We’re already two months into 2023 with warmer weather just around the corner, and that can only mean one thing: racing season is upon us. Of course, at fizik, our excitement is widespread. We’re proud to stand behind both teams and individual athletes across a variety of riding disciplines—from Road to Gravel racing, Downhill to Cross Country and Enduro—even the multi-sport members of the competitive world of Triathlon. No matter the individual race, or the terrain beneath our riders’ tires, we look forward to rolling through another year of big challenges, decisive moments, and unforgettable memories together. Read on to learn more about where we’re headed in the months to come.
ROAD CYCLING
With a never-dull calendar full of fast-paced cycling competitions, the 2023 UCI World Tour is already underway, including a big opening win for fizik rider Dylan van Baarle of Team Jumbo-Visma at the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, the first of this year’s Belgian Classics.
As we move through the exciting early-season races, including the upcoming Strade Bianche, Milan-San Remo, and more, it’s hard not to feel hopes rising for our favorite Grand Tours: The Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia. Given the historic victory of Jumbo-Visma’s Jonas Vingegaard in the 2022 TDF, as well as Richard Carapaz’s massive second-place effort in the Giro—alongside the bevy of talented individuals that make up the teams we support—it’s easy to see why expectations are high for this summer’s biggest stages.
In men’s Road cycling, we’re once again sponsoring the riders of teams Jumbo-Visma, AG2R, Movistar, and the INEOS Grenadiers. In the world of women’s Road racing, we’re thrilled to support Jumbo-Visma as well as Team Movistar, whose ranks include repeat World Champion Annemiek van Vleuten, the winner of all three of last year’s women’s Grand Tours: The Giro d’Italia Donne, the Tour de France Femmes, and the Challenge by La Vuelta.
In addition to the well-established European World Tour teams, we’re also proud to announce our support of the USA’s hottest new racing team, the Miami Blazers, a multi-cultural, multi-national cast of crit racers poised to set the American circuit on fire.
As for individual athletes, we’re rounding out our line-up with sponsorships of Italian riders Alessandro Covi, Filippo Zana, and Luca Mozzato and the Spanish National Road Champion Carlos Rodriguez.
CROSS-COUNTRY
Moving from the tarmac to XC trails, training is underway as Cross-Country athletes look towards the opening stops on the MTB World Cup. In the meantime, we’re starting our season early with a new collaboration, partnering for the first time with the men and women of mixed-team Santa Cruz-Rockshox: an all-Italian cohort helmed by two-time 2022 World Cup winner, Luca Braidot. We’re stoked to share every twist and turn of the trails in the season ahead.
From new faces to familiar ones, we’re also pleased to announce our continuing support of France’s Rockrider Racing Team, who are ready to follow-up their exciting debut last year with an expanded roster and bold plans to go big in 2023.
Of course, team efforts aren’t the only ambitions we’re supporting this XCO season. There are also plenty of individual athletes who will be pursuing their paths to victory together with the performance of fizik, like last year’s European Cross-Country Champion, Loana Lecomte. She’ll be joined by the U23 World Champion, the young French cyclist Line Burquier.
For Ineos Cross-Country, two multi-discipline athletes, Tom Pidcock and the 2022 Women’s World Champion, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, will navigate the competition this season both perched atop a fizik saddle.
While the first stop on the Cross-Country World Cup may still be some months away—the weekend of May 12-14 in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic—the local trails for each rider and team are already buzzing with feelings of excitement, and the sounds of spinning freewheels, in anticipation.
DOWNHILL
The 2022 Downhill racing season earned the riders of Commencal / Muc-off several significant victories, including a World Cup title for Amaury Pierron and silver medal for teammate Myriam Nicole. To continue down that winning path, we’re thrilled to announce our ongoing support of Team Commencal / Muc-off riders throughout all the adrenaline-pumping, high-flying excitement that 2023 promises to provide. Beyond our overall team support, we’re equally eager to continue rolling with Thibaut Dapréla, whose debut dream Gravita shoe became one of the many highlights of last year’s wild ride.
