Mauro Vegni - on organizing the Giro d'Italia

As the road season is back on tarmac (or snow for those living in northern Europe), I turn to look more behind the scenes of organizing events, the Giro in particular. I was able to get in touch with Mauro Vegni, operations director and RCS executive, to get to know more about him and learn how the RCS approach the organization of the giro.

Vegni interrupted while enjoying a gelato

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Mauro Vegni - coincidents shape lives
At a very young age he got involved in cycling as he moved to Rome from the small city of Cetona in Siena district. As one of the rare moments when coincidence happens to set direction to a life, his closest  neighbor turned out to be Franco Mealli, long time organizer of cycling events and owner of the Velo Club Forze Sportive Romane. From his early teen years Vegni followed Mealli around, watching and learning.
"Master" Franco Mealli put me up front quite soon and I became actively involved in the Tirreno-Adriatico, Giro del Lazio, Giro dell'Umbria, Giro di Puglia Ruato d'Oro, Trofeo Pantalica, Trofeo dell'Etna, Settimana Ciclista Internazionale - just to mention professional races."

Before turning 25 years old Vegni becomes managing director and often takes over the reins of the sporting event, managing on his own, upon appointment by the patron. Having learned from Mealli through the years, Vegni quickly pays attention to the different details necessary to organize events. Vegni becomes more and more involved due to the health situation of Franco Mealli. In 1994, Vegni is heading the decentralized management structure in four different race fields. A very demanding job which required the utmost dedication and commitment to succeed. On the following year, the transfer og the cycling races belonging to Velo Cluc Forze Romane to RCS Sport becomes effective, making Vegni move to Milan under the watchful eye of Carmine Castellano.
In 2003 he is charge of the entire cycling department and in 2005, when Castellano concludes his career in the RCS Sport, Mauro Vegni is the one to jump into the Giro d'Italia and the other classical races of the RCS flagship car, calling the shots.

A lifetime in cycling has also granted Vegni different federal appointments, like member of the Professional Council, a body of the Italian Cycling Federation.

Creating a Grand Tour
Having years of experience Vegni still enjoys making the giro as good as possible.
"The good result of a great giro is related to a number of fundamental key factors:

The technical and sport side: a stage race, important like the Giro is, cannot leave out of considerations such elements as effort, tradition, routes, thus without omitting innovation and respect vis-à-vis the athletes. In short, a hard but well balanced route (is what I look for).

The choreographic aspects: a huge event as such cannot disregard collateral and choreographic activities which shall turn it into an important communication opportunity: samples of the foregoing are the Olympic Games opening ceremonies"

"Phase one is what I call the "Construction of the Giro project", starting from the city which will host the Giro d’Italia “Big Departure” it shall be necessary to begin designing a route presenting a technical soundness. (As the thumb rule there are) Two/three time trial stages, six/seven sprinters’ stages, five/six summit finishes, five/six average mountain stages, providing that the most significant stages are planned during week-ends.

Once the plan is ready then starts the period in which to liaise with local institutions so as to identify the approximately 40 locations able to host one ore more stages of the Giro d'Italia."

"Phase two is the "Technical on-site inspections", which are the time when the Giro project effectively takes its shape, when the RCS Sport and Host broadcaster’s teams visit the stage locations, defining in detail all the areas which will be interested by the race: the finish area, the, race headquarters, the departure area, the last kilometers and the distance of transfer to kilometer zero, etc."

All set - in the flagship car

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Inspections - details are everything

During spring and summer several RCS officials are on "site inspections" at cities hosting the arrival or departure of the (next year's) giro. 

