Luxembourg’s profile has been rising steadily over the past number of years due to many factors – the European Institutions and the financial service sector, the emergence of the ICT and Biotech sectors, as well as the strengths of individual organisations such as ArcelorMittal and Cargolux which are major players on the world stage.

But the wheels are forever turning and new happenings come to the forefront, not just nationally but internationally as well. The Luxembourg pavilion at the World Expo in Shanghai last year was one of the busiest there and helped “put Luxembourg on the world map”.

On the sporting front, Marc Girardelli skied for Luxembourg for many years and was very prominent at major events including the Winter Olympics. With Kim Kirchen in the saddle until his retirement from professional cycling last year, as well as the Schleck brothers currently, the Luxembourg “brand” now has a slightly different feel to it. Winners, Determined, Focused, World-Leaders – all these terms can now be linked in association with the Grand Duchy.

The success of the cycling brothers Frank and Andy Schleck over the past few years, including at the renowned and gruelling Tour de France, let to the creation of a new professional cycling team in Luxembourg, Leopard Trek, built around the Schleck brothers. This in itself was a massive leap forward, for a Luxembourg-based organisation to take the lead and to take on the world. Soon after their launch, the team was ranked #1 in the world by the UCI, the world cycling federation.

In fact, the success of this Luxembourg-based brand has resulted in significant numbers of replica Leopard Trek cycling jerseys being sold, not only to amateur cyclists across the country, but also as leisure wear. Maybe it won’t overtake sales of Manchester United replica jerseys quite yet, but it is a significant happening in the Grand Duchy.

And Luxembourg’s tourism chiefs have not missed a beat either; they have participated in the 2011 Tour de France publicity caravan which precedes the cyclists on each stage route and promoted Luxembourg as a holiday destination. This reflects a previous decision to link cycling to the main message of the ONT (Office Nationale de Tourisme) this year, whereby Luxembourg is now being promoted as a cycling holiday destination, amongst others. This included the issue of a special cycling edition of the “Best of Luxembourg” publications which has been distributed both nationally and internationally for this tourist season.