Jaguar is going back to the Tour de France. The British automaker will once again support Team Sky in its latest campaign for cycling's biggest prize by loaning out an F-Pace prototype that will run during the brutal first stage of this year's event.
This marks our first genuine look at the production sheetmetal, which is lightly obscured by the Team Sky/Jaguar camouflage. Sporting a black theme, it features blue accents, carbon fiber, rubber, and chain elements reminiscent of a racing bike. Outside of that, it looks a lot like C-X17 Concept that previewed the F-Pace.
Like the F-Type that was used by Team Sky in last year's race, the F-Pace will carry the team's director and a driver. They'll be joined this year by a mechanic and the team's physician, while the large trunk will house sports drinks, clothing for the riders, and spare parts for their bikes.
"We are delighted to be supporting Team Sky again at such a prestigious sporting event and are excited at the prospect of the F-Pace being seen in action in public for the first time," Kevin Stride, the CUV's line director, said in the attached statement. "The Jaguar F-Pace is a striking balance of performance, style, and practicality. And what better way to showcase the vehicle's attributes than on this crucial first leg of the Tour de France."
Scroll down for the full press release from Jaguar.
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This marks our first genuine look at the production sheetmetal, which is lightly obscured by the Team Sky/Jaguar camouflage. Sporting a black theme, it features blue accents, carbon fiber, rubber, and chain elements reminiscent of a racing bike. Outside of that, it looks a lot like C-X17 Concept that previewed the F-Pace.
Like the F-Type that was used by Team Sky in last year's race, the F-Pace will carry the team's director and a driver. They'll be joined this year by a mechanic and the team's physician, while the large trunk will house sports drinks, clothing for the riders, and spare parts for their bikes.
"We are delighted to be supporting Team Sky again at such a prestigious sporting event and are excited at the prospect of the F-Pace being seen in action in public for the first time," Kevin Stride, the CUV's line director, said in the attached statement. "The Jaguar F-Pace is a striking balance of performance, style, and practicality. And what better way to showcase the vehicle's attributes than on this crucial first leg of the Tour de France."
Scroll down for the full press release from Jaguar.
JAGUAR F-PACE PROTOTYPE TO LEAD TEAM SKY AT THE TOUR DE FRANCE #FPACE STRICTLY UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL 00:01 BST WEDNESDAY 1 JULY 2015
Jaguar F-PACE breaks cover at the Tour de France as official Team Sky support vehicle
Prototype version of Jaguar's first performance crossover will be seen in public for the first
time with light camouflage
Team Sky rider Chris Froome stars alongside the Jaguar F-PACE in a short film showing real world testing of the prototype at their training camp
Jaguar Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations designs cutting edge bike racking solution to optimise quick-release of Team Sky's Pinarello Bolide TT bikes for Stage One
Wednesday 1 July 2015: Jaguar will set the pace for Team Sky this Saturday when a prototype version of the highly anticipated Jaguar F-PACE will support the team at the Tour de France Grand Depart in Utrecht.
Jaguar's first performance crossover is due to be revealed later in the year and is in its final stages of development. Part of final testing included sending a prototype to Team Sky rider Chris Froome's La Pierre-Saint-Martin training camp as a real-world test of the Jaguar crossover's performance, durability and clever packaging. The team then chose the same car to support them during stage one of the Tour de France – their most demanding and high profile event.
The job of the support vehicle is to carry a crew of up to four people including the Team Sky Sports Director, doctor, mechanic and another senior team member. The wide, spacious cabin of the F- PACE accommodates the crew in complete comfort while the boot space is the largest in class to help carry the team's equipment including drinks, energy gels, clothing, tools and spares for the bike.
The F-PACE Prototype will support Chris Froome on the first of 21 stages, the individual time trial, which starts at Utrecht in the heart of the Netherlands on Saturday, 4 July. The time trial heads south towards Belgium over a twisting route of 13.7km; the riders setting a blistering pace and pushing themselves to the limits of endurance even at this early stage of the competition.
The training camp was the location for the first in a series of short films, which give an insight into the rigorous testing and development of F-PACE prototypes around the world.
The film captures Froome being followed by the Team Sky F-PACE on a Tour de France recon tackling one of this year's grueling climbs, as the 2013 Tour winner prepares to mount his challenge for a second yellow jersey in Paris.
Froome, said: "The F-PACE is awesome. It has all of the same high performance road dynamics and support package the team gets from its Jaguar's vehicles, only this time in a performance crossover. It's going to create a huge impression in Utrecht.
"Team Sky is built around performance, and Jaguar's engineering expertise and technological innovations, especially over the last 12 months co-engineering the Pinarello DOGMA F8 and DOGMA K8-S bikes, consistently helps get the best out of the team. I'm sure the F- PACE will be no different."
Froome added: "The tour is everything to me. There's something special about it. The hype, the passion, the crowds. Everything is completely overwhelming. I can't wait to get on the road now and get into the race. I'm back with a vengeance this year."
