Saxo Bank Launches Free Website ‘Taking the lead’ for Tour de France Fans

MONACO - Saxo Bank, the online trading and investment specialist, and main sponsor of Team Saxo Bank, has launched a new and unique concept for The Tour de France, combining video, audio and text into a free online storytelling universe.

The ‘Taking the lead’ project is designed for media partners to embed daily stories and weekly issues onto the website www.saxobanktakingthelead.com. The website will go live today at 4 pm CET, when the Tour’s spectacular start separates the men from the boys during the inaugural time-trial in Monaco.

Laurits Fischer-Hansen, Head of Sponsorship at Saxo Bank, says: “Pre-produced content such as interviews with Saxo Bank’s co-CEOs, riders, mechanics, soigneurs and other staff will be available for free on the website when it goes live. Newswires and web portals will be able to integrate all of the content to their sites without any cost. During the Tour we will be producing three to four daily stories as well as rider diaries and a so-called ‘Morning call’ featuring Team Owner Bjarne Riis or Sports Director Kim Andersen.”

Laurits Fischer-Hansen adds: “Saxo Bank is launching the ‘Taking the lead’ site because we want to display that winning and teamwork is what Saxo Bank has been about from the outset, but also to ensure that all fans of the sport have access to news and videos from the Tour. As our CEOs and founders have said, the sponsorship gives Saxo Bank the opportunity to highlight our values of endurance and passion, and show what sports and business can achieve together”.

Saxo Bank is one of the world’s top 25 foreign exchange banks operating in the global capital markets. Founded in Copenhagen in 1992 by Saxo Bank’s two founders and co-CEOs, Kim Fournais and Lars Seier Christensen, Saxo Bank’s online platform, the SaxoTrader, provides market access in 20+ languages to investors looking to trade Currencies, Stocks, Commodities, Futures, Options and a full range of derivatives including CFDs. With SaxoMobileTrader for iPhone(tm) complementing Saxo Bank’s SaxoMobileTrader for BlackBerry(tm), the bank also covers the largest segments of the smart phone market.

At a press conference last year on the 10th June in Copenhagen, Saxo Bank’s co-CEOs together with Team Owner Bjarne Riis, announced that Saxo Bank together with CSC (Computer Sciences Corporation), would co-sponsor Team CSC Saxo Bank. From 1 January 2009 Saxo Bank has been the sole main sponsor of what is now known as Team Saxo Bank. The duration term of the contract is three years.

Source: Saxo Bank

Media enquiries: Jeanette Nielsen, PR Manager, Saxo Bank, +45-5159-5275, E-mail:press at saxobank.com. Laurits Fischer-Hansen, Head of Sponsorships, Saxo Bank, +45-53-54-49-58, E-mail:lfh at saxobank.com. Catherine Cavell, Penrose Financial, +44-207-786-4854, E-mail:catherinec at penrose.co.uk