Garmin has become the official main sponsor of the Deutschland Tour. Garmin will also sponsor the sprints competition in the week-long race (August 30- September 6). Garmin already took over the main sponsorship from Team Slipstream earlier this year.
Deutschland Tour organiser Kai Rapp was delighted to be able to announce the news. "We are happy that wit Garmin we found a partner that fits strategically to our tour. It is also an important sign for cycling in general. It shows that engaging in this sport here in Germany is attractive and makes sense." Especially Hans-Michael Holczer, who has not found a sponsor yet for his Gerolsteiner team, will hope Rapp's words find some sponsor's ears.
Garmin itself hopes to increase awareness of its products in the German market. Tom Mühlmann, Garmin's Marketing Communications manager for Germany, said, "The Deutschland Tour is the most important cycling event [in Germany]. In our quest to find a partner with whom we can make our products – in sports as well as in street navigation – we found an event that relates directly to our products."
Garmin will sponsor the 21 sprints that are at stake in the 2008 Deutschland Tour. The jersey and the sprints will feature the Garmin lettering.
Garmin was founded in 199 by Gary Burrell and Dr. Min Kao. It has currently 9,000 employees. Garmin manufactures devices for mobile navigation. The German headquarters are near Munich.
