Kawasaki to be Tour de France official supplier
Words and images courtesy Kawasaki
In a three-year deal stretching from 2025 to 2027, Kawasaki will provide the official motorcycle for the prestigious and historic Tour de France as well as an impressive list of other cycle events totalling twenty-two races in all.
Choosing a fleet of forty-five examples of the new 2025 Versys 1100 as the nominated machine for the initial year of the partnership, Kawasaki is re-energising a relationship with the world’s most famous cycling race that stretches back to the mid-1980’s and previously featured such key Kawasaki machines as the GTR1000 and, more recently, the 1400GTR.
With a combination of all day comfort plus increased power and torque for the 2025 sales season, the Versys 1100 will fulfil a number of essential roles in terms of organising and controlling the races such as road opening and key event support functions across the Tour de France and other European events including the iconic Paris-Roubaix, La Flèche Wallonne, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and La Vuelta. Across the first year of the agreement each machine is expected to cover an average of 20,000 km.
Identified as a ‘Destination: Everywhere’ motorcycle, the Versys 1100 represents the pinnacle of Kawasaki’s any-roads philosophy combining all-day comfort, performance and state-of-the-art technology including rider to motorcycle voice command interaction.
Speaking of the partnership, Kawasaki Motors Europe President, Shigemi Tanaka, expressed the company’s delight at rekindling an historic partnership: “Kawasaki has traditionally been associated with the colour green and this aligns perfectly with our drive towards carbon neutral clean, green energy, alternative fuels and cutting-edge innovations across the spectrum of new transport solutions plus further innovations within the scope of traditional internal combustion engine technology.
“The Tour de France – plus these twenty-one other incredible events we will be part of – represent a global showcase for human endeavour and extracting the maximum performance from rider and machine in an ecologically responsible environment. This aligns perfectly with our passionate approach to our products, and we are proud to re-ignite our relationship with world class cycling adding a further showcase for the exposure of our products and brand ideals.”
The 22 events that Kawasaki will be the official motorcycle for comprise:
TOUR DE France
TOUR DE FRANCE FEMMES avec Zwift
PARIS-NICE
PARIS-ROUBAIX
PARIS-ROUBAIX Femmes avec Zwift
LA FLÈCHE WALLONNE
LA FLÈCHE WALLONNE Femmes
LIÈGE-BASTOGNE-LIÈGE
LIÈGE-BASTOGNE-LIÈGE Femmes
CRITÉRIUM DU DAUPHINE
PARIS-TOURS
PARIS-TOURS ESPOIRS
LA VUELTA CICLISTA A ESPAÑA
LA VUELTA FEMENINA by Carrefour.es
ARCTIC RACE OF NORWAY
LIDL DEUTSCHLAND TOUR
ESCHBORN-FRANKFURT
CYCLASSICS HAMBURG
TRO BRO LEON