After the summer season marked by a number of sports events, the time has come to sum it all up. VPI offers you an overview of the main sports events that took place in the summer 2017.
ACT 1 : Confederations Cup
FROM JUNE 17 TO JULY 12 – RUSSIA
COMPETITION OUTCOME: Obviously, Germany.
Despite the participation of its “B Team”, Germany triumphantly won against Chili in the spectacular setting of the Krestovsky Stadium in StPetersburg.
Apart from the sports results, this Confederations Cup was a chance to test the on-site organization of the 2018 World Cup in Russia. No doubt, Russians will be ready. We only hope to see their national team improve so that they keep the festive atmosphere in the country as long as possible next year!
VPI SUMMARY: A number of TV channels from all over the world used our services for this event, in particular the French TF1, British ITV, ESPN, and many others. But the biggest share of our clients were AFP journalists who demand a great flexibility to meet their needs in covering the event. Due to our Moscow office and our several years of expertise in this region, we could book and modify flights, train trips, manage ground transport and hotel bookings in Kazan, Sochi, Moscow and St Petersburg. Our next step: The World Cup!
ACT 2 : FIBA EuroBasket Women
FROM 16 JUNE TO 25 JUNE – CZECH REPUBLIC
COMPETITION OUTCOME: the Blue Team keeps its position
Basketball players headed to Czech Republic in early June for the EuroBasket event. The first round went well for Team France, ending with the good score: 3/3. After winning all their games, the French female team ended up on the first position in their group and made it directly to the quarterfinals. After the successful quarterfinals and the semifinal, they played in the final against their “best enemies”, the Spanish team, on the top level. Unfortunately, the French were defeated by the Spanish in the final, and the score 71-55 brought France silver medals. So the French female team could not win for the third time in a row this year.
VPI SUMMARY: Due to Marie, our local fixer for the group of journalists covering EuroBasket, their stay was pleasant and smooth. Choosing an ideally located 4* hotel downtown Prague was worth it for the numerous mass media on-site (the number of accreditations issued for the event broke a record of the EuroBasket Women), making comfortable the travel to the two competition venues, as well as to the hotel of the Team French for press meetings, thanks to a mix of our private VPI transfers and the use of the local metro system. Another point: the first in history transmission of the semifinal and the final on the W9, a property of M6.
ACT 3 : Tour de France
FROM 01 JULY TO 23 JULY – GERMANY, BELGIUM, FRANCE
COMPETITION OUTCOME: the French among the leaders
The 104th edition of Tour de France was full of surprises: Contador was weaker than before, Froome not so invincible anymore, warren Barguil being the King of the mountain, and Quintana was absent. And as usual, the “Grande Boucle” (the big loop) kept its promises. The general outcome for the French team is truly positive, with its 5 winners: Arnaud Démare, Lilian Calmejane, Romain Bardet and Warren Bargui (in two stages) who showed a thrilling ride. Their victories brought them prizes and awards, Romain Bardet went up the podium of the Grande Boucle, whereas Warren Barguil ended up on the Champs Elysées with his polka dot jersey of the winner of the mountain classification and the red bib meaning his Combativity award. God Save The Queen played in honor of the British rider Chris Froome who made it to the top step of the podium of this Tour de France. He was followed by Rigoberto Uran (+ 00’54”) and Romain Bardet (+ 02’20”).
VPI SUMMARY: Gilles has been our “King” of Tour de France for 7 years by now, as he now knows every tiny corner, every hotel room in the middle of Périgord, and every single mountain inn. This year, in order to meet the needs of the numerous mass media representatives who trusted us with their travel, we had to contact thousands of people in hundreds of hotels, and then to follow the event 24/7 taking care of every single media client of VPI. To celebrate the end of the event, we held our traditional party of the end of the Tour at a place called La Rhumerie on Marseille seaside right before the last Time trial.
ACT 4 : FINA World Championships
FROM 14 JULY TO 30 JULY – HUNGARY
COMPETITION OUTCOME: the United States…and everyone else
With 38 medals at stake, the Americans showed the best of their talent for competing. The UK ended up on the second position (2nd in the medal table), followed by China and Russia…whereas the French did not seem to be able to compete with the big boys anymore this time. Over the last ten years, we have got used to seeing France collect plenty of medals at all kinds of international sports events. However, in this case the Team France is not at the top of the list, and the end of the decade shows a new reality, though difficult to admit.
VPI SUMMARY: We were happy to welcome mass media from various countries, including a big BBC delegation, at the hotel that we booked for this FINA World Championships, EUROSTARS 4*, in the very heart of Budapest. We also let France Televisions enjoy flexibility and affordable rates of our partner Air France for their travels between France and Hungary.
ACT 5 : Football Women’s Euro
FROM 16 JULY TO 06 AUGUST – THE NETHERLANDS
COMPETITION OUTCOME: things always come in threes
In front of their fervent audience, the Orange team created a great feeling by winning this European Championships full of surprises, where the favorites of the event (Germany and France among them) were eliminated earlier than expected. The English team played quite remarkably and made it to the semifinals where they were defeated by the future winners, the Netherlands. The question now is, will the French team defeated by the English in the quarterfinal still be able to triumph at the 2019 World Cup at their home ground?
VPI SUMMARY: There has been an increasing interest for female football and this is proven by the number of reporters and technicians who used VPI’s assistance for their travel to this European Championship. Indeed, we booked over 3000 room-nights for this event, as close as possible to your respective national teams and/or stadiums. Thank you to all the media who trusted us this time and see you in Paris in 2019!
ACT 6 : World Athletics Championships
FROM 05 AUGUST TO 13 AUGUST – ENGLAND
COMPETITION OUTCOME: the Glory of the Blue Team
Just this once, this year the World Athletics Championships saw some fails: in particular, those of the legendary athlete Usain Bolt in 100 and 200 meters, as well as in relay race 4 X 100 meters. Affected by an injury from his last appearance on the track, the Jamaican God of Sprint still marked these spectaculer championships by his presence despite his sports failure… The first European nation in the medal table (4th in the world ranking after the USA, Kenya, and South Africa), France was successful in these historic Championships having Bosse, Mayer, and Diniz, all three of them winning gold medals.
VPI SUMMARY: In a vibrant city, full hotels as London is in August, we had to offer adapted solutions corresponding to the budget of the French media who travelled to London for this event. The hotel Radisson Blu Grafton Edwardian was an excellent choice, whereas some other journalists of printed editions chose apartments right beside the Regent’s Park with a great quality-price ratio.
ACT 7 : Vuelta
FROM 19 AUGUST TO 10 SEPTEMBER – FRANCE, SPAIN
COMPETITION OUTCOME: leaders don’t stop
After the Tour de France in July, the Vuelta de España is the last long competition of the year. And as for the Tour de France, Chris Froome wins a brilliant victory, signing a double unprecedented since 1978! But the main event of this Vuelta 2017 could be elsewhere: Contador bows out, winning the queen-stage at the top of the mythical Angliru Pass and penetrating alone in front of the pack in the streets of Madrid during the last stage.
VPI REVIEW: la Vuelta is for VPI a “mini Tour de France” with very close logistical needs and a daily follow-up necessary, but in a more limited volume. Nevertheless, we are seeing a renewed interest in this competition (as for the Giro).
Stay informed about upcoming events in 2018 and don’t miss any news about your 2018 business sporting trips.
