British middle-aged men in lycra (Mamils) looking for that Tour de France experience are being offered the chance to re-enact their favourite stages of the race in the likes of Wigan, Stockport, and Swansea through a new Škoda-backed interactive tool, dubbed the ‘Little Bit of the Tour’.
The car company has actually been manufacturing bikes for longer than cars; when it launched in 1895 the first products it manufactured were bicycles. The first car, the Voiturette A, was not built until 1905.
Last year, it exploited this heritage with the launch of a Fantasy Tour de France, which offered pedal-pushers the chance to choose riders from the top tier tour teams to ride against all-comers or set up their own personal leagues with friends, colleagues and fellow riders.
This year, in what Škoda is claiming as a “world first”, the tool – now live in beta on the firm’s website – allows cycling enthusiasts to search for UK-based routes that closely match the twists and turns of The Tour de France. They can then complete parts of all 21 stages of the brutal, leg-burning race.
Developed by Fallon, Reading Room and Hirsch & Mann, all riders need to do is visit the website and enter their postcode, opt for their preferred Tour de France stage, and decide how far they wish to cycle. They are then presented with an interactive mapping tool which reveals equivalent routes in the UK and, as the last stages of the Tour de France unfold this week, cyclists will get the chance to be the first to feedback and assist in the development of the tool for other riders.
Cyclists can challenge friends and/or fellow unknown lovers of two wheels to beat their times and share their achievements on social media.
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