Yes.... but part of the deal is that Lance was also being featured in commercials on other channels. Kind of a cross-marketing thing. I think the sponsors saw a marketing opportunity because of the coinkydink between the Tour Centenary and the Fifth-Win effort.
It doesn't necessarily mean that a lot of people understand a thing about professional cycling, or follow it. I don't expect there'll be much of a ripple in the media pond over La Vuelta, por ejemplo. No Lance, no marketing hook. (BTW don't you love the superior French scenery and camera work????? We rank Le Tour 1st, then the Giro, the La Vuelta as far as watchability.) )

Hardi and I are blue in the face from all the explaining we've been doing about the hows and whys of cycling-- individual and team goals and tactics, where the money comes from and goes, and so on..... it's not at all like the Olympics and people keep thinking it will be, bnecause the mdia has focused on heroism and that's the closest people seem to be able to get, in gras[ping what's remarakable about Le Tour. When we explain it, we talk about having to have a great day for three weeks straight-- no room for a bad hair day-- and 2,000 miles of racing partly uphill.) The marketing this year has brought people to us to ask us, because NOW they recall that for 4 years w'eve been talking about how exciting it is. Anyhow that's how it seems in our tiny town. But there is a diehard road cycling community here, and especially now that we have a small and wonderful cycle shop, it's getting kinda organized. The CamelBak's are coming out of the closet and it's not unusual now to see someone zoom past slow cars on clipless pedal clips-- fewer heavy mountain bikes on the road, and more aerobars, and so forth.

Perhaps it's not important to decide which came first, the chicken or the egg-- the marketing or the interest-- but just to notice that chickens and eggs often are found together and tend to perpetuate one another.

~Susan