Jaguar’s first-ever SUV, the F-Pace, debuted on Saturday as official Team Sky support vehicle on Stage One of the Tour de France in Utrecht, the Netherlands.

It is estimated that one million people saw the F-Pace live during the stage, with two billion more viewers seeing it on television or online around the world.

It was the first time the F-Pace shed its hard camouflage in public, instead sporting a specially created wrap that hints at the final design of the vehicle.

The Jaguar supported five Team Sky riders (Ian Stannard, Luke Rowe, Peter Kennaugh, Leopold König and Chris Froome) during the Grand Depart, which Jaguar says provided a pressurized real world test of its first performance crossover.

The vehicle was fitted with a bike rack developed specifically for the stage to carry two of Team Sky’s Pinarello Bolide Time Trial bikes. The rack was designed with an innovative telescopic clamp by Jaguar Land Rover’s Special Vehicle Operations.

“The atmosphere in Utrecht was incredible. The Netherlands has a huge passion for cycling and right from the moment we arrived at the start line, you could feel the excitement. The appearance of Jaguar’s F-Pace prototype definitely added to the hype today – you could see it made a big impact with the crowds,” said Team Sky Head of Technical Operations & Commercial, Carsten Jeppesen.

The Jaguar F-Pace will be fully unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September and will go on sale in 2016.

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