Team Performance Management: An International Journal Team and individual performance in the Tour de France Joachim Prinz Pamela Wicker Article information: To cite this document: Joachim Prinz Pamela Wicker, (2012),"Team and individual performance in the Tour de France", Team Performance Management: An International Journal, Vol. 18 Iss 7/8 pp. 418 - 432 Permanent link to this document: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/13527591211281147 Downloaded on: 05 May 2015, At: 08:27 (PT) References: this document contains references to 48 other documents. 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The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/1352-7592.htm TPM 18,7/8 Team and individual performance in the Tour de France Joachim Prinz 418 Department of Managerial Economics, Mercator School of Management, University of Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, Germany, and Pamela Wicker Department of Tourism, Leisure, Hotel and Sport Management, Griffith University, Gold Coast Campus, Southport, Australia Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effects of an athlete’s body type, team characteristics, and pay on performance in the Tour de France (“the Tour”). Based on the concept of scaling and the concept of human capital, the paper aims to derive a set of hypotheses. Design/methodology/approach – Secondary data were collected about all riders that finished the Tour in the years from 2002 to 2005 leading to a total number of n ¼ 600 observations. Random effects regression models are estimated with rank as the dependent variable. Findings – The findings indicate that lighter riders perform better in the Tour than heavier cyclists. Better teammates were found to increase average riders’ performances, whereas top riders did not benefit from top teammates. Experience (rider, teammates, coach) was a significant driver of performance. Research limitations/implications – Team managers should pay attention to the composition of the team. Having only one strong team captain and several good coworkers was more effective than having several star riders (i.e. potential captains) in a team. Practical implications – The findings with regard to team composition can be transferred to other sports and professions where teamwork plays an important role. Successful teams should consist of only one captain and several good coworkers. Originality/value – The paper extends previous work on the determinants of performance in the Tour by using a longitudinal dataset that covers more variables than previous research. Keywords Team performance, Labour market, Cycling, Tour de France, Human capital, Experience, Team working Paper type Research paper Downloaded by Virginia Commonwealth University At 08:27 05 May 2015 (PT) Introduction “The sport industry is globally one of the fastest [growing] and largest industries” (Ratten, 2011, p. 680). The internationalization of sport becomes evident in the growth of major sport events that are watched worldwide (Ratten, 2011). One of these events is the Tour de France (or synonymously “the Tour”), which is the world’s premier bicycle race. It is an annual endurance competition through all the terrain of France held every year in July. Each year 21 teams consisting of nine riders, vie to win the 3,500 km distance race. The event is divided in 20 (daily) stages and winning one of them is a Team Performance Management prestigious victory for riders of different skills and abilities. The Tour is considered a Vol. 18 No. 7/8, 2012 pp. 418-432 highly stressful race and on average only 75 per cent of riders arrive in Paris. At the q Emerald Group Publishing Limited end of the competition, the rider with the lowest (stage) cumulative time is the winner 1352-7592 DOI 10.1108/13527591211281147 of the Tour and allowed to keep the yellow jersey. Previous research investigating the determinants of performance in cycling has Team and focused largely on individual factors such as mechanic, metabolic, biomechanical, and individual physiological aspects of performance (e.g. Beneke and DiPrampero, 2001; Coyle et al., 1988; Coyle et al., 1990; Di Prampero et al., 1979; Neumann, 2000; Swain, 1994). performance However, performance in cycling is also determined by team characteristics (Torgler, 2007). The outcome of a cycling race is the result of a strong and united team. Teamwork is important as a rider’s success is reliant on his ability to conserve energy 419 at the correct times, and his team helps him to do this. Even good cyclists can hardly win a major cycling event without a strong team (Rebeggiani and Tondani, 2008). Cycling is a team sport; however, the fundamental difference to other team sports like football and basketball is that the winner of a cycling event is a single racer and not a team (Brewer, 2002). Cycling embodies a unique form of competition because some cyclists give away their individual chances of winning in the interest of the collective goal (Jutel, 2002). Thus, it can happen that some professional sportsmen spend their whole career helping others instead of pursuing their own goals (Rebeggiani and Tondani, 2008). Teams are important because a team is the “basic organizational unit of the professional cycling world” (Brewer, 2002, p. 281). These professional teams are strong alliances, as showcased in the road race of the 2000 Sydney Olympics where the riders from the Team Telekom revealed their “commercial identity” instead of the expected national identity (Jutel, 2002, p. 198). In other sports, there is also evidence on the importance of teammates’ abilities on compensation (e.g. Idson and Kahane, 2000; Kahane, 2001). Previous studies have analyzed the influence of financial characteristics such as player salaries or the annual team wage bill on performance (e.g. Forrest and Simmons, 2002; Lynch and Zax, 2000; Szymanski and Smith, 1997; Zimbalist, 1992). The evidence presented so far is mixed: While North American studies (Quirk and Fort, 1999; Zimbalist, 1992) did not find a significant correlation between pay and performance in baseball and football, the results presented from soccer studies (Forrest and Simmons, 2002; Szymanski and Smith, 1997) indicated a positive relation-ship between the annual team wage bill and club performance. The review of literature shows that the research focus has been on professional sports leagues up to now, whereas professional cycling has been largely neglected with only a few exceptions (e.g. Brewer, 2002; Cherchye and Vermeulen, 2006; Dilger, 2002; Dilger and Geyer, 2009; Morrow and Idle, 2008; Torgler, 2007). This is surprising given the popularity and financial success of the Tour and considering Downloaded by Virginia Commonwealth University At 08:27 05 May 2015 (PT) cycling was one of the first sports ever practiced professionally (Rebeggiani and Tondani, 2008). As performance in the Tour is determined by individual ability and team characteristics, this interdisciplinary study combines characteristics of these two areas. This leads to the main research question: What is the influence of individual and team characteristics on performance in the Tour? The paper is organized as follows: In the next section the theoretical framework based on the concept of scaling and the concept of human capital is presented and hypotheses are formulated. To test the hypotheses, a database including team characteristics and individual characteristics is constructed. This dataset consists of all cyclists who have finished the Tour in the years 2002 to 2005 (n ¼ 600). Further years were not included in the dataset, since several (official and popular)