Yodel extends support of Tour of Britain for next five years
Yodel, one of the UK’s leading parcel carriers, is pleased to announce that it has extended its partnership with The Tour of Britain for the next five years.
Under the agreement Yodel will continue to be the logistics partner of the event, as well as continuing its sponsorship of the YodelDirect Sprints competition, The Pearl Izumi Tour Series and The Tour Ride sportives.
The Tour is one of Britain's most complex sporting events in terms of logistical challenges, with teams of hundreds of people transporting thousands of tonnes of equipment across the country over the course of the eight day race, providing excellent synergy with Yodel's own business and expertise.
This year's Tour will begin on Sunday 7 September and finish on the 14th September after eight tough stages across Britain. More detail on the race route for 2014 will be announced at the national launch at the end of March.
Yodel delivers 135 million parcels per year on behalf of the UK's top retailers, including approximately 700,000 bicycles and cycle parts. Its partnership with The Tour will see the carrier provide a fleet of 30 vehicles to transport vital equipment and race infrastructure, to deliver each stage of the race and pave the way for professional cyclists such as Sir Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish.
Each road stage of The Tour features three intermediate YodelDirect sprint sections, named after Yodel's consumer door-to-door parcel service. Points are awarded for each sprint and go towards the YodelDirect classification. Often considered one of the most exciting parts of the race, riders break away and battle it out to be the first across the sprint line, to claim points and also bonus seconds which are taken off their overall race time.
Yodel and The Tour will also be working with a number of charities on The Tour Rides this year, an associated series of UK cycling events open to the public, which give amateur riders the chance to ride like a pro on routes inspired by The Tour of Britain.
The sponsorship announcement coincides with the launch event of The Pearl Izumi Tour Series, which takes place this week, and comes just three weeks after The Tour of Britain was upgraded to 2.HC status by the world governing body, putting it on a par with major events such as the Tour of California, Tour of Qatar and Criterium International.
Dick Stead, executive chairman of Yodel, said: "Cycling is one of Britain's favourite sports and we are delighted to once again support the premier event in the UK's cycling calendar. In cycling and in the parcels business, delivery depends on teamwork and the need to be on top of your game day after day, which is why we are delighted to continue our association with The Tour of Britain."For further information about Yodel visit www.yodel.co.uk or to send a parcel visit www.yodeldirect.co.uk. For further information about The Tour, Tour Rides and Tour Series visit www.thetour.co.uk.