Shimano hosts Road athlete interviews during racing hiatus

Stellar names sign up for Facebook Live and Instagram takeover sessions

With national and international bike races on a temporary hiatus and world class bike racers forced to stay at home, Shimano is bringing these athletes into fans’ homes through a series of live interviews and Instagram takeovers.

Several stellar athletes and retired stars have already picked up the microphone to record interviews in English, Dutch, Italian and Turkish. Highlights include French 2019 Tour de France stage winner and yellow jersey wearer Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick-Step), Dutch Olympic track silver medalist Theo Bos and former Tour de France and Vuelta a España stage winner Leon van Bon, plus Italian two-time World Road Race champion Paolo Bettini – and a top-notch list of riders will continue to keep you entertained in the coming weeks.

Next up on the Shimano Road Facebook page comes a live and interactive interview with Team Jumbo-Visma's head of performance Mathieu Heijboer followed by Team Ineos' directeur sportif Servais Knaven and Alpecin-Fenix's world cyclocross champion Ceylin del Carmen Alvardo.

The Facebook live sessions are fully interactive, giving viewers the chance to chip in with questions they've always wanted to ask a professional bike rider.

In addition to the interviews several riders will be let loose on Shimano's road cycling Instagram account. Dylan van Baarle (Team Ineos), Bob Jungels (Deceuninck-Quick-Step), Dylan Groenwegen (Jumbo-Visma), and Petr Vakoč (Alpecin-Fenix) will share their daily highlights with you during April. Plus pre-recorded rider quizzes will be broadcast on Instagram Stories featuring Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), Philip Walsleben and Alex Richardson (Alpecin-Fenix), Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck-Quick-Step), Dylan van Baarle and Owain Doull (Team Ineos).

Confirmed dates so far are:

Friday April 10, 2020             Insta Take Over                     Dylan van Baarle

Sunday April 12, 2020           FB Live                                     Servais Knaven (in Dutch)      

Tuesday April 14, 2020         FB Live                                     Mathieu Heijboer (in Dutch)  

Thursday April 16, 2020       FB Live                                     Matthijs Büchli & Laurine van Riessen (in Dutch)

Friday April 17, 2020             Insta Take Over                      Petr Vakoč

Wednesday April 22, 2020   FB Live                                     Ceylin del Carmen Alvardo    

Friday April 24, 2020             Insta Take Over                     Dylan van Groenwegen

More Instagram takeovers and rider quizzes will be confirmed on the Shimano Facebook and Instagram channels in the coming days.

Sessions are hosted by Shimano's Erik Van Kooten (English interviews), Tom de Louw (Dutch interviews), Marco Cittadini (Italian interviews) or Mihraç Bayindir (Turkish interviews). Commenting on the interview schedule, Van Kooten said: “We miss watching the drama of bike racing at the moment but we've come up with an alternative way to get our cycling fix. These interviews are allowing cycling fans to get under the skin of their heroes and, judging by the first few interviews, they're proving really popular.”

The sessions will remain available on the Shimano Facebook page or you can watch live on Shimano’s Instagram page. Keep an eye on Shimano's social media channels for more conversations in the coming weeks.

NOTES TO EDITORS

1.       Embargo: 12pm CET, Friday 10th April 2020

2.       Images: A selection of images are available here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/5e6uyn5tmq2aqzd/AADDFmDgfnOZ35b5Y0rceEBUa?dl=0

3.       Further Shimano press releases: See the media centre here: https://media.shimano-eu.com 

4.       About Shimano Europe: Founded in 1921, Shimano is dedicated to helping its customers get closer to nature, supporting people to realize their dreams and create new lifestyles. That comes with the desire to create outstanding cycling products and apparel. With almost 100 years’ experience in creating internationally renowned bicycle components, Shimano is proud to have developed products that continue to take countless athletes to victory and provide the means for limitless global bicycle journeys. For more information see www.shimano.com.