THE RISE AND RISE OF TREK DROPS
TIM VANDERJEUGD Why Trek joined forces with Drops to support their women's team in 2018
Jet lag brings out the best in us. Maybe it’s because jet lag is a side effect of travel, which in itself expands the mind, but I have always loved how waking up way too early tickles my mind and energy. One cold morning last November, during our annual three-day sports marketing summit at Trek’s global headquarters in Waterloo, Wisconsin, Tom Varney was wide awake at 3am contemplating how he could make the greatest kit in the women’s peloton look even better. The 2017 kit was widely regarded as one of the best in all of pro cycling, and Tom was determined to keep the momentum going.
Tom manages the UK-based Trek-Drops cycling team with his dad, Bob Varney, and a lot of passion. Both men were attending the summit for the first time, since Trek agreed to become first-title sponsor of a team that had been turning heads since 2016.
We all wanted the new team kit to be a statement and to celebrate a transition to greater prominence, while paying homage to the famous colourful vertical stripes (“drops”) on a dark background.
Tom’s original approach to the team’s visual identity was a big part in Trek’s decision to increase our investment. The Varneys come from a graphic design background, and hold themselves to high standards, so expectations were high for 2018.
Trek designers had already been inspired to paint the team’s bikes in a striking matte “Miami Green” to set off the pastels of the original stripes. Drops never looked like any other team, men’s or women’s, most of them aesthetically average. Drops only looked like Drops - fresh and bold, and we wanted to raise the bar further.
I woke up to a text from Tom asking if I could meet him before we kicked off a long series of meetings that day. Betraying his jetlag, he showed up with a twinkle in his eyes, knowing how powerful his elevator pitch to me was. He had prepared an extensive presentation to convince Trek to leave the black background behind and change it to purple. “Mulberry” to be exact. The choice to use mulberry being a deliberate and wise choice as purple can be interpreted in many ways.
Sometimes it only takes a split second to know how great something is. What Tom brought to the table was a stroke of genius. The mulberry worked perfectly with the Miami green bikes, shoes, and helmets. The combination looked vibrant, fresh, and playful. It was exactly what we needed.
In December, when I travelled to Spain to spend a few days with Trek-Drops, I was reminded of another big part in Trek’s decision to step up: Bob Varney’s huge energy and ambition. In only two years, Bob has managed to bring a group of individuals together and create a team like no other. Both the riders and staff share his passion for cycling. As a bike manufacturer, we couldn’t dream of a better partner.
One evening in Spain I got to present on all things Trek. I told the team about the company’s 40-year heritage in the bike industry, about John Burke and his belief that everything is better with bikes, about our Bontrager ABC safety campaign and about our reasons to race, which are numerous. When I told the riders that times are changing I wasn’t telling them anything new. It’s impossible not to see, and be excited about the rise of women’s cycling.
Riding with the team in the mountains of Catalunya only confirmed what I already knew: that the returning young riders on the team have been progressing rapidly, and the new arrivals on the team will further elevate the level of performance and make it a force to be reckoned with.
Now that the team is on track to have a marvellous 2018 season, racing in that beautiful mulberry kit, all that’s left to decide is whether the team will colour the road or color the road...