"A typical on-site investigation day can be summarized as follows: 

- Morning: RCS Sports team, together with the technical finish representatives and the TV crew take part to a first presentation meeting together with the members of the local organization committee (or stage committee). On this occasion all organization requirements and the support requested to the stage committee are expounded to the last detail.
Following the meeting, and after examination of the local committee possible requests, the teams proceed to the identification of the various areas, finish, open village (the sponsors’ village open to the public), race headquarters (the headquarters of the organization which host the press room, the conference room and the other organization-related offices).
During this phase all necessary steps are taken and the finish feasibility is assessed, also based on the kind of stage (sprint finishes require wider roads, etc).
Starting from such areas, then parking facilities, deviations for flagship cars, helicopter landing pads and so on, are due to be identified.

- Afternoon: RCS Sports team, together with the technical finish representatives and the TV crew move in the departure location. After a first presentation meeting with the local committee all the areas interested by the departure are identified. That is to say: the signature podium area and the departure village, the parking facilities for teams’ buses, the transfer route to kilometer zero, etc. Also in this case all remarks that will then be necessary for drafting the technical notes and the location maps are duly addressed.

- Evening: Once arrived in the hotel the work of the organization goes on with the drafting of the technical remarks and preparing the drawings and the location maps which will then be sent to the local organization committees in order to have all interventions required to realize the stage duly taken care of."


One could wonder how much personnel Vegni would need to make the Giro happen, but in fact it is not as heavily manned as I expected it to be, at least in the planning phase. 
"Only considering the technical-sport aspects, the planning phase activity, which allows to start from an idea and to then reach the final design of the Giro d'Italia, ties down 5 persons.

The on-site inspection phase requires two teams:
1 RCS Sport team composed by approximately 20 persons including people in charge, technicians and designers holding specific skills as regards departure, arrival, race headquarters and last kilometers 
1 Host broadcaster team composed by approximately 10 persons, in order to  control, under a TV broadcasting standpoint, the production requirements of each stage 

Always considering the sole technical-sport aspects (without counting all the forces operating in the logistics, marketing, press fields, etc.), the operative personnel dedicated to the event amounts to approximately 160 persons."

Glory days - Vegni with Acquarone and Scarponi in Denmark 2012

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As Vegni look into the crystal ball he glazes backwards to, comparing the old days to the present. 

"The Giro d'Italia has changed a lot in respect to the past, especially for what concerns the approach and the philosophy grounding the event: a real demand for innovation linked to an increasing attention to internationality, trying to avoid habits and repetitiveness. This becomes a concrete reality through taking some more risks, looking for new and original spots: Zoncolan, Galibier and Assisi, by way of example, derive from this approach.

But there is more, the stage’s planning and feasibility technical assessment phase has taken a  highly professional aspect, leaving nothing to chance or to last minute management."

Teamwork, spirit is one more important factor, which for sure represents a great added value, he adds. 

Reinstate the jerseys

(click picture to enlarge)

Take a good look at the picture from the Vuelta homepage. By the looks of things, it might be the battle for KOM but it is not. It could be the fight for GC, but Degenkolb doesn't quite add to the equation, does he?

Yes, of course it is the point classification, or "sprinters' jersey."

Make the competition a competition
Traditionally, everyone got a feeling for the jerseys, they are brilliant in themselves, not only a thing to aspire to for the riders, but an easy way for beginners of the sport to get an understanding of what is going on. Say "yellow jersey" and most people on the planet will relate that to the leader of the Tour de France. What a  fantastic brand.
Jerseys in cycling are sort of iconic and need to mean something to everyone, its bounderies and framework clear cut to avoid confusion. If riders, sponsors and fans miss out the sense-making, where would that lead us?

At the same time it is easy to forget that the green jersey is not a sprinter's jersey, it is the points classification. Two different things. Does the GC winner need an extra one or is it possible to turn it into a sprinter's jersey? Perhaps will the result be that several more sprinters would show up for the entire vuelta, instead of leaving early as we have witnessed before.

