophy and perhaps have more people listen to what I believe about cycling.

“Another way of putting is: the brand, called ‘Drapac Cycling’, really is getting some exposure and anyone who has followed cycling for a long time – and I’ve been involved in it for a long time – would know what that brand philosophically represents.”

 

Absolutely. And we’ve covered that territory in the past. I think we’ll just keep it relatively quick now. There’s an exciting few days ahead of us, we’ll be watching with interest to see if 27 seconds can dissipate and he can turn green into yellow. I think that would be something quite remarkable.

“It’s in the hands of the gods. They will dictate it from here.

“You need an absence of bad luck, a little bit of good luck… so whatever cards are dealt, we’ll take them.”

 

Thanks for having a quick chat. Let’s cover a little bit more territory in subsequent days and just follow your emotions as we race through to Paris. What do you think?

“Yeah, that’d be great.

“If we end up with yellow on the podium don’t expect me to be very coherent.”

 

 

 

– Interview by Rob Arnold

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