Willy Walker And 17-Time Tour De France Racer George Hincapie On Building A Successful Brand

After a year of coronavirus delays, the Olympics are finally here and excellence in sports is top of mind. One person who is well-versed in what it takes to not only excel in a sport but support others who do as well is 17-time Tour de France racer and five-time U.S. Olympian George Hincapie. 

Hincapie is a cyclist who held a position in the peloton he rode in at the Tour de France that is known as a “domestique.” The role of a domestique is to keep peloton leaders out of the wind and in the front of the pack as much as possible. Hincapie was a domestique for a number of cycling legends, including Alberto Contador, Cadel Evans and Lance Armstrong. He helped these men secure their Tour de France victories and won a stage of the tour himself in 2005, becoming one of only 10 Americans who has ever accomplished such a feat. 

Today, Hincapie’s professional cycling days are behind him, but he is taking on new types of challenges as a business owner, tackling the obstacles that come with running a successful cycling clothing line and a hotel. He recently went on the Walker Webcast to chat with Walker & Dunlop CEO Willy Walker about the difficulties that come with operating both businesses, especially during the coronavirus pandemic, and how he has been working to pivot his clothing brand to meet the changing face of cycling. 

Hincapie started his clothing brand, which is also called Hincapie, with his brother early in his cycling career. He said the idea was to create a way that he could still be involved in the sport long after his professional career was over. 

“It was just one of those things where we thought, well, we'll give it a shot, and here we are, you know, 15 years later,” Hincapie said. 

Hincapie’s clothing is more affordable than some of the other cycling gear on the market, with jerseys running in the $100-plus range versus around $350 from Hincapie’s competition. He said he likes to think of his brand as the Gap of cycling clothing — the everyday brand that is high-quality and technical enough to where people can be confident that they’re still getting a high-performing product for a cheaper price.  

Hincapie said that one of the ways he is able to sell his clothing for less is because it is manufactured in Colombia and the company primarily uses Colombian fabrics, which allows it to avoid paying duty on the clothing it brings into the U.S., which significantly impacts cost. 

“We have a really loyal following that has been with us for several years, and we've bumped up our marketing and our sales team to try and grow that following,” Hincapie said. 

He added that the company has in-house product developers and that he personally researches new technologies and tests products before they go to market. 

Hincapie said that the pandemic has caused supply chain issues for his company, with coronavirus restrictions placed on his factory and countrywide curfews impacting his employees’ ability to work overtime. This resulted in his delivery times shifting from three to four weeks to four to eight weeks, but he said that his customers have overall been very understanding. 

The Changing World Of Cycling 

Walker pointed out that bike sales are up dramatically, with some consumers struggling to even find a bike to purchase. Along with that, the types of biking people are doing is changing. It isn't just road or city biking that is drawing in new customers but mountain and gravel biking as well, and cycling apparel companies need to keep up. 

Hincapie said that his company has already begun designing mountain and gravel biking apparel, and it even began looking into leisurewear. 

“We know that in order to keep growing and to hopefully get to where we want to go, we're going to have to be able to be a player in all of those segments of the sport,” Hincapie said. 

Along with running a clothing brand, Hincapie operates Hotel Domestique in South Carolina and hosts gran fondos, which are long-distance cycling rides. He said that while the pandemic impacted both operations, both have come back with a vengeance the past few months, with his bike tours drawing in 50% more riders than ever before and his hotel experiencing its busiest summer ever. 

Walker closed by asking Hincapie what he wants to be remembered for, and he brought up that he was part of a “crazy era” in the sport of cycling, referring to the doping allegations that swept through the sport during his time, and he wants to be remembered for the role he played in bringing that to light. 

“I was one of the riders that stood up for change and said enough was enough, this is going on, this is rampant in the sport, we need to change and we need to go into a new direction,” Hincapie said. “That’s one of the things I’m proudest of.” 

On Aug. 4, Walker will host bestselling author, international speaker, high-performance coach and consultant James Kerr. Register here for the event. 

This article was produced in collaboration between Walker & Dunlop and Studio B. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.

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