Edward Pickering from Cyclingsport magazine wrote an excellent comment on the competition for the polka dot jersey a compelling one, I'd expect the ASO to learn from this. The fight for jerseys should be special to all the different categories of riders, hence the increasing specialization in cycling today. Mark Cavendish fought very well for the red point jersey in the giro, only to loose for Rodriguez by one small point at the very last possible stage (yes, there are points in the last TT too, but not likely Cav or Rodriguez would grab one). Battles like these are amazing to witness, for everyone. For the organisers, fans and motivational for the riders to be a part of themselves.

Summary
So ASO, please do us all a favour and reinstate the jerseys. Bring them back into the spotlight and make the competition for each a good one.

Arctic Race of Norway - the new stage race on the calender

"We wish to make the Arctic Race of Norway a strong contributor on the international race calendar. Based on the extremely beautiful nature and concept, this race will be unique in international cycling." - Yann Le Moenner, ASO managing director.

The words of Yann Le Moenner is from a trip to the northern part of Norway just two days after the 2011 Tour de France, where three ASO executives, among them Baptiste Kern, ASO Development Director for new concepts, paid the organisers of the Arctic Tour of Norway a visit. The ASO directors did a trip on a RIB to Trollfjorden where they witnessed the famous spectacular turn by the coastal express. They also visit the city of Svolvær and went out fishing in the lovely Lofoten area.

The five-stage race is supposed to begin on the 25th of July 2013.

The magnifiscent Lofoten

Photo from Brittannica

Ambition
The long term goal is to host a World Tour event in Norway, but the application to UCI aims for 2.1 classification, something the ASO presence as an organiser seem to be a guarantor for. In Norway, the Glava Tour of Norway is the only race with a 2.1 status, something the organisers of that event had to work hard over several years to get.
The 2.1 classification means that minimum 50% of the riders will be from World Tour teams.

The early days
The organiser in Norway has its roots back to the Andørja Sportsklubb, who started organising a cyclo sportive called Tour de Andørja back in 2000. The race has developed during the years and consists today of a road race, MTB race, free ride on skis, in addition to an event for kids and some running events - all under the umbrella of Tour de Andørja Triple Challenge.

The organisers set themselves big goals already from the beginning. In 2003 they set an ambition to host the national road championship, which was granted in 2004. The national championship in 2006 was helt at Andørja (small island in the northern part of Norway). The plans of organising a big international event began in 2008, with the organisers going to Ringerike GP (now Glava Tour of Norway) to learn form their experience and in 2009 they went to Denmark for the 2.0 race held there.

Two of the individuals responsible for the Arctic Race of Norway, Ole Skardal and Knut-Eirik Dybdal, used their contacts within media, namely sports director at the TV2, Bjørn Taalelsen, and above all Trond Ahlsen (also TV2), and a meeting was arranged in Paris 27th of April 2011. The Norwegians came well prepared with video of the landscape and a powerpoint brief in French. The meeting was scheduled to take 20 minutes, but lasted for over three hours.

ASO and ARN officials in Trollfjorden

Photo by ARN

Game plan
The race is relying on a package so to speak, with exotic and new ways of organising a race combined with nature at its best. The race offer spectacular landscape of the northern part of Norway, breathtaking nature with the sea, mountains and wildlife like whales. I spoke to Knut-Eirik Dybdal about how to attract be best riders to the race, as it will take place just after the tour when several big names will ride different high-income crits around Europe and with the Eneco Tour coming just after. The reponse was "partly the whole spectacular package, partly high prize money for the stages." The fact that ASO are among the organisers guarantee a certain technical and logistical frame to the race. 
"Another important matter is the exotism of the race, taking place as far North as it is with the special light and nature. The fact that the teams and riders will stay on cruiseships for the entire race is new to cycling. This means they can bring their families as well, a nice gesture as the travel days during a season is somewhat full as it is. The teams, riders and media will each stay in the same hotel for the duration av the race, something which is unique in stage races", Dybdal says.

