Pearl Izumi, the US sportswear brand, has today been named as the official technical clothing partner of this year’s Tour of Britain, Women’s Tour and Tour Series, the UK’s top professional road cycling events.
Under a partnership with race organisers SweetSpot, the brand will design the leaders’ jerseys for the trio of events, and provide protective equipment such as face masks to support Covid-19 prevention measures.
Pearl Izumi, which specialises in cycling apparel, is familiar with SweetSpot having served as the title sponsor of the Tour Series between 2013 and 2016.
The brand is engaged in sustainability as it seeks to make 90 per cent of its products from recycled, renewable or organic material by 2022.
In the latest edition of the Sportcal Insight magazine, SweetSpot partnerships director Jonathan Durling said the events company was placing a degree of focus on sustainability and was looking for partners to buy in.
Skoda, the Czech car brand, will continue as partner of the mountains classification and jersey in the Tour of Britain and Women’s Tour, while SweetSpot is looking for new sponsors for both the points and sprints jerseys in the two events.
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By GlobalDataSweetSpot recently extended its long-running partnership with Telegraph Media Group for this year’s editions of the Tour of Britain and Women’s Tour.
SweetSpot remains on the hunt for a title sponsor for the two races after independent energy supplier OVO Energy chose not to renew its deal in November 2019.
The events company appointed Sport Collective, the sports rights and marketing agency, to assist with the marketing strategy and seeking sponsors for the races.
Last May, SweetSpot told GlobalData Sport that it was extending its search after talks with several brands were put on hold due to Covid-19.
The Tour of Britain will take place from 5 to 12 September, although the Women’s Tour, originally scheduled for June, was recently postponed until October.
SweetSpot requested cycling’s world governing body UCI reschedule the Women’s Tour of Britain, part of the WorldTour calendar, for 4 to 9 October, a month after the Tour of Britain.
Last year, both events were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Durling and SweetSpot featured in the sustainability-themed Sportcal Insight magazine in March.