ALLEZ LES BLEUS! FORD AIMS TO TURN BACK CLOCK 50 YEARS FOR REPEAT TOUR DE FRANCE VICTORY TO DUPLICATE LE MANS

July 5, 2016 by Ford

WARLEY, Essex, 30 June, 2016 – Ford enjoyed two historic victories in France in 1966 – at Le Mans with the GT40 and as part of the winning Tour de France team.

This month Ford repeated its 1966 victory on four wheels when the Ford Chip Ganassi Racing team of Sébastien Bourdais, Joey Hand and Dirk Müller were GT winners at the 2016 Le Mans 24 Hours.

Now, fifty years after Lucien Aimar rode to victory as part of the Ford France-Hutchinson cycle team, Ford is hoping to repeat the two-wheel success in the Tour de France starting this Saturday.

Ford is Team Sky's exclusive supplier of cars and vans, and will be supporting the elite cycling team – led by two-time winner Chris Froome. Over 21 stages and 3,519 kilometres, the distinctive blue and black liveried Ford Mondeo wagon cars will be at the heart of the action, with a Mustang, Edge, S-MAX, Kuga and Transit vans also supporting.

Team Sky, which has won cycling's premier race three times in the past four years with Chris Froome and Sir Bradley Wiggins, has been using Ford's latest vehicles to support its racing programme since the start of 2016.

Also new this year in the UK is Ford of Britain's partnership with Women's Elite National circuit champion, Nikki Juniper, to create an all-new cycling team of 11 senior and development riders. Nikki leads Team Ford EcoBoost's participation in the 2016 British Cycling Women's Road Series, supported by EcoBoost petrol engine-powered EcoSport and Mondeo Vignale cars plus a Transit Custom van.

Commonwealth Games gold medallist and Grand Tour stage winner Alex Dowsett is a Ford brand ambassador, having driven Ranger, Focus ST and Mustang while supporting Ford's cycling engagement since 2015.