London-Paris Cycle Tour introduces Teams
In the world of sport the Tour de France is one of the most exciting sporting events in the calendar. Riders and teams endure three weeks of unrelenting pain competing in conditions ranging from the intense heat of high summer in central France to freakish snowstorms in the Alps or Pyrenees. The preparation by riders and teams over months or even years leaves one breathless and in awe.
The London-Paris Cycle Tour covers 600km in three days and is a multi-stage endurance event for amateurs that captures the essence of what’s it’s like to ride in the greatest annual sporting event in the world, the Tour de France.
Riders train for many months to achieve this feat and many of them will surpass their own expectations. All will share in the camaraderie and make friends for life.
The event itself is closely allied with charities who themselves have performed some heroic feats of endurance. Riders collect money for these charities throughout their long preparation and ride to Paris.
In 2007 The London-Paris Cycle Tour will introduce the concept of teams. In the same way that individual and business sponsors support teams in the Tour de France, they can now support a team in this exclusive event by backing one of 10 new teams in the 2007 London-Paris Cycle Tour.
The Team Concept
Sponsoring a team in the London-Paris Cycle Tour in 2007 will cost £2000 ($3,850)
Teams will consist of four riders with the name of each team decided by the sponsor A sponsor can also put forward riders for the team. However in many cases sponsors can use riders already entered into the event to make up a team. The riders can be across any of the seeded groups and the aggregate results for three of the four riders for each stage will be used. Of course this does not stop informal groups or clubs from riding together.
The Sponsored Teams will each receive their own web page on the official London-Paris Cycle Tour website, outlining the Team, Riders and their individual Palmares. Sponsors will also receive an overview, imagery and click through from the organisation. Detailed coverage will also be given in the Programme and on Cycling.TV.
Included for each team rider:
- Invitation to the Pasta Dinner on the 27th June
- Access to Sean Kelly at the Pasta dinner and team photo with Sean Kelly
- 4 sets of Team Cycling Shirts and Shorts per rider
- DVD of the event for each rider
- Water Bottles
- T-Shirt
- Team web page, profile, logo, imagery and click through from official website
- Team and Sponsor Profile in Programme
- Team kit design
- 90 second clip of the 2006 London-Paris Cycle Tour for promotional use
- Full coverage on Cycling.TV
- Clippings service
For the Sponsor - Culture, Market and Mindset
The London-Paris Cycle Tour has been set up with the objective of giving a rider a 360 degree Tour de France experience backed by the utmost professionalism. The event is young, vibrant, well funded and is establishing itself as THE global brand in the marketplace. The inclusion of riders such as Sean Kelly, the greatest Classics rider ever, Matt Stephens, former Giro d’Italia rider and UK no.3 and David Harmon the UK’s leading television commentator for professional cycle racing, gives this unique event a credibility that belies its age.
The event is establishing itself with riders typically associated with extreme or adventure sports events. Most participants are highly motivated business professionals that train for 6 months or more. In that period awareness of other participants, sponsors and the media is generated.
The rapidly increasing brand awareness is reflected in the web site statistics. The last 6 months of 2006 have seen a 10 fold increase in page views with every expectation that the next 6 months will see almost another 10 fold increase again.