A few months ago, the Valua Attitude team had the chance to take part in an unusual strategic project: a group of MBA candidates at UCLA Anderson —Brianna Schenk, Erika Adams, Jesy Odio, Marisa Lue and Titilola Labisi— chose our division as the subject of their Strategic Management research.
The result has just arrived. And it deserves more than a quick summary.
📊 An analysis built on real data
This is not an opinion piece. The team worked for several months using a mixed methodology: surveys of more than 400 participants in endurance events in Spain, Portugal and Italy, in-depth interviews with organisers from across Europe, a competitive analysis of more than 15 operators, and Valua Attitude's actual booking and operations data.
The result is a rigorous document that places our business model within the context of the European sports travel market —and which, frankly, has given us as much to think about as it has given us confidence.
🌍 What the market says
Sports tourism is growing at a rate of 10% a year globally. The Gran Fondo segment in the European Mediterranean alone —France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece and Croatia— represents an opportunity worth more than €800 million for travel logistics operators such as Valua Attitude.
And yet the ecosystem remains deeply fragmented. The vast majority of events do not have an integrated logistics provider. Participants arrange their own accommodation, transfers, bicycle transport and registration on platforms that are not connected to one another. Organisers, with small teams focused on running the race, take on a coordination burden they were not designed for.
Nobody has stitched the pieces together yet.
🔧 The model we are building
Valua Attitude does not operate like a conventional travel agency. Our model is different: we work as invisible infrastructure behind the organiser. We integrate into their communications, their website and their registration flow, and we manage all the logistics —accommodation, transfers, bicycle storage, group coordination— under their brand. The participant arrives well. The experience is not broken before the first pedal stroke. And the organiser can offer something they could not build on their own.
The Anderson analysis calls it “white-label B2B2C”. We call it doing the job well without needing the spotlight.
🚴 Cycling as a foundation, sport as the horizon
The model has been built and proven in the world of Gran Fondo cycling —and in particular in the Spanish market, where Marc Abella has developed solid relationships with organisers who trust Valua to make their events work better.
But the analysis confirms what we already suspected: the same need exists in triathlon, destination running and trail running. Sports with international participants, complex logistics and organisers who do not want to build this infrastructure in-house. The recommended sequence is clear: first consolidate and deepen our presence in cycling in Spain, then expand to Portugal and the south of France, and finally open up other sports from an already proven operational base.
💬 What we value most about the process
Beyond the numbers, there is something that this kind of collaboration brings that is hard to achieve any other way: uncomfortable questions asked with rigour.
The Anderson team did not come to validate us. They came to analyse. And that means pointing out the risks too: the seasonal concentration of the business, the dependence on one key person, the gap between the internal plan and what the data supports. These are necessary conversations, and having them with a well-prepared external team has real value.
🚀 The road ahead
The analysis puts the accessible market opportunity for Valua Attitude in Spain at more than €33 million over five years —from cycling events that currently have no integrated logistics provider alone. With Mediterranean expansion and sports diversification, the figure grows considerably.
The road is ambitious. We knew that before the report, and now we know it on firmer ground.
Thank you to the Anderson team for their work and their honesty. And to the organisers, participants and collaborators who took part in the interviews and surveys: this analysis is yours too.
Would you like to know more about how Valua Attitude works with sports event organisers? Visit our page or write to us directly.