So much more than a bike team
Client: Rally Cycling
Services: longform editorial, social media, race coverage
Image Rally Cycling
Client: Rally Cycling
The Client
We first crossed paths with Rally Cycling in 2019 when they did a collaborative film project alongside our client, the Amgen Tour of California, called Road To California. We were inspired by the way they went about racing at a WorldTour stage race as a ProTour team, and loved the fact they fielded both a women’s and men’s squad. When the opportunity came to work with Circuit Sport, the organisation that operates the team, on their editorial content and race coverage, we leapt at the chance.
We got a few good bike races under the belt in 2020, with a blistering win Down Under on the first race day of the season from Chloe Hosking, followed soon after by an inspiring week producing daily reports from the men’s appearance at the Tour Colombia.
Road to California – Episode 1
All episodes available here.
And then, of course, the worldwide pandemic hit.
Instantly, the face of bike racing changed and organisations like Rally Cycling faced an existential challenge; How do you deliver sponsor exposure and build fan engagement in a time when there is no bike racing?
The team resolved to deliver both these things using a video series called Healthy Habits, and also by digging deeper into the stories of their riders and support staff.
They also managed to get themselves an invite to the biggest e-racing event in history, the inaugural Virtual Tour de France, organised by ASO.
TELLING THE DEEPER STORIES BEHIND A BIKE TEAM
A team like Rally Cycling, one that has been competing for almost 15 years and has climbed steadily through the sport, is a wellspring of stories. From the pro rider just getting into bikepacking to the general manager who once wore the maillot jaune, from the avid sourdough baker who specialises in riding the classics, to the restorer of classic American automobiles who happens to be his DS.
What makes Rally Cycling exceptional is that it has its own marketing and design department, so the Fausto editorial team was able to work with and make use of the talented people at Circuit Sport.
During the pandemic, we helped the team to tell those stories, shifting the focus away from the absence of racing and onto the abundance of human experiences that can easily get brushed over in the midst of a frenetic race season.
Owning the VIRTUAL TOUR DE FRANCE NARRATIVE
Seizing upon the opportunity to perform on the world stage, Rally Cycling wanted to capture as much inight into racing in Zwift’s virtual world as possible in the run-up to the race. They enlisted the expertise of one of America’s best Zwift racers – and they asked us to help tell the story of their ‘secret weapon’.
Not only did the major cycling outlets pick up the story and amplify it, but it was mentioned in live commentary broadcast around the world. When Matteo Dal-Cin won a stage, that was the final cherry on the top of the sundae.
