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In Mladá Boleslav, 30 June 2011 – ŠKODA and its fleet of vehicles will appear on the start line of the world's most famous cycling race for the eighth time in history. The 98th year of the Tour de France starts on Saturday, 2 July, and ŠKODA will be there as one of the main sponsors, the official vehicle of the event and the partner of the white jersey for the best under-25 rider. The car manufacturer will provide the organisers with about 300 vehicles. At the same time, ŠKODA is a partner of 9 professional teams plus the technical assistance team (Mavic).

"The Tour de France keeps fascinating people all over the world," says ŠKODA BOD Member for Sales and Marketing Jürgen Stackmann. "The riders put in top-class performances, and we are proud to be supporting this fantastic sports event for the eighth time in history. ŠKODA sees the Tour as a unique opportunity of showing our brand and our products to millions of people worldwide".

ŠKODA will provide the Tour de France organisers with about 300 vehicles (whole model portfolio), of which the most important and also the most visible one will be a red Superb for Tour Director Christian Prudhomme. For the first time in history, a replica of this car will be displayed in the "Departure Village" before the start of each stage. A special fleet of white Superb Combis will be used for VIP guests, and a fairly large number of cars are reserved for international media. Furthermore, ŠKODA will be part of the "advertising caravan" to ride each stage about two hours before the field of riders. The advertising caravan has been part of the Tour since the nineteen-thirties, and is regarded as a great attraction - many people come to the track earlier to enjoy the programme the caravan offers.

After football and the Olympics, the Tour de France is the world's third most widely followed sports event. The race is watched by about 15 million fans along the track and approximately 2 billion TV viewers. This year's Tour starts on Saturday, 2 July in the Western French region of Vendée on the Atlantic Coast and the best rider is going to put on the yellow jersey for the winner on 24 July, under the Arc de Triumph on Champs-Élysées in Paris as usual.

Together with ice-hockey, cycling is one of the main pillars of ŠKODA's sponsorship strategy. Besides the Tour, the brand is also involved in e.g. the Giro d' Italia and acts as a partner of UCI at road cycling world championships. With the objective of popularising cycling with cycling enthusiasts and potential customers, the brand supports various events designed for the general public, such as the Bike for Life in the Czech Republic and the Berlin Velothon in Germany.

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