The last round of the classic cycling spring ends with Liège-Bastogne-Liège. The cycling world has been turned upside down in recent months because Decathlon – the Aldi of sporting goods – would supply the Pro Tour team Decathlon AG2R with bicycles. With a few places in the top 10 and Benoît Cosnefroy’s victory in the Brabantse Pijl, the first spring of classics for Decathlon bicycles can be evaluated as more than sufficient.
Really from Lille
The company wanted to explain that there is a broad strategy behind this sponsorship when the cycling circus almost passed by the front door of the headquarters in Villeneuve d’Ascq, a suburb of Lille near Roubaix. The cycling brand Van Rysel is really from Lille: the bicycles are made and designed in B’Twin Village in Lille.
Two days before Paris-Roubaix, the company received several journalists in a tent at the beginning of the cobblestone section of Moulin-de-Vertain. At that moment, the first campers with cycling fans drove into the meadow next to the cobblestones, while hell was as it should be: greasy and muddy. In the tent: three very expensive racing bikes from Van Rysel.
Decathlon wanted to prove that professional cyclists appreciate Van Rysel bicycles and that is why some Decathlon-AG2R team members came by. The eloquent Oliver Naesen, who finished seventh in the Tour of Flanders the week before, sounds like an accomplished bicycle salesman. “A good racing bike must convert the pedaling movement into forward movement as best as possible. This has to be done via a stiff and aerodynamic bicycle frame,” he showed us the different parts that he believes make the difference. Price of the bicycle: around 10,000 euros, a bargain, because similar bicycles from major brands such as Specialized or Cervelo can easily cost 15,000 euros.
“Money and size”
According to 33-year-old Naesen, it is the best racing bike he has ever ridden. He also has an idea why that happens. “Money and size. Most bicycle manufacturers are small, but Decathlon is a very large company. It has the resources and people to build a top bike. Moreover, it is often the largest customer among bicycle parts suppliers, which means it can obtain discounts or excellent service.” Decathlon is said to have purchased several models from all the top brands as study work for its engineers, who could thus create their own top bicycle.
For Nicolas Pierron, the director of Van Rysel, the racing bike fits into Decathlon’s broader strategy. “Decathlon is very good at attracting sports debutants. With us they will find all kinds of sports equipment for a good price-quality ratio. However, we have noticed that we have difficulty keeping customers who practice their sport intensively. Then they switch to more expensive brands. We want to keep those people with us by offering top products in various sports, in tennis, football and now also cycling.” According to Pierron, the intention is for Van Rysel’s qualitative reputation to reflect on the entire Decathlon group.
Pierron is also the inventor of the name Van Rysel. He himself started at the bottom of the Decathlon ladder in the late 1990s, as an employee of the bicycle workshop in the Decathlon of Mâcon, in central France. As he rose through the hierarchy and was called to headquarters in northern France, the amateur cyclist got to know the cobblestones and the Flemish slopes, in a region that loves cycling. “I love Flanders. The Flemish and French-Flemish slopes and cobblestone sections also have something mythical among cyclists in the US or Australia,” he says. A brand name that refers to the Flemish roots of Lille – Lille – seemed ideal to him. According to him, the launch of the Van Rysel bicycle is an unprecedented success, the company can barely keep up with demand.
Decathlon is no stranger to professional cycling. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Decathlon was also the bicycle sponsor of AG2R, then a small French cycling team. Decathlon is now coming back through the big gate, because not only does it supply the bicycles, the French company is also the main sponsor of the Decathlon-AG2R team, an investment that exceeds 10 million euros per year. “There is an important difference between then and now,” says Pierron. “There were no social media at the time to share clips of our riders. Social media now makes cycling sponsorship much more interesting. A rider who is two hours ahead is a huge advertisement.”
Cycling is no longer overshadowed by doping scandals, but by heavy falls, which keep top riders out of action for months. According to Pierron, Decathlon is also working on that. “We have several projects where we test airbags. You also have the same problems in equestrian sports, for which we also sell equipment, and airbags are part of the solution. We will sell more products that protect cyclists.”
Pierron has a team of 100 people, 50 designers and 50 people who make Decathlon’s most expensive bicycles in B’Twin Village. B’Twin Village is located a little further in Lille. It was an old cigarette factory that was converted into a large cycling experience center for the general public. Decathlon’s office spaces and workshops are also located there. Decathlon, which has 1,800 stores in 78 countries and a turnover of approximately 15 billion euros, manages all cycling activities worldwide from the B’Twin Village. In a region still plagued by high unemployment rates, around 1,500 people work in that “village” close to the Belgian border.
Prototypes
Maxime Delabre, the marketing manager at Van Rysel, shows us around the impressive building, where employees move with scooters because it is so large. The building is reminiscent of a campus of a large tech company in San Francisco with small stands for demonstrations next to the offices. There are numerous sports facilities for the often young employees. There are also several workshops where prototypes are made for bicycles and other Decathlon items. Not only expensive racing bicycles are designed here, but also children’s bicycles, regular bicycles, electric bicycles and the quickly becoming popular longtail bicycle. They go far when designing: there is a children’s bicycle tailored to an adult, to more easily reveal shortcomings, such as handlebars that are too wide or brake levers that a toddler cannot reach. A little further on, Delabre shows the testing studio where bicycles, helmets, cycle computers and clothing are extensively tested. According to Delabre, this rigorous testing means that Decathlon’s many suppliers, who are often located in Asia, feel obliged to deliver quality for all products, even the cheapest ones.
Van Rysel’s professional bicycles were designed in about three years. A neighbor of B’Twin Village in Lille played an important role. Across the street is the Onera wind tunnel, a space research center. “The engineers walked across the street with prototypes to test them in the wind tunnel. We could then immediately make adjustments in the studio,” says Delabre.
Bakermat Roubaix
The company has something to do with Roubaix, the poorest city in France and the birthplace of the richest man in the world: Bernard Arnault, who once built his luxury empire from the old industrial city. Decathlon’s early roots are located right next to the infamous Roubaix cycling track. In 1961, Gérard Mulliez opened his first small supermarket in an old textile warehouse belonging to his father (the owner of the Phildar textile chain). His 22-year-old cousin Michel Leclercq was involved in the butchery. It was the beginning of the Auchan story, one of the largest supermarket chains in Europe. Leclercq grew with the fast-growing company, but decided to strike it out on his own in 1976 and started a sports shop next to an Auchan in Lille. Decathlon was born. To this day, Decathlon is fully owned by the Mulliez and Leclercq families from Northern France, some of whom live across the border in Belgium. With a Pro Tour team, it was also a bit of a homecoming for the Northern French company this spring.