One important aspect is the midnight sun. Not only because it is spectacular in itself, but because of the business opportunities it provides. If you're confused think broadcasting across continents. The possibility to have one or more stages late in the evening european time gives possibilities to broadcast live to the US prime time. So much for the watching races live at odd times on a language you don't understand.  

1st row: Ståle, Yann Le Moenner, Knut-Eirik Dybdal, Trond Ahlsen, Baptiste Kern, Petter Ytterstad and Bjørn Taalesen.
2nd row: Asbjørn Andersen, Jorodd Asphjell, Anita Olset and Laurent Boqouillet.

Photo by Ole Skardal.

Organising
The organisers and ASO will, as soon as the Govermental financial guarantee is given, establish a company reponsible for organising the event. ASO will own 60% while Arctic race of Norway 40%. Note, this is not the normality of ASO ownership, which tends to be 100%. The Vuelta is an exemption where ASO own 60% as they bought a share in the race back in 2008.
The budget for the first year is about 27,3 MNOK equivalent of €3,7 million. To be approved ny the UCI as a stage race, the organiser have to prove 100% financial support.

The race follows one the ASO models, with establishing a rather small race organisation and rely on short-term rentals/augmentees of the spesific competence needed.
ASO are a technical as well as a financial guarantor to the UCI in addition to the prospect of hosting a stage race with high UCI-classification.

ASO will at the highest have as much as 30 people involved woth the race, a symbol of how much they want this race to succeed. The majority is mostly technical personell as ASO has a special role as technical organiser of the race.

According to Knut-Eirik Dybdal, Thor Hushovd has already spread the word among the riders in the pro peloton, making sure they are informed about the race.

Behind the company Arctic Race of Norway AS is a company called Nordic. Nordic is a company that has several interests in the region in terms of property development, hotel management and restaurants.

Ole Skardal and Knut-Eirik Dybdal at this year's Tour de France - talking to ASO-personnel.

Photo by Mads Bang Pedersen, downloaded here. 

Numbers
In order to bring such an event to Norway, or anywhere else for that matter, numbers are of highest importance. Privat corporations as well as politicians depend on numbers, hopefully not the red ones. So here are some of the estimated effects:

• 2013: 117 MNOK / €15,7 M in returns to the area, 88 MNOK of these related to tourism
• 2013: 263 new jobs in the region if the race takes place

• 2016: 333 MNOK / €44,7 M in returns to the area, 298 MNOK of this related to tourism
• 2016: 719 new jobs in the region if the race takes place 

• Marketing value associated with TV-exposure estimated to be 15,5 million USD (same as Tour of Oman)
• In addition to the existing hotel stays the race organisers estimates 36880 nights additional in 2013.

The ASO have estimated that a stage race of this caliber need three years as a minimum to be able to generate stabil income through sponsors etc. As of now the organisers are in dialog with several potential sponsors, but as this early stage, revealing these could jeopardize sponsorship. However, the organisers want the sponsors to be active in the area/region and with the intent to help cycling, in addtion to the business perspective of wanting to boost their own sales.

The race will generate sideeffects as a result so entrepreneurs - unite!

The route
As of now the route is a well kept secret. But, what is known is that starts and finish need to be in towns for several reasons, to ensure this is the big fiesta it can be and of logistical reasons. The race will take place in all the three northern countys in Norway, a crossing of the polar circle, a finish in the city of Svolvær in Lofoten and Tromsø can not be ruled out. Another important matter is capacity for harbouring cruiseboats.

Summary
The race have so many possibilities for a unique atmoshere with the special nature of the northern part o f Norway with the special wildlife. The possibility to have a stage race on a latitude far North is exotic and the ASO directors loved it when they paid the area a visit.

The race is depending a govermental financial support, in order to be fully approved by the UCI. The organisers and ASO have put a deadline on themselves to have this in place no later than 1st of September 2012. The UCI seem to have faith in the project, as they already have scheduled the race on the race calender from the 25th of Augsut 2013.