UK insurance company Aviva has taken on title sponsorship of the Tour of Britain and Women’s Tour cycling events.
Aviva completed a merger last month with the Friends Life group, which initially agreed to serve as the Tour of Britain’s first main sponsor in July last year having earlier backed the inaugural Women’s Tour. Terms of Aviva’s partnership were not disclosed.
Hugh Roberts, chief executive of race organisers SweetSpot, said: “Having a title sponsor last year helped us to take both events to a new level, reaching more communities and spectators than ever before. Now we have Aviva on board and I think we're going to see something really special. Last year we had some of the biggest names in cycling taking part in the Tour of Britain, like Sir Bradley Wiggins, Mark Cavendish and Michal Kwiatkowski and we expect the same profile of riders to take part this year.
“For the Women's Tour, last year's race was the first one, but already it is being held up as an example to cycling organisations around the world of how a female cycling event can be a success. Making it the Aviva Women's Tour will only enhance that and we are looking forward to an even bigger and better event this June.”
The 2015 Tour of Britain will run from September 6-13, with the Women’s Tour taking place from June 17-21.