ŠKODA marked its fifth year of sponsorship for RideLondon with the inclusion of the new Kodiaq SUV in the support vehicle line up for the first time.
The Kodiaq was part of a 37 strong-fleet that supported the cycling festival, which sees a mix of professional and amateur riders take part in the challenge – including the gruelling Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100.
As the official vehicle provider for the RideLondon festival, ŠKODA supplied a fleet of cars including Fabia, Octavia and Superb models to support race directors, judges, commissaries and media. ŠKODA’s all new Kodiaq SUV took to the course for the first time, having already starred as a key support vehicle during the 2017 Tour de France and the Women’s Tour.
RideLondon is part of the Mayor and Transport for London’s cycling programme that’s sees over 100,000 cyclists of all ages and abilities take part. This year ŠKODA entered a 40-strong team to tackle the highlight of the weekend – the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100. The team rode the gruelling 100 mile route that started at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, before cycling through Surrey and looping back to the finish line along the Mall.
Five-time Olympic gold medallist and ŠKODA brand ambassador, Sir Bradley Wiggins, helped team ŠKODA get into shape for the race; supporting the team on a training ride through Buckinghamshire before joining them on the day. ŠKODA’s riders cycled in support of Willen Hospice, a charity local to the Milton Keynes based company.
Kirsten Stagg, Head of Marketing for ŠKODA UK, commented: “At ŠKODA we are passionate about cycling. We began over 100 years ago as a bike manufacturer before we started developing cars, and that heritage remains an important part of our brand culture today. RideLondon is a fantastic festival that we support year-on-year, and this year we were especially pleased to have Sir Bradley Wiggins join us.”
ŠKODA champions cycling events worldwide, including the sponsorship of the Tour de France. Later this year, ŠKODA will be the lead vehicle provider for Tour of Britain (3 – 10 Sept 2017), supporting the eight stage race across the UK that starts in Edinburgh and finishes in Cardiff on Sunday 10 September.
The ŠKODA fleet is geared up to cycling, and for both amateur and professional cyclists remains the vehicle of choice. This year, Kodiaq has joined the fleet of support vehicles across the Tour series. The new SUV offers cyclists a huge 2,065 litres of space with seats folded down, ideal to fit in multiple bikes, as well as a range of accessory options to keep bikes safe and secure on the move.
