Garmin International to sponsor Tour de France team

Thu, 19/06/2008 - 08:45

Marketing | Cycling | Sponsorship

GPS manufacturer, Garmin International, has agreed a two-year title sponsorship deal with professional cycling team Slipstream-Chipotle, until 2010.

Under the deal, the team will be known as Garmin-Chipotle. A new jersey, which will incorporate Garmin’s logo, will be unveiled on July 3 in Brest prior to the start of the Tour de France. This season Garmin has been a second-tier team sponsor, below the squad’s three primary backers Chipotle, H30 and Felt Bicycles.

Garmin Vice President of Communications, Jon Cassat, said: “We were content with that level of sponsorship, but part of what we do is to get close with the team and its mission, providing technology to the team, both car navigation for their vehicles and more importantly GPS-enabled cycling computers. And as we’ve worked with [team physiologist] Allen Lim and [team manager] Jonathan Vaughters, and the riders themselves, trying to get closer to the whole training thing, it just manifested itself that we could take a bigger position. One thing led to another, and we realised if we stepped up now we could be involved in time for the Tour de France. That was reason enough”.

It is the third time in 10 days that a major international cycling team has announced a new title sponsor heading into next month’s Tour de France.

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