The supermarket chain, Carrefour has renewed its sponsorship agreement with the Spanish road racing classic, La Vuelta. Following this deal, the company will also serve as the title sponsor of La Vuelta Femenina for the first time.
Carrefour will keep its position as the main sponsor of the men’s race and will also proceed to financially support the general classification leader’s jersey after ten years of backing.
La Vuelta Femenina’s title sponsorship rights will see the race start incorporating “by Carrefour.es” into its name in 2023. Carrefour will also actively support the La Vuelta Femenina leader’s jersey.
Alexandre de Palmas, Executive Director of Carrefour España, said, “La Vuelta allows us to extol the very values that are our reason for being: closeness, competitiveness, sustainability, the promotion of healthy lifestyle habits, diversity, inclusion and equal opportunity for all.”
Javier Guillén, General Director of La Vuelta, commented, “Carrefour is already an essential part of La Vuelta. The identity of ‘La Roja’, and all of the values associated with the leader’s jersey, would not be what it is without Carrefour printed on its chest. This sponsorship renewal is doubly exciting for us as, a decade after it first sponsored the red jersey, Carrefour now extends its support by sponsoring the leader’s jersey for La Vuelta Femenina. This gives us security and a guarantee that allows us to project our work well into the future in order to make this race even bigger.”
Carrefour uses race, in addition to visibility rights, to demonstrate its commitment to local and regional economies. Carrefour distributed over 4,000 free tasting samples of local products per stage during the 2022 edition to endorse good nutrition and sustainability. This was part of a 360-degree initiative to entertain families while also promoting the concept of local development and highlighting the depth and complexity of Spain’s gastronomy, culture, and landscape.
In Spain, Carrefour Spain handles 205 hypermarkets, 159 Carrefour Market, 1,085 Carrefour Express supermarkets, and 50 Supeco supermarkets, in addition to its online commerce. After France and Brazil, it is the French multinational’s third most significant international market.
Despite a long record of major financial backing in France, Carrefour announced in 2018 that it would discontinue its support for the French Football Federation (FFF) and the Tour de France. Intermarché, a rival supermarket chain, did take over the category at the FFF from 2018 to 2019, while E.Leclerc replaced Carrefour at the Tour de France beginning with the 2019 edition and continuing through 2022.