The men and women of Commencal / Muc-off won’t be the only riders enjoying the Downhill prowess of fizik performance. Our sponsorship panorama is growing substantially for the upcoming season as we welcome the Canyon CLLCTV FMD Team, Commencal IC Studio, Commencal / Schwalbe, Unno Apex and Rogue Racing into our fast fold.
World Cup Downhill racing kicks off this summer with a season opener at Lenzerheide, June 9-11, followed by a busy schedule of events across Europe and North America that’s sure to hold more than a few big surprises along the way.
GRAVEL AND ADVENTURE
Riding on the wilder side of the sport, Gravel and Adventure racing have been at an all-time high over the past few seasons—with new events and an ever-more-competitive field of athletes racing to claim the top spot in some of the most extreme cycling challenges on the planet.
Launching for the first time this year, the Gravel Earth Series unites some of the best existing and new off-road endurance events into one unified program, and we’re proud to see the fizik name as official partners of the initiative. Riders who take on at least two regular-season races in the series will earn points at each stage, with an overall winner named for each category at the end of the season following the ultimate Earth Final event. Notable races along the way include The Rift in Iceland, The Traka in Spain, and Kenya’s Migration Gravel Race, amongst others.
Sure to be prominent participants throughout the Gravel Earth Series, as well as the entire Adventure season, we’re excited to continue our support of both Team Enough and Team Amani, whose racing cards are already filling up quickly in anticipation of the upcoming summer schedule.
Individual off-piste athletes Lachlan Morton and Nathan Haas will continue to fly the fizik flag in their adventurous 2023 pursuits—where those may lead is anyone’s guess. In addition to our returning Gravel riders, the fizik family is growing again as we welcome a new US athlete: LA-based former motocross racer turned competitive cyclist Andrew Jackson.
Rounding out the fizik Adventure group are self-proclaimed alternative racer Paul Voss, 2022 Unbound champion, Ivar Slik, and road racer/newly minted Gravel athlete Adam Blazevic.
ENDURO
When it comes to off-road racing, the Enduro World Cup is the first out of the gate, with initial dates slated for late March for a season opener in Maydena, followed by another Tasmanian stage one week later before the series returns to Europe.
Rolling with fizik throughout a schedule that spans three continents will be the riders of the Commencal Enduro Project, an inventive initiative launched in 2022 as a three-year development strategy to create the best possible Enduro bike by putting Commencal’s designs through the ultimate trial by fire: the Enduro World Cup.
We also welcome back the riders of Orbea Fox Enduro Team, who count amongst their talented athletes Martin Maes, Flo Espiñeira, Edgar Carballo, and Vid Persak.
TRIATHLON
From mixed terrains to multi sports, we finish our 2023 racing preview with a transition into the world of Triathlon, where we’ve spent years focused on helping athletes power their way through the fastest leg of these triple-discipline competitions quickly and efficiently, no matter the specific length of the individual event.
Our 2023 fizik team line-up starts with record-setting siblings and Olympic medalists Alistair and Jonny Brownlee. The Brownlee brothers have made history throughout their racing careers, and we expect them to continue to set the pace, both on the course and off, for the Triathlon season that lies ahead.
Georgia Taylor Brown, hot off big wins at the World Sprint Championships as well as the Super League Triathlon to close her 2022 season, will add to our Olympic roster alongside Alex Yee, whose spectacular performances last year included winning the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, the World Triathlon Sprint Championships, as well as numerous titles throughout the ITU World Triathlon Series.
They will be joined by fellow fizik athletes Jessica Learmonth, Casper Stornes, Beatrice Mallozzi, Angelica Prestia, Costanza Arpinelli, Nicolò Strada, and Giulio Molinari for competitions across the globe and the chance to swim, ride, and run to a place in racing history.
Follow fizik on Instagram for updates from our teams and athletes, and good luck to those who will roll with us throughout the 2023 competitive season.
Photo:
Tornati.cc – Ross Bell – Kéno Derleyn – Fredrik Marmaster – Sven Martin – Alessio Pederiva
