Press release

Eurobike Award for the Etxeondo protective cycling shorts with DSM’s Dyneema®

Heerlen, NL, 27 Aug 2015 12:00 CEST

The protective cycling shorts powered with DSM’s Dyneema® fiber pioneered by Team Giant-Alpecin in this year’s Tour de France have been recognized with a Eurobike Award in the clothing category. The prestigious award was presented at the Eurobike trade show taking place from 26 to 29 August 2015 in Friedrigshafen, Germany.

On the eve of the Tour de France, while in Utrecht, DSM and Team Giant-Alpecin jointly announced the new protective shorts resulting from the successful innovation partnership that the team and DSM started in January of this year. Creating the new shorts involved close cooperation between DSM scientists, the fabric manufacturing partner Taiana, Giant-Alpecin’s technical staff and the clothing supplier Etxeondo. The shorts proved their value during several of the heavy crashes that took place in this year’s tour where the team’s riders avoided grazing their thighs thanks to the protective fabric with Dyneema applied to this area.

Warren Barguil, who crashed heavily on 14 July in the stage towards La Pierre Saint Martin  comments: “The new shorts performed amazingly well. After the crash I had grazes in many places on my body, however the skin on my thighs, despite being bruised, remained undamaged”.

Iwan Spekenbrink, CEO of Team Giant-Alpecin commented: “We are delighted with how the new shorts performed during the races. To maximally focus on their performance, riders need to feel safe and comfortable. Unfortunately crashes happen. The protection and safety offered by incorporating Dyneema helped substantially in the reduction of wounds and injuries of the riders. The Eurobike Award that has been given to the partnership is a fantastic recognition of a breakthrough development that I firmly believe will greatly benefit not only professional riders, but amateur cyclists as well”.

The Eurobike Award is one of the leading international design awards for companies active in the bike industry. New and innovative products are assessed and evaluated by an independent panel of six expert judges. Thanks to its transparent evaluation process, it provides an important decision-making aid to consumers when making a purchase. In addition, the award is an important independent confirmation of the high level of innovation, functionality, quality and sustainability. In 2015, the Eurobike Award is being held for the 11th time.

For more information

Media Relations

+31 45 578 2420