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Skoda Auto - Main Partner of Tour de France for Sixth Consecutive Year


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MLADA BOLESLAV – CZECh REPUBLIC – July 2, 2009: The 96th Tour de France, the world's most famous cycling competition, is again going to be supported by Škoda Auto. With 20 teams on the start line, this legendary race starts on Saturday, 4 July, in Monaco and, as usual, is going to end on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.

This year Škoda Auto is going to stage a French market premiere of the Yeti, its latest model. Ten Yetis are going to be part of the Tour de France advertising convoy, an integral part of each stage of the event. In total, this year’s Tour de France is going to see about 350 Škoda vehicles in action, most of which (about 250) are going to be used by the competition organisers as the TdF official vehicles.

Eight professional teams are going to use Škoda vehicles during the event - Silence-Lotto (Belgium), Saxo Bank – IT Factory (Denmark), Rabobank (Netherlands), Euskaltel-Euskadi (Spain), Cofidis (France), Franćaise des JEUX (France), Cervelo (Switzerland) and Milram (Germany), plus Shimano and Mavic, two neutral teams to provide technical support.

Commenting on the strategy of the Company's partnership with the Tour de France, Head of Corporate Communications Martin Lauer says: “Basically, there are two pillars on which Škoda builds its international corporate sponsorship communication strategies – ice-hockey and cycling, two sports that efficiently complement each other in terms of covering the respective European markets and are seen as very powerful tools employed to enhance brand awareness, the product image, as well as brand and product visibility. Cycling offers great opportunities of presenting Škoda vehicles in the very heart of the competition where they are in close contact with racers, fans and potential buyers. Continuity in this aspect is very important, and we also appreciate the organisers' efforts to expand the Tour de France to other countries, such as Spain and Switzerland where the Tour is also going to appear this year“.