fi’zi:k had a hugely successful Olympic Games in London, winning a haul of medals in the road race, time trial and mountain bike events, thank to Bradley Wiggins, Kristin Armstrong, Marianne Vos, Chris Froome, Rigoberto Uran and Marco Aurelio Fontana.
fi’zi:k is synonymous with success in cycling but we are especially proud of the medals our athletes won at the 2012 London Olympic Games. There is something special about winning any kind of Olympic medal and fi’zi:k is lucky to have won three gold medals, a silver and a bronze in the road racing and mountain bike events.
The summer had already been a huge success after Bradley Wiggins proved his grand tour credentials and made side burns cool by winning the Tour de France. Then just nine days later he added the gold medal in the men’s time trial event to ever growing palmares.
Wiggins successfully used the power and fitness he honed on the roads of France to blast around the time trial course near Hampton Court and was crowned the king of the Olympic time trial. Germany’s Tony Martin took silver and Wiggins’ Team Sky teammate and fellow Briton Chris Froome won the bronze medal, giving fi’zi:k two spot on the podium.
Wiggins and Froome both used the fi’zi:k Ares saddle in the Olympic time trial. It was designed specifically for time trials and triathlons, to help riders deliver maximum power to the pedals while offering excellent comfort.
The fi’zi:k Ares saddle also dominated the women’s time trial in London with Kirstin Armstrong of the USA winning gold. The 39 year-old from Tennessee was already a two-time world time trial champion and her success in London gave her a second time trial gold medal after success in Beijing in 2008. Armstrong collected her medal with her young son Lucas and confirmed she would retire. She went out at the top.
Another great female rider gave fi’zi:k a third third gold at London 2012. Marianne Vos of the Netherlands won the women’s road race in style after a display of her trademark aggression and intelligent race tactics. Vos knew she would have to go on the offensive if she wanted to eliminate the sprinters and she did exactly that, sparking the three-rider breakaway that escaped as the race returned to central London for the finish close to Buckingham Palace. Vos was rightly wary of Britain’s Lizzie Armitstead, who was also strong, but she timed her sprint perfectly and added Olympic gold to her collection of word titles across different cycling disciplines. Vos won gold using a fi’zi:k Antares Braided saddle.
The men’s road race was as unpredictable and exciting as the women’s event and fi’zi:k again won a medal, this time a silver, thanks to Colombia’s Rigoberto Uran, who races for Team Sky in professional events. The Great Britain team was unable to control the race and set up Mark Cavendish for the expected sprint finish. Instead a breakaway formed on the way back to London. Alexandre Vinokourov beat Uran in a two-up sprint but the Colombian put his country back on the cycling map by taking silver, using a fi’zi:k Aliante saddle.
Italy is traditional one of the strongest cycling nations. They failed to win a medal on the road in London but fortunately Marco Aurelio Fontana saved Italy from embarrassment by winning a bronze medal in the men’s cross country mountain bike race. Fontana showed his class and talent on the technical course around Hadleigh Farm, finishing just 25 seconds behind gold medal winner Jaroslav Kulhavy of the Czech Republic. Fontana used the light and comfortable Gobi 00 saddle to save Italian pride.