Tour of Britain Sponsorship!
Its all very exciting here in MT HQ! For the first time Marmot Tours is dipping its toe into the world of sponsorship to get a piece of the action in the countries largest ‘free to spectate’ live sporting event, and the UK’s premier cycling race: the Tour of Britain.
Marmot relocated to the South West of England in 2014 and has been keeping a quiet eye on the not insignifcant activities in the world of cycling locally. With the Mendips on our doorstep, an hour from Bristol and 20 minutes from Bath, there are cyclists everywhere and lots of organisations linked to cycling as a sport, hobby and passion.
On September 8th 2016, Stage 5 of the Tour of Britain is ending in the UNESCO World Heritage City of Bath. How could we not get involved!?
The Tour of Britain was first raced in 2004 with 96 riders. Its format is familiar to most of you – a closed road race involving a number of stages, touring around the countryside, open to the public to watch. It has grown incredibly in size and popularity, in line with the growth of cycling generally, since its conception 12 years ago, and in 2008 was increased to 8 stages. Live TV coverage from ITV4 started in 2012 allowing millions of viewers to share in the excitement of the Tour from their homes if they couldn’t join the multitude of spectators flocking to the Stage start & end points.
The 2016 Tour of Britain
In 2016 there will be 20 teams taking part; The final line up will be announced in August, following the Prudential Ride London event, but in the past the Tour of Britain has attracted the greats from other world renowned and respected races such as the Giro, Vuelta and Tour de France; Basso, Sanchez, Quintana, Kittel, Gripel and Viviani. Key for us Brits, of course, has been the chance to support our own cycling stars and superstars; Yates, Martin, Dowsett, and the incredible Cavendish, and Sir Wiggins!
One of the joys of the Tour of Britain is that it visits so much of the country. The 2016 route is no exception: starting in Glasgow, the cyclists will travel through the Lake District and Cheshire in Stages 1 – 3. The longest Stage (4) takes them 217km though mid Wales, Denbighshire, Flintshire & Powys, clocking up an impressively challenging 4133m en route! Continuing through South Wales and Gloucestershire, it is Stage 5 of course, ending in our stunning and historic ‘local’ town of Bath, that we are particularly excited about. Despite the mammoth day on the 7th, Stage 5 gives the riders little respite with a ride of 205km and 3675m ascent (its hilly round here!).
Stage 6 is sure to be a popular one: 150km and 3000m from Sidmouth to Dartmoor, followed by a Double Stage time trial and circuit race to be hosted by the ‘SW capital’ Bristol. As with previous years, the exciting finale on 11th September will be 16 laps of an iconic London circuit passing the Landmarks that we know and love.
What does Marmot Tours’ Sponsorship Mean?
It means you’ll hopefully see our logo on the TV 😉
It means that we’ll be chatting to you about our upcoming Tour of Britain competition with some fantastic prizes on offer from us, naturally, but also others that we work with, particularly Primal Pantry and 9bar.
It means that we will be around on the day to meet those of you who love cycling and all things bike. We will have a great stand in the Tour of Britain Cycling Village on the 8th September so do come and say hello and join our competition.
We’ve also got some VIP tickets to the Stage 5 ending up for grabs and will soon be letting you know more about how you can try to get hold of one so you can see the pros cross the finish line from the fabulous Tour of Britain hospitality suite.
Lastly and most definitely not ‘least’, it also means though, that our sponsorship money goes to Bath & North East Somerset to help fund local cycling events. In 2016 BNES are hosting a whole series of cycling focused activities in their ‘Summer of Cycling’ and we want to ensure that this kind of program can continue for 2017 and beyond.
