Garmin Ltd. has extended for an additional three years its title sponsorship of Team Garmin-Slipstream, the ProTour cycling team dedicated to ethical sporting and developing the next generation of cycling champions, according to a press release issued by the company. The extension for the U.S.-based team comprised is an addition to the company’s current sponsorship through 2010.
“The success of the team spans the globe and surpassed our expectations for the first year and a half of our title sponsorship, bringing Garmin’s reputation for quality, commitment, performance and productivity into countless households in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia,” said Jon Cassat, Garmin’s vice president of communications. “Our objectives were and continue to be to integrate our products on sports’ biggest stages and to build global brand awareness. Whether capturing victories around the world, winning national championships or working to develop future generations of talent, Team Garmin has helped us achieve those objectives and has made an impression on billions of potential customers.”
In the release, the compnay said the partnership, which will run through the end of 2013, will provide the team with the opportunity to continue its founding mission: building the next generation of cycling champions. It will also allow Garmin, Slipstream and their partners to develop new technology that will give the team advantages on the road. Most important, the long-term sponsorship provides the team with a platform and foundation for retaining and recruiting the best riders in the sport.
“Since signing with Slipstream prior to the 2008 Tour de France, Garmin has seen an outpouring of support from cyclists and sports fans across the globe, along the roads of major tours and in the stores of our retail partners,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin’s vice president of worldwide sales. “While providing feedback on product development, the team has shown fans everywhere that the best-in-class Edge® 705 cycling GPS can stand up to the sport’s steepest challenges while suiting the needs of cyclists of any caliber.”
“When Garmin first decided to partner with us, we said we believed that a new era of cycling was upon us. Today, with this significant extension, we can now say the era is here,” said Jonathan Vaughters, CEO of Slipstream Sports LLC, the sports management company that runs the team. “Garmin’s commitment to innovation and integrity mirrors our own, and knowing that we have their partnership for the next four years means that we can continue to develop the next generation of cycling champions. We can continue to make technological innovations that will give our riders a competitive advantage on the road. And off the road, we can continue to help better the sport.”
