Trek signs sponsorship deal with Vuelta

Trek and Unipublic, organisers of the Vuelta, have announced that the Wisconsin-based bicycle manufacturer has become the official bicycle sponsor of the Spanish grand tour, the 66th edition of which begins with a nocturnal team time trial in Benidorm a week on Saturday.

As part of the sponsorship, the brand, whose bikes were ridden to victory in the 2003 and 2008 editions of the race by, respectively, Roberto Heras and Alberto Contador, will be giving its name to the Trek Challenge, to be held at the Jarama Racetrack in Madrid on September 10 and 11.

The two-day event, open to the public with a number of different age group and anility categories, will comprise four separate competitions – an individual time trial, with a Trek Madone on offer to the winner, a team time trial, a mountain bike race and a distance-covered event.

Trek, which was also ridden to victory in the Tour de France seven times by Lance Armstrong and twice by Contador, with the Spaniard also picking up the 2008 Giro d’Italia title on one of its bikes, already sponsors events in Europe including l’Etape du Tour, the Paris-Roubaix Challenge and Megavalanche.

“With Team RadioShack and Leopard Trek competing this year, becoming the official bicycle of the Vuelta takes our involvement another step further and is a sign of our company’s commitment to world class racing and events,” commented Trek VP of Marketing and Product Development Joe Vadeboncoeur.

“The Trek Challenge is going to be an amazing addition to this year’s race and will offer everyone who attends or competes an unforgettable experience,” he added.

Further details of the Trek Challenge are available, in Spanish only, on the Vuelta website.

Italian bicycle manufacturer Pinarello currently sponsors the Giro d’Italia and this year launched a range of bikes that took their theme from the Italian Grand Tour.