A gripping adventure through France

We sponsor the Tour de France – the world’s biggest cycle race. Taking place annually since 1903, the event showcases our tyres in a high-performance environment at the pinnacle of cycle racing. Several World Tour teams participating in the race ride on our tyres, handmade in Korbach, Germany. We also equip the official Tour de France vehicles with specially branded PremiumContact 6 car tyres, developed at our head office in Hanover, Germany and engineered in Sarreguemines, France. During the race these tyres face challenging conditions such as sudden weather changes, a variety of road surfaces as well as steep mountain ascents and descents. All the while being cheered on by a mass of passionate cycling fans along the route. 

As a main partner of the Tour de France, at the conclusion of each stage we present the winner’s medal to mark what many professional cyclists consider to be a career defining, life changing moment.

Whilst the Tour de France route differs every year, typically iconic mountains such as the Col du Tourmalet, Col du Galibier, Alp d’Huez and Mont Ventoux often feature in the race. Whatever the route the riders are guaranteed to encounter the Alps and Pyrenees before finishing in a flat out sprint on the cobbles of the Champs-Élysées in Paris. 

The Tour de France does not start in France every year: the so called “Grand Depart” took place in Yorkshire in 2014 and will take place in the Danish capital Copenhagen in 2022. For 2021 the riders hit the road from the city of Brest, Brittany.