Cycling is one of the sports that Tissot has been most involved in, as it has been associated with various cycling events for the past 50 years. The brand had already been Official Timekeeper of the Tour de France from 1988 to 1992. Proud of its Swiss roots, Tissot got further involved in 1995 by joining forces with the UCI International Cycling Union. Since then, Tissot has been the official Timekeeper of road, trail, mountain-bike and BMX cycling world championships, world cup cycling time trials and the Mountain Bike World Championship.
With the 2016 cycling season fast approaching, Tissot has joined forces with A.S.O. in running time trials all over the world. The Swiss watchmaker will lend its expertise at a large number of major time trials on the calendar, from Paris-Nice to Paris-Tours, including La Flèche Wallonne, the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España. In a sport were every second counts, relying on an extremely high-quality timekeeper is essential. Tissot shares the same values as A.S.O. in this regard, i.e. the same vision of cycling and the same values in terms of standards, precision and performance. This sponsorship means Tissot can draw in a large number of cycling enthusiasts committed to endurance and performance.
François Thiébaud, Chairman and CEO of Tissot watches is proud that the watch-making brand is once again official timekeeper of Tour de France: “Out of all the international cycling competitions, the Tour de France is the most highly regarded and admired of them all because it brings together the best cyclists in the world to compete in various flat, rugged and mountainous stages and even a stage against the clock, be it a solo or team effort.”
Christian Prudhomme, director of the Tour de France: “Cycling time trials come down to a few seconds, sometimes even a few milliseconds at certain finish lines. It's essential to be able to trust a timekeeper that shares the same vision of our sport as A.S.O; by putting the cyclists' efforts first and giving them the credit they deserve in the eyes of the public. For the next five years, we will be able to count on Tissot so that every second of effort counts and I am delighted to see this major watchmaker get involved in the season's best cycling events.”
