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At the time it seemed like he's off the Red Bull program, but it was just the headwear thing for a time. His racing has been and still is Red Bull supported as well, his overalls in Gymkhana are still clad in Red Bull logos (besides the helmet), so yeah...
As for always on the team, I think it's more of a marketing value thing. Jon Olsson hardly ever skis anymore yet he's still repping Red Bull. Not always and not everywhere, but looks like his persona is worth enough to Red Bull to keep him around. I'm guessing it's the same for other guys too.
Source - Wyn Masters IG
It is possible he took a fall and needed a new helmet but didn't have any safe painted ones around so just went with a plain black.
https://www.redbull.com/us-en/athlete/andreu-lacondeguy
Tahnee off oakley
Sinking Beers, riding Moto's, Watch his Kids grow up while remaining healthy.
He would make a great ambassador for a big company too.
But he does have what, three kids? And they're just hitting that age where dad being gone for 3-6 months a year has an affect on them and it's likely problematic for the whole family to travel with him and him keep his eye on the prize. If he is retiring he's going out as a legend and multi time champ in two different disciplines.
That being said, if we're all fortunate enough that he's going to be on a new team, I'll continue hanging on every race he's competing in. I think if he was retiring he'd have done it at a random time of the year, this seems more like a contract move timing wise.
Being a Red Bull athlete comes with huge benefits, for example being thoroughly physically tested and receiving a custom-made training program developed by world class physicians and coaches, but it also comes with pressure and probably not all can handle it as well as others. One of the things is that they are VERY strict when it comes to branding, headwear especially, and riders need to pay attention with that. But I believe that by controlling things like they do, what you obtain is building a very coherent image. And little things matter. For instance, you can buy Monster and Rockstar branded hats from every company you can imagine, but you can't really buy a Red Bull one, like the athletes to, right? This creates the perception of and aspiration towards the brand that this stuff isn't for everybody and you can rep it only if you're elite in your field. It's a strategy, just like Monster's is the total opposite, making everything available for everybody.
As for what's healthy and what not, we could dig in deep into principles and what matters, learn how there are a lot of other companies out there who are not necessarily ”healthy”, either because of what they are selling or how they choose to produce their stuff (far east carbon and garments, meow?) and then we will eventually end up with the idea that the only companies worth being sponsored by are Chris King, Revel and Patagonia. Which is a bit absurd.
We can talk a lot about Red Bull and their methods, but aren't they supporting a network of quality media that provides us with quality and mostly FREE content?
I do some work for the WA government, I can't even get a permit to travel there from east coast Australia, been that way since March.
He's just a thankful lad.
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