We’re back! Welcome to CycleOnline 2.0. Upon recommencing for 2022, it’s incredibly exciting for us to launch a new-look CycleOnline.com.au following 15 months away. Importantly, we wouldn’t be here without a group of highly-valued partners that have stepped up and ensured this welcome return.

To begin with, you’re probably wondering where we went… In October last year, following 10 years in operation, I decided to place CycleOnline on hold. At that point, I wasn’t sure where the future would stand for the brand and, honestly, we weren’t exactly planning on bringing it back for this season until Q4 of last year.

When covid hit in 2020, a number of advertisers paused their marketing spend and upon coming back, a few of them opted to only support our dirt bike platform over at MotoOnline.com.au. In a challenging time with a lot of uncertainty, the safest decision at that point to ensure the ongoing stability of Foremost Media – our parent company – was to park CycleOnline.

Image: Foremost Media.

As many would be aware, our content agency is at the core of Foremost Media and that meant we would continue attending the Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) events and also managing multiple social media accounts that follow the sport from an international standpoint, so we’ve been well-connected and involved throughout.

What didn’t feel right though was the fact that we’ve been taking a team of three-to-four people to the national races, have maintained the resources (and improved them in certain areas) to run CycleOnline, but we weren’t. The site was just sitting there in the background and our opportunity to ‘give back’ by providing coverage and editorial wasn’t being utilised.

In the meantime, former Australian Supersport champion Troy Guenther has been part of the Foremost Media crew for the past six months working between MotoOnline and our agency, so it makes sense that we have him apply his vast knowledge to a road platform with the focus on domestic competition and the Australians overseas. I’m also an avid follower of the sport and maintain the interest of it being successful locally.

As I mentioned earlier, however, it would not be viable to bring back CycleOnline and rather than seeking a wide range of advertisers for this comeback, we’ve partnered exclusively with brands in multiple segments as specific sponsors. The response of the people at these companies when sharing my idea was immediately positive and it is their very involvement that has resulted in us being here today and into the future.

From a manufacturer standpoint, KTM Group is backing the project, plus we have AMX Superstores, Pirelli, Dainese, Motul, a combination of Shoei/HJC and also TCX Boots. If you’re in the market and enjoy what we do here at CycleOnline.com.au, make sure you support our partners who are effectively supporting the sport in a major way. Thank you to each and every one of those brands and the crew behind them.

Image: Supplied.

These are companies that understand where we are positioning the platform and partners that are as committed as we are to this project. No longer will we be doing countless MotoGP posts chasing clicks (we’ll still have a share of it though), we will primarily put our time into connecting with Australian riders and doing our part to promote the great things being achieved by so many globally.

Whether it be the sacrifices that riders and their families make to get on the grid, the widespread support of competitors or the sheer passion that drives the sport from the top of the podium down, the following they’ve all received is largely underdone. And that’s fair enough, because it isn’t simple to gain funding with this as the focus, but we’ve managed this time around and I’m excited from a commercial standpoint to deliver – in our own way – for our backers also.

So, with the formalities done, what will be different this time around? Firstly, we’re focused on our own. If it’s happening in ASBK, you’ll read about it here. The Aussies overseas will be well-publicised to levels never seen before at CycleOnline and we’ll have a light mix of non-racing content that’s applicable to our broader vision including street and adventure.

Thank you all for stopping by, this is just the beginning and we have a bunch of quality content planned to publish in 2022. From the website articles to films, podcasts and a mix of social media content in between, we’re back and grateful to be here. Let’s get started! This is, CycleOnline 2.0.