With Sky Pro Cycling celebrating their second consecutive win in the Tour de France, Signs Express (Manchester) were on call to help celebrate the momentous occasion in Paris.

Providing a wide range of car graphics and signage for the riders and team support vehicles, Signs Express (Manchester) has travelled across Europe during the road cycling season for the past 4 years to be on call for the leading cycling team and as the pinnacle in the road racing calendar, the Tour de France 2013 represented a unique opportunity.

The 21 stage Tour de France is viewed by millions across the world and with the last stage of the 2,000 mile journey on route to Paris, and Chris Froome in the driving seat to win, Team Sky commissioned the experienced sign making team to start the final stage preparations.

Preparations began and the team was then flown out to Paris the day before the final day’s stage to help kick start the winner’s celebrations by branding their team support vehicles yellow, matching the infamous winners yellow jersey so the celebratory final stage could start with a festival spirit.

The team’s two Jaguar XF Sportbrake cars and bus, used to support the riders along the route, were rebranded with partial vehicle wraps. Signs Express (Manchester) specified All Print Supplies multi-fix vinyl for its ease and dexterity of application which was digitally printed to the striking yellow graphic. With the world’s media attention on the team, the enormous marketing opportunity saw Team Sky cemented in Tour de France history.

After the success of the yellow vehicle branding in 2012, the team and vehicle manufacturer Jaguar were keen show their appreciation of the fans and supporters by launching a competition to have supporters silhouettes included on the graphics. By using the hash tag #behindteamsky on Twitter they created the ultimate fan livery graphic which was then produced and applied to their brand new F-Type model the early morning that the final stage began.

Signs Express (Manchester) Co-owner Lee Eaton explains, “We feel very privileged to have been involved in such a prestigious occasion and were delighted to pull out all the stops as the timing was crucial. What a fantastic achievement for the team. There was enormous excitement at the last stage as the whole team had worked so hard. With the left over vinyl from the car graphics we even branded up the team’s iPhone cases which added the finishing touches to the whole experience and the party atmosphere as a result of the win.”

“We have also been asked to complete follow-up promotional work with the team vehicle manufacturer by Jaguar, who commissioned for the graphics to be applied to an F- Type Jaguar, given as a gift to Chris Froome to celebrate the win.”

Signs Express (Manchester) is part of the UK’s largest sign company and is a member of the British Signs & Graphics Association.