ŠKODA UK will continue its partnership of The Tour of Britain in 2012, becoming The Tour’s Official vehicle sponsor for the second year running. The partnership will also see ŠKODA continue as the official sponsor of the King of the Mountains Jersey in Britain’s largest free-to-spectate sporting event.
The partnership deal is a repeat of last year’s popular ‘ŠKODA King of the Mountains’ climbs, three of which will take place on each stage of the race, from Sunday 9 September to Saturday 16 September 2012. A competition for Surrey school children to design the King of the Mountains jersey is underway and the winner will have their design made in to the official jersey and be able to present it to the winner at the end of the event.
ŠKODA has a long association with cycling, dating back to the start of the company in 1895 when the founders Vaclav Laurin and Vaclav Klement began manufacturing bicycles in their home town of Mlada Boleslav in the Czech Republic.
As Official vehicle sponsor to The Tour of Britain, ŠKODA UK will supply a 50-strong fleet of ŠKODA vehicles made up of Superbs, Octavias and Yetis. The cars will guide participating riders across 850 miles of roads through England, Scotland and Wales as they compete in the UK’s biggest professional bike race.
In addition to the support vehicle sponsorship, two teams will be targeting The Tour of Britain supported by ŠKODA vehicles for the duration of the eight days– Rapha Condor Sharp and Team Raleigh, both of whom will be hoping to become the first British pro team to win The Tour of Britain since its re-launch in 2004.
Many congratulations to Jonathan Tiernan-Locke who scooped last year’s ŠKODA King of the Mountains jersey, we hope that cycling fans across the UK will once again be drawn to each of the ŠKODA King of the Mountains climbs to witness the action first hand.
Commenting on the partnership, Hugh Roberts, Chief Executive for SweetSpot Group, organisers of The Tour of Britain, said: “ŠKODA is becoming synonymous with great performance amongst the cycling community and we are really excited that once again it will be a Tour of Britain partner.
“In this most important of years for British sport, we are looking forward to giving cycling fans the opportunity to see the best professional riders in the world competing on UK roads. We’re delighted to have ŠKODA UK on board for what promises to be another fantastic event.”
Article source: www.skoda.co.uk