IRONMAN EMEA has announced a two-year partnership with 120-year-old Italian bike saddles brand, Selle Italia. The new deal will see the Italian company provide athletes with access to its expertise and products at IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 events across the region.
This announcement follows a string of new partnership announcements for IRONMAN Europe, including the Santini clothing brand and KASK sports helmet brand.
The latest partnership will see Selle Italia present at IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 events in Spain, France, Austria, Germany, UK, Luxemburg and Italy as well as the USA. Selle Italia will be showcasing its products and providing a specialist service to a large proportion of IRONMAN’s 250,000 annual participants, and will use the partnership to ‘help advance triathlon-specific bike saddle technology globally’.
In January 2018 Selle Italia announced a partnership with reigning IRONMAN World Champion Patrick Lange, the first triathlete in the world to break the eight-hour barrier in the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona, Hawai’i in 2018. Selle Italia’s research and development team will work with Lange to design a new saddle, specifically developed for the IRONMAN race discipline. Selle Italia will use IRONMAN’s events and platforms to educate athletes on the research, technology and results, and provide first-hand access to products.
“IRONMAN and Selle Italia recognise that athlete comfort and positioning in the saddle can have a significant impact not only on the bike section of an IRONMAN race, but also knock-on effects on the swim and the run,” said Peter Gallagher, Director of Global Partnerships for IRONMAN EMEA.
“We are certain that Selle Italia will improve the IRONMAN athlete experience through more comfortable and enjoyable races, as well as faster races.”
Giuseppe Bigolin, President of Selle Italia, added, ”This is a great challenge for Selle Italia and its history. Supporting the IRONMAN circuit is a wonderful opportunity for our company to strongly establish ourselves within the triathlon world and to provide our expertise to this growing sport.
“Tenacity and determination are values that we share; knowing this, we are certain that together we will be able to create projects and opportunities that will be crucial for the development of new products and new technologies, guaranteeing athletes maximum performance and comfort.”
