Team Jumbo-Visma makes blue tire part of Tour de France peloton
Today at the team presentation of Le Grand Départ, Team Jumbo-Visma presented their bikes with a blue front tire for the Tour de France. The iconic blue front tyre of Swapfiets, the first 'bicycle as a service' company in the world, thus becomes part of the peloton and will be used in several stages by Team Jumbo-Visma. It is the first time a cycling team introduces a coloured tire in the peloton.
This blue front tire symbolises a three-year collaboration between Team Jumbo-Visma and Swapfiets, two of the strongest Dutch names in cycling. To promote cycling in daily life, tire expert Vittoria was asked to develop blue tires. A new tire that everyone recognises from Swapfiets, but which is now suitable for professional use in cycling races by Team Jumbo-Visma. Quite a challenge, because Vittoria engineers’ had to remove all black ingredients to create a blue tire with the same level of performance. The solution was to create a new recipe for rubber compounds that uses a specific silica as a filler. The result is a true innovation, that is making the Swapfiets-blue tire as efficient as the original Vittoria Corsa Graphene tire.
Richard Plugge, director of Team Jumbo-Visma, explains: "Many cycling enthusiasts also like to get on their bikes in everyday life. This partnership with Swapfiets is therefore a very natural match. As Team Jumbo-Visma we see this as a chance to tell the broader public what we care about besides winning a race: good health, a green living environment and livable cities for everyone. That is what Swapfiets and the blue tire stand for and we are proud that we can contribute to this in such a visible way".
"We are proud that we can contribute to this in such a visible way"
"Professional cycling, and the Tour de France in particular, inspired Swapfiets at the time to come up with the idea of Swapfiets service cars as part of its business model. In many major European cities our so-called white Swapcars with bikes on the roof are a familiar sight," adds Marc de Vries, CEO at Swapfiets. "Team Jumbo-Visma and Swapfiets have found each other through the same passion for cycling and the vision that the bicycle is the best means of transportation in cities in the pursuit of more sustainable, environmentally friendly and flexible transportation for all. We are therefore very proud to underline this mission with the introduction of a special blue tire in the peloton."
The blue tire can be experienced in 3D at www.thebluetire.com and can be followed on Twitter and Instagram during the Tour de France.
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