Since it was launched in October 2012, the A.S.O. Challenges platform has grown to become ‘a leading service centre, meeting point and source of information for endurance sport lovers.’
Over 500,000 sportspeople of all levels and walks of life — running, cycling, outdoor sports and adventure sports — have now signed up to the A.S.O. Challenges community, which is managed by Amaury Sport Organisation, the French media group that organises the Tour de France, Vuelta a España and Paris–Nice amongst other major events.
It has taken A.S.O. Challenges less than three years to become a hub for the public events organised by A.S.O. (Amaury Sport Organisation). According to A.S.O, the site aims to bring sportspeople together, offering ‘much more than a mere registration platform and providing top-notch guidance from the moment an athlete signs up to the epilogue to a race.’
A.S.O. Challenges by the numbers:
- 70% of members are runners
- The gender ratio is three men to every woman
- Two million visits every year leading to twelve million page views and 35% growth in traffic
- France, the United Kingdom and the United States are the three countries with the most visitors to the platform
The range of services offered by A.S.O. Challenges includes:
- Registration for all A.S.O. events
- Articles and videos full of training, nutrition and health tips
- A social community for helping to find training partners
- Interactive training plans
- Coaching sessions
- Accommodation offers
- A dedicated e-commerce page for each event where athletes can purchase race complements such as pictures, posters, t-shirts, medals, etc
- Access to the pre-race invitations required to pick up race numbers
- Detailed race results and a downloadable ‘Finisher diploma’
- Event videos
Online and on the road
As well as providing tips and services, A.S.O. Challenges organises training sessions, MAS (Maximum Aerobic Speed) tests and meeting points. This gives the platform a double presence offline and online —‘on the net and on the road’.
According to A.S.O., the information submitted by A.S.O. Challenges members ‘provides A.S.O. with precious data that helps it improve the events it organises to better meet the public’s needs and wishes, for example, by tweaking the start waves.’
In addition to its high profile professional cycling events, A.S.O. also organises the Paris Marathon, the Paris Half-Marathon, 10KM L’Équipe, RUNIN Marseille and Lyon, Run at Work, L’Etape du Tour and ROC mountain bike racing. A.S.O. also produces the Mud Day series of obstacle races in France and Spain, which is sponsored by automobile brand Mini.
www.asochallenges.com
www.aso.fr
