Miles Continental Le Race Named ‘Best ŠKODA Event’

We’ve just returned from the annual ŠKODA Dealer of the Year awards where we were thrilled to win the award for New Zealand’s Best Marketing Event 2019.

This award was for the work we’ve carried out in making the Miles Continental Le Race the success that it is today.

2020 will mark the fifth year that we’ve supported this event. Back in 2015, we were looking at ways to take the ŠKODA brand beyond the showroom. We knew that ŠKODA had a strong affiliation with cycling overseas, particularly through support of the Tour de France, and ŠKODA New Zealand was also a strong supporter with close ties to a number of cycling athletes and regional cycling events. In fact, 125 years ago this year, ŠKODA’s founders began with the creation of a bicycle, years before they considered vehicles.

So, we started to look at cycling events and communities that we could support right here in Christchurch.

One of those events was Le Race, a road cycling event that starts in the heart of Christchurch and finishes in Akaroa. We teamed up with ŠKODA New Zealand to offer our support and become a sponsor. From day one, we knew that we wanted to be more than just a financial partner of the event, so invested our resources into helping make the event a huge success.

In the years that followed, our presence grew. Cyclists would head down the hill into Akaroa and see our substantial ŠKODA tent, complete with professional masseurs and an impressive array of food. In the lead up to each event, we worked closely to bring other sponsors of the event together to help strengthen our support and add more value to Le Race participants.

In 2019, the opportunity arose to become a major sponsor, taking naming rights for the event. We jumped at the chance and so the event was renamed to the Miles Continental Le Race.