News VIP 02-2021

For this second appointment of Ekoi VIP 2021 Newsletter, we are offering you exciting meetings with 3 exceptional characters.Nairo Quintana (Arkea Samsic) and Christophe Laporte (Cofidis) for the champions. John Lelangue (Lotto Soudal) on the sports management. All linked to Ekoi, they tell and talk about themselves with enthusiasm and sincerity. Qualifiers that my teams and I have always raised as values. Have a good reading and above all a nice trip.

Sportingly

J.C Rattel
Founding President

In preparation for his 2021 season, Nairo Quintana visited the Ekoï headquarters. A visit to show his friendship to the brand that supplies him clothes.The opportunity for him to talk about technology, and to explain his textile choices.

Nairo, what is most important to you? A technically average garment, but very beautiful in appearance or a very technical garment, with some design?

I think clothes don't have to be very expensive to be good products. The most important is comfort, I like to feel good in the clothes I wear every day.

What are the main features to feel good in your clothes?

In shorts I look at the padding first. For the jersey the first importance to me is breathability. I need to feel like I'm refreshed by air in as I ride most of the time in hot weather.

How do you work to develop Ekoï clothes?

As a professional cyclist it is important for me to communicate as much as possible with the brand and to note all my observations. Because we put our clothes and equipment to the test, every observation is important.I have already come several times to talk to Ekoï in Frejus, and I am regularly in close contact with the brand's teams. Can you

tell us about your clothing collection?

Yes, I created my own brand : Nairo. Thanks to my experience as a professional rider, I wanted to combine nice design with effective products, intended for all cyclists who want to have fun.

Nairo, what do you think of the racing suits?

I know some cyclists put on wetsuits for races. I also wear suits for time trial events, but for classic races I prefer the traditional bibshorts and jersey. They are now improved and are still more comfortable over the distance !

Awarded the "Crystal Bike" for best sports director 2011, now general manager of the World Tour Lotto Soudal team, son of the famous Robert Lelangue, has become one of the most important protagonists of the international cycling peloton. Like his father did for Eddy Merckx in the legendary Molteni team, the man nicknamed Mr. John, admits his passion for excellence…In particular in the choice of his technical partners.

John, can you tell us how satisfied you are at the start of season 2021 as your Lotto Soudal team shines, as it did before, by closing the stressful 2020 season with 2 victories in the Vuelta with Tim Wellens? Besides, what is your feeling for 2021?

Satisfaction obviously. 2020 had been, as you say, a stressful season when we logically had to adapt in the midst of the global Covid 19 pandemic. Our 2 great end-of-season victories had allowed us to have a peaceful winter with a view to 2021. And our great successes at the beginning of the year come to consolidate us and give the whole team, runners and technicians, a great morale.Even though we are aware of the health peril that still hangs over sport and the rest of society, we are delighted with our 1st victories. In the Etoile de Bessèges with Tim Wellens, in the UAE Tour with Caleb Ewan, one of the few riders to have won stages on the 3 big tours.

You seem to have taken over the precepts of your father Robert Lelangue who was only looking for the best for his leader Eddy Merckx at Molteni, speaking of material or equipment. In this radical context, which has earned you a reputation for high standards, how do you analyze your partnership with Ekoi?

When I sign a technical partnership I am not looking for additional funding for my team. I aim above all and first to get the best material and the best equipment. With Lotto Soudal we are in the World Tour. That is to say, we are in the F1 of cycling. Our runners must therefore be able to count on the best performance, on the most competitive innovations and on maximum comfort and safety. With Ekoi, as with Ridley and Campagnolo, we are sure to have the best.

Your champions, Philippe Gilbert and Caleb Ewan in the lead, have Ekoi helmets and glasses. How does the Ekoi-Lotto Soudal partnership work?

With Ekoi, our cyclists have a really big choice between several types of glasses and helmets. Each one defines his criteria, tests several models of glasses and helmets and gets what he wants. A personal choice which allows to meet the type of event and also to benefit from very high quality personalised equipment. I also want to emphasize the quality of the exchange between our Team and Ekoi.

