Tour of Poland awarded

The Tour of Poland once again received the DEMES statuette at the annual Sport and Business Gala, held in Warsaw on November 8. It is the second year running that the ProTour event received an award at the Gala, which recognizes people and organisations for their contribution to sports marketing and to developing relations between business and sport in Poland.

Organizer Czeslaw Lang said that the Tour of Poland showed cycling in a positive light. "We showed the spectators who lined the roads and who watched it live on television that cycling is an emotional sport and that cyclists are phenomenal people," commented Lang. "Thanks to the promotion of cycling in this spirit, the Tour of Poland is watched by millions of people."

The Tour of Poland, which prides itself in the promotion of cycling and its sponsors in Eastern Europe, was elected "best brand" DEMES 2007. Among the other nominated brands in this category were Adidas, Eurosport, Lotto, Nike and Red Bull. The publicity campaign for the 64th Tour of Poland included more than 2000 radio spots, plus advertising films in 248 cinemas throughout the country.

During the Tour, stages were broadcast live in 10 languages to 41 countries. In Poland, some five million spectators watched the daily report on Polish television, and around 3000 articles appeared in the daily press. About two million spectators lined the roads to watch the race live.

This year the Tour of Poland, covering 1224 kilometres, was held from September 9 to 15, finishing just two weeks before the World Championships in Stuttgart. During the week before the Tour of Poland, 10,000 schoolchildren participate in a "mini" Tour of Poland, and a fun race was organized for the adults.