Slipsteam and Garmin unite for Tour

The Tour de France 2008 runs from July 5 -27 covering 21 stages across France with a quick visit to Italy.

Garmin the global leader in satellite navigation, has announced its title sponsorship of Slipstream Sports.

Team Garmin will train and race with the Edge 705 GPS-enabled cycling computer and travel with nüvi 770 personal navigation devices. The sponsorship will extend through 2010 and the entire team – from kits to cars, will be re-branded for the Tour de France.

“Slipstream cyclists are setting the standard for success through integrity and sportsmanship,” said Jon Cassat, Garmin’s vice president of communications, “and this fresh perspective on work ethic and accountability is in keeping with Garmin’s worldwide reputation for accomplishing great things through teamwork.”

Packed with detailed maps of North America and Europe — and several million preloaded points of interest — the widely acclaimed nüvi 770 will help Team Garmin’s tour bus and support vehicles travel with speed and ease across two continents. Barely bigger than a deck of cards, the nüvi 770 features traffic alerts, Bluetooth compatibility, route-planning capabilities for multi-stop trips and instant answers to the questions: “Where am I?” and “Where’s my car?”

“We are thrilled to partner with Garmin and believe that establishing this title sponsorship is further evidence that a new era of cycling is upon us,” said Jonathan Vaughters, CEO of Slipstream Sports, LLC, the sports management company that runs the team. “Garmin’s commitment to innovation and integrity mirrors our own.”