The Team Sky F-PACE Prototype will also sport a cutting edge bike racking solution, developed by Jaguar Land Rover's Special Vehicle Operations. The rack has a unique telescopic clamp, designed specifically to optimise the quick-release of Team Sky's Pinarello Bolide Time Trial bikes.
"We are delighted to be supporting Team Sky again at such a prestigious sporting event and are excited at the prospect of the F-PACE being seen in action in public for the first time", said Kevin Stride, Vehicle Line Director, Jaguar F-PACE.
"The Jaguar F-PACE is a striking balance of performance, style and practicality," he continued. "And what better way to showcase the vehicle's attributes than on this crucial first leg of the Tour de France."
To mark the reveal of the Team Sky F-PACE and because the car is under wraps until its global reveal later in the year, Jaguar has produced a special camouflage. The soft wrap reflects the performance and design of both the F-PACE and Team Sky and has been inspired by the Tour de France and road racing bikes. It depicts unique carbon textures, rubber and chains interspersed with the iconic Team Sky design to create a stunning, rich, layered effect which will keep the exact design details of the F-PACE secret until later this year.
Jaguar's Team Sky F-PACE Prototype will only support the team on stage one of the Tour de France in Utrecht on Saturday July 4.
Jaguar F-PACE breaks cover at the Tour de France as official Team Sky support vehicle
Prototype version of Jaguar's first performance crossover will be seen in public for the first
time with light camouflage
Team Sky rider Chris Froome stars alongside the Jaguar F-PACE in a short film showing real world testing of the prototype at their training camp
Jaguar Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations designs cutting edge bike racking solution to optimise quick-release of Team Sky's Pinarello Bolide TT bikes for Stage One
Wednesday 1 July 2015: Jaguar will set the pace for Team Sky this Saturday when a prototype version of the highly anticipated Jaguar F-PACE will support the team at the Tour de France Grand Depart in Utrecht.
Jaguar's first performance crossover is due to be revealed later in the year and is in its final stages of development. Part of final testing included sending a prototype to Team Sky rider Chris Froome's La Pierre-Saint-Martin training camp as a real-world test of the Jaguar crossover's performance, durability and clever packaging. The team then chose the same car to support them during stage one of the Tour de France – their most demanding and high profile event.
The job of the support vehicle is to carry a crew of up to four people including the Team Sky Sports Director, doctor, mechanic and another senior team member. The wide, spacious cabin of the F- PACE accommodates the crew in complete comfort while the boot space is the largest in class to help carry the team's equipment including drinks, energy gels, clothing, tools and spares for the bike.
The F-PACE Prototype will support Chris Froome on the first of 21 stages, the individual time trial, which starts at Utrecht in the heart of the Netherlands on Saturday, 4 July. The time trial heads south towards Belgium over a twisting route of 13.7km; the riders setting a blistering pace and pushing themselves to the limits of endurance even at this early stage of the competition.
The training camp was the location for the first in a series of short films, which give an insight into the rigorous testing and development of F-PACE prototypes around the world.
The film captures Froome being followed by the Team Sky F-PACE on a Tour de France recon tackling one of this year's grueling climbs, as the 2013 Tour winner prepares to mount his challenge for a second yellow jersey in Paris.
Froome, said: "The F-PACE is awesome. It has all of the same high performance road dynamics and support package the team gets from its Jaguar's vehicles, only this time in a performance crossover. It's going to create a huge impression in Utrecht.
"Team Sky is built around performance, and Jaguar's engineering expertise and technological innovations, especially over the last 12 months co-engineering the Pinarello DOGMA F8 and DOGMA K8-S bikes, consistently helps get the best out of the team. I'm sure the F- PACE will be no different."
Froome added: "The tour is everything to me. There's something special about it. The hype, the passion, the crowds. Everything is completely overwhelming. I can't wait to get on the road now and get into the race. I'm back with a vengeance this year."
The Team Sky F-PACE Prototype will also sport a cutting edge bike racking solution, developed by Jaguar Land Rover's Special Vehicle Operations. The rack has a unique telescopic clamp, designed specifically to optimise the quick-release of Team Sky's Pinarello Bolide Time Trial bikes.
"We are delighted to be supporting Team Sky again at such a prestigious sporting event and are excited at the prospect of the F-PACE being seen in action in public for the first time", said Kevin Stride, Vehicle Line Director, Jaguar F-PACE.
"The Jaguar F-PACE is a striking balance of performance, style and practicality," he continued. "And what better way to showcase the vehicle's attributes than on this crucial first leg of the Tour de France."
To mark the reveal of the Team Sky F-PACE and because the car is under wraps until its global reveal later in the year, Jaguar has produced a special camouflage. The soft wrap reflects the performance and design of both the F-PACE and Team Sky and has been inspired by the Tour de France and road racing bikes. It depicts unique carbon textures, rubber and chains interspersed with the iconic Team Sky design to create a stunning, rich, layered effect which will keep the exact design details of the F-PACE secret until later this year.
Jaguar's Team Sky F-PACE Prototype will only support the team on stage one of the Tour de France in Utrecht on Saturday July 4.
Related Video:
Featured Gallery Jaguar F-Pace Tour de France Prototype
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