After a successful season capped with wins including the prestigious Tour de France and finishing the year ranked as the number one team in cycling’s world tour, Team Sky is determined to improve on what was a historic 2017.
To help Team Sky stay at the front of the pack, Ford is adding Mondeo ST-Line wagons featuring Ford Intelligent All Wheel Drive (AWD) and new Tourneo Custom people movers with flexible interior seating to the team’s support fleet.
Other vehicles in the fleet include AWD S-MAX, Edge and Transit, which Team Sky has been using since the partnership began at the start of 2016. Since then, the team has enjoyed 73 wins, with the cars covering over 80,000 kilometres in races, the equivalent of driving twice around the world.
The vehicles will all feature the latest 2018 Team Sky branding, with the iconic blue stripe down the centre, along with the “data pattern”, which records every one of Team Sky’s victories, updated with the team’s wins from 2017. The introduction of a new white band along the side of the vehicle reflects the new white rider jerseys.
“We are proud to once again be lending our expertise on four wheels to support Team Sky in the pursuit of further success on two wheels,” said Roelant de Waard, vice president, Marketing, Sales and Service, Ford of Europe. “They need vehicles that are surefooted, offer excellent driving dynamics and can carry a lot of gear – and that’s where we come in.”
As the key support cars following the riders, the AWD Mondeo ST-Line wagons have to handle unique road conditions and weather, and to transport up to 400 kilograms of extra weight, including spare bikes and wheels, drink bottles, tools, and even a large cool box.
The renewed Tourneo Customs offer an all-new premium cabin interior that features unique-in- segment rear seating with six individual seats that can be arranged in conference format. This flexible seating enables riders to be more comfortable going to and from races, with the added comfort helping the riders better prepare for and recover from stages and races.
“Ford is a company with the same principles of tackling challenges that we at Team Sky have. Ford vehicles play a vital role for Team Sky and their knowledge and support makes them an integral part of our team,” said Sir David Brailsford, team principal at Team Sky. “We’re looking forward to more success in 2018 and we’re delighted to be going into the season in partnership with Ford.”
The 2018 cycling season kicks off with the Tour Down Under in Australia, which finishes on 21 January. Ford’s role as official vehicle partner of Team Sky will continue through the end of 2019.
Find out more about the Mondeo ST-Line and Tourneo Custom
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