BRANDS
‘AT VITTORIA, WE BROKE A TABOO. IT SEEMED IMPOSSIBLE FOR PERFORMANCE AND
SUSTAINABILITY TO COEXIST IN A TYRE. BUT WE DIDN’T GIVE IN TO THIS ASSUMPTION. WE PUSHED THE ENTIRE COMPANY TOWARDS THE FUTURE.‘
Let’s open with that attention-grabbing opening statement: “Vittoria is a brand by cyclists, for cyclists - we don’t make tyres or accessories for cars, trucks, or aeroplanes”. What does it take to develop and deliver tyres ridden to victories across all disciplines? Stijn Vriends: Certainly, a lot of dedication, focus, and a great effort in pushing the level of innovation a bit further each time. Then, a good dose of “nerdiness” and meticulousness. But above all, an enormous passion for bicycles and cycling in general.
‘Performance’ today exists in the same sentence as ‘sustainability’ - how does Vittoria meet what would seem to be competing and conflicting needs? Vanessa ten Hoff: “At Vittoria, we broke a taboo. It seemed impossible for performance and sustainability to coexist in a tyre. But we didn’t give in to this assumption. We pushed the entire company towards the future. “After an intense two-year development process, we
created the Terreno PRO T60 – a gravel tyre for mixed terrains made with 92% recycled or recyclable material,
46 | December 2024 which is 10% faster than its previous version.”
Today Vittoria has a carbon-neutral factory in Thailand. How did that come to be? Where did this conversation start? Vriends: “As a cycling brand, we could have buried our heads in the sand and continued to bask in the positive image generated by promoting cycling over internal combustion vehicles. But we know we’re part of the rubber industry, which is energy-intensive and has a significant emissions impact.
That’s why, with large financial and emotional investments, we once again decided to veer off the beaten path and build the world’s first CarbonNeutral tyre factory. This is another significant and concrete step towards the future.”
How does manufacturing in Italy compare with manufacturing in Thailand - sustainability decisions include the footprint generated when raw materials are shipped, driven or flown to a manufacturing
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