Cycling Deutschland Tour Sold

There have been some speculations for a few days now that the French firm Lagardre bought Hamburgs agency Upsolut Sports AG. The news magazine Spiegel reported Lagardre wants to pay a double-digit amount of millions. At the end of last year and for more than 865 million Euros, Lagardre took over the 2001-founded agency Sportfive. The German-French company Sportfive was active in the merchandising sector of broadcasting rights for sporting events and sport marketing, therefore, they have utilized the rights of 250 football clubs in Europe.

The independent company Upsolut Sports AG holds the marketing rights for several brands belonging to the football second division team FC St. Pauli and organizes since 2002 among others the only Triathlon World Cup for professionals; in addition to the most significant cycling events in Germany, the Deutschland Tour and the Vattenfall Cyclassics, until 2005 known as the HEW Cyclassics.

The Deutschland Tour is the only German stage race from the UCI ProTour. Such event counts with the enrolling of over 160 of the worlds best cyclists and it is one of the most prestigious cycle races of the world besides the Tour de France, Vuelta and Giro dItalia. The Vattenfall Cyclassics is the biggest cycle event in its category in Europe. Since 1996 it is Hamburgs cycle race for professionals and Everyman. This race has seem the participation of the worlds best cyclists such as: Jan Ullrich, Erik Zabel and Paolo Bettini. In both events it is possible for everyman to participate in three different distances. At the Vattenfall Cyclassics they offer a race for mentally handicapped people called the Special Olympics Race.

At a press conference, board of directors spokeman Dr. Michael Hinz took a stand and assured there is nothing true on this rumor. He also said that if there should be a change in the near future they will provide information in an open and detailed way as it is usual.

It is conjectural the concern Lagardre is planning to open their own racing series. Through their contribution to the aerospace company EADS and the television broadcaster Canal Plus they would be able to make the pictures exclusively available.

About the Author:
Emeli Dean is a high-ranking writer on sports for the sports betting industry.

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