A Maidstone company is having its brand exposed to millions of TV viewers worldwide after being announced as the sponsor of ITV4's coverage of the Tour de France.

The historic three-week cycling race started on Saturday and pre-owned watch specialist Watchfinder is featuring prominently in each programme.

Its adverts are being shown before and during the TV channel's live coverage and highlights shows, presented by household favourites Gary Imlach, Chris Boardman, Ned Boulting, and David Millar.

"We hope this is the start of a long association between Watchfinder and a programme that not only brings one of the world's most popular sporting events into millions of homes but also inspires people to get out on their bike and get fit," said Matt Bowling, director and co-founder at Watchfinder.

The company estimates that the market for pre-owned watches in the UK is worth more than £1.5bn a year

Before the 2004 Olympics - when Bradley Wiggins and Chris Hoy won their first gold medals - cycling was considered by many to be a marginal sport.

But since then, the number of people interested in cycling has grown enormously.

This year's Tour de France features 198 riders taking part in 21 stages, covering 3,540km and is broadcast via several channels to 190 countries.

This year's edition marks 10 years since the race visited Kent.