Recently one of my cycling friends, who is a product manager at Berner Benelux, asked me if I wanted to buy a blue “Just Beat It bracelet” in order to support the fight against child cancer. The answer to this question is a definite “YES, I’ll buy a few” without blinking an eye !

Almost everyone has experienced (directly or indirectly) the impact of a terrible disease like cancer in the circle of close friends and family. It is even more tragic when young children are hit by this class of diseases called cancer, as defined by Wikipedia:

“Cancer is a class of diseases in which a group of cells display uncontrolled growth (division beyond the normal limits), invasion (intrusion on and destruction of adjacent tissues), and sometimes metastasis (spread to other locations in the body via lymph or blood).”

Road cycling is my favourite sport and being an active cyclist for over 18 years, the excitement is rising because we are two weeks before the start of the Tour de France -the worlds thoughest three week road cylcing race -.

Furthermore you can read on the “About Me-page” that mobile technology also has my interest for about 11 years. Today I received a great press release which combines the best of both worlds:

“High Road Sports, Inc., the owner of Team Columbia-Highroad and HTC Corporation, a designer of mobile phones, today announced a three-year sponsorship agreement that prominently places the HTC brand at the starting line of the 2009 Tour de France on July 4 in Monaco.” [ref01]

“The HTC High Road Sports partnership is a great match of like minded organizations driven by innovation, excellence and competitiveness and we are excited about the opportunity to communicate HTCs brand value through the great sport of cycling,” said Peter Chou, chief executive officer, HTC Corporation. “HTCs sponsorship of Team Columbia-HTC is one step in HTCs commitment to increasing its global brand value and recognition.” [ref01]

The announcement is a great birthday present for George Hincapie, one of the most experienced riders of the team and former team-mate of the 7-times winner of the Tour de France: Lance Amstrong.

With Mark Cavendish as a Tour de France team member of Team Columbia – HTC, there is a huge chance of obtaining some stage victories. Mark Cavendish is simply the fastest sprinter on earth and last years Tour de France he took 4 or 5 stage victories, so this year he might even try to obtain the green jersey as well !

With less than two weeks before the start of the Tour de France I’m really excited to get a glimps of the new Team Columbia – HTC jersey’s. Will the HTC green and grey come back into the jersey design or not ?

I’m really happy with the announcement and I think HTC made a huge but brilliant marketing decision!! I wish both Team Columbia and HTC much success in the upcoming Tour de France, and thank you for combining the best of two worlds: cycling and mobile technology.

Child Cancer – Just BEAT it ! – An initiative of Berner Benelux

Team Columbia-HTC will ride the 2009 Tour de France under new three-year sponsorship agreement

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