RadioShack, Lance Armstrong team up for 2010
This year's Tour de France isn't yet over, but Lance Armstrong, the figure responsible for bringing professional cycling back into the US national consciousness, has lined up RadioShack as his sponsor for next year.
The new partnership means Armstrong will sever ties with Astana, the team, backed by the government of Kazakhstan, that had run into financial trouble in 2009.
Armstrong, who teased the announcement Tuesday on Twitter, was happy about the new alliance. "To be able to compete for an American team comprised of the world's top cyclists, supported by the best coaches and staff – I couldn't be happier to partner with RadioShack, a truly iconic American brand," he said in the statement. Just hours after the announcement, @TeamRadioShack had over 3,000 followers on Twitter.
The seven-time Tour de France winner said he was excited to leverage the company's 4,400 stores in his LIVESTRONG foundation's fight to spread cancer awareness. "It's very appealing to me that they have a huge base of stores throughout the U.S. and Mexico. We have an incredible opportunity to leverage RadioShack's connection to tens of millions of people to spread the LIVESTRONG message," he said in a statement.
The partnership makes sense, too, Armstrong said, because RadioShack is a brand that understands the importance of technology in people's lives – something important in cycling.
But tech fans everywhere are surely wondering what kind of swag comes along with the gig. Will Armstrong get free HDMI cables? (They can be expensive, you know.) Discounted satellite TV service? One of those nifty siren/bullhorn combos for his handlebars?
Earlier we told you about the LIVESTRONG foundation's "Chalkbot" – a robot that paints user-submitted messages on the roads of the Tour de France in earth-friendly yellow paint.
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Chalkbot and Lance Armstrong are on Twitter – and so are we. Follow us @CSMHorizonsBlog.