How does the Ekoi-Lotto Soudal exchange work?

There is an ongoing dialogue between our riders and Ekoi technicians and designers. We express ideas ? Ekoi talks to us about its projects, makes us test prototypes, especially in wind tunnel, makes us participate in the design of new products. A dialogue that naturally benefits all Ekoi productions and therefore the customer, who can also have the same equipment as the Lotto Soudal Pros. And then there is the rich human relationship between me and Jean-Christophe Rattel, the Ekoi President. From passionate to passionate, the exchange is truly exceptional.

The first winner of Cofidis Team for season 2021 is none other than the best great sprinters’ clan rider of the international peloton. That Christophe Laporte who regularly arouses admiration and sympathy. He has opened his counter on the Etoile de Bessèges. With panache of course!

Christophe how are you approaching the 2021 season after the stressful hinterland of the 2020 season?

In the best possible way. I had a studious winter with big training sessions. Enough to forget the 2020 anxieties with the pandemic and all that it may have brought into question and doubt. I really started 2021 with enthusiasm. I felt that form was coming back and that I was going to be able to win again in some great events. My victory on the 1st stage of the Etoile de Bessèges confirmed that feeling. Now all I have to do is confirm, according to the program developed with the team.

Exactly, let's talk about the Cofidis Team. It feels like a tight-knit group with a strong desire to join the leading group throughout the season. How are things going for you as you are in your last year of contract?

Indeed, the atmosphere within the team is really positive. We form a united group around our management. With the will to progress together. It must be said that we have exceptional technical conditions. With one of the best bikes in the peloton, a De Rosa equipped with Campagnolo. With exceptional OEMs too. Starting with Ekoi with whom dialogue is really positive and constructive, I was thus able to benefit from wind tunnel tests and real feedback with the brand's technicians. And then I'm 28 and I feel like I'm getting into what could be the best part of my career. I'm at the end of my contract with Cofidis but I don't think too much about it. What matters is to be on top of my form and my mind for the first half of the season which will lead me to the Tour via Paris Nice, Ghent Wevelgem, Paris Roubaix, Milan San Remo, the Tour de Suisse. and the French Championships. Then it will be time to review and make plans for the end of the season and probably for my future as well.

You mentioned your program. Including fetish events for you. Ghent Wevelgem, Paris Roubaix and Milan San Remo. You've been listed as a sprinter since you started. But you have already won several time trials…which might open up other possibilities to impose yourself.

Actually I'm a long sprinter. Not a pure sprinter. So I can attack at 1,500 meters and hold on to the end. For example in Milan San Remo. But also in Roubaix…Why not… I understand the race and I know how to position myself well. The rest is just a matter of opportunity and luck. Cycling to win is a joy. I do everything to appreciate it and to offer a few more cups to my little Marlo, born in November 2019.

From the first events of season 2021, Ekoi’s athletes and teams partner have stood out. First was Christophe Laporte’s spectacular rush on the 1st stage of the Etoile de Bessèges. And then Tim Wellens’s feat during the 3rd stage still on Etoile de Bessèges. Solo winner 40 seconds ahead of the peloton, Tim also positioned in the final classification of the race. Also note the great performances of Nacer Bouhanni, Nairo Quintana and Giacomo Nizzolo, regularly in the top 5 and one step away from victory. Finally, Victor Koretzky’s victory on the 20th edition of the prestigious MTB event in Banyols for the Catalan BTT international. A UCI race which was the first meeting of the Olympic year.

Lotto Soudal (helmets and sunglasses) - Qhubeka Assos (helmets) - Arkea Samsic (textile and helmets) - Cofidis (helmets and sunglasses) - Euskaltel Euskadi (helmets and sunglasses) - Saint-Michel Auber (textile and sunglasses) - KMC Orbea (textile, helmets, sunglasses)

Philippe Gilbert - Elia Viviani - Nacer Bouhanni - Nairo Quintana - Warren Barguil - Caleb Ewan

Freddy Maertens - Claudio Chiapucci - Laurent Jalabert - Pedro Delgado - Miguel Indurain