Applying Google Trends’ Search Popularity Indicator to Professional Cycling

Abstract

This study uses Google Trends data to analyze the impact of the main events in the Tour de France 2019 on cyclists’ online popularity in 12 countries and at a global scale. A fixed effects panel model revealed a strong own-country preference. While online popularity increased with the duration of the Tour, race incidents strongly influenced online popularity. Besides the yellow jersey, winning a stage was more important than wearing the green, white or polka dot jersey for most regions. Still, on a global scale, young cyclists’ online popularity benefited more from wearing the white jersey than from winning a Tour stage.