TEAM SKY / SKY PRO CYCLING RIDER CHRIS FROOME
WINS 100TH TOUR DE FRANCE
Relies on Oakley Performance Eyewear for 2013 Tour Victory
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif., July 21, 2013 – Oakley, Inc. today congratulated Team Sky / Sky Pro Cycling rider Chris Froome, winner of the 100th Tour de France event. Froome depended on the unrivaled performance benefits of Oakley eyewear to see him through the 2,115 mile (3,404 kilometer) challenge and earn his place in history as the General Classification winner for 2013. He was one of many riders who relied on Oakley optical innovation in this year’s competition.
“We salute Chris for his incredible victory at the Tour,” said Oakley CEO Colin Baden. “He is a rider at his prime, and his glory is well earned. Our pride extends to the performance of all who depended on Oakley eyewear in this year’s race. It is an honor to have elite cyclists trusting our technology for their chance at glory in the sport’s ultimate competition, the third largest sporting event on the planet.”
Froome displayed exceptional skill in climbs and time trials to earn the maillot jaune. The 28-year-old cyclist was initially awarded the yellow jersey after stage 8 in the Pyrénées, and with a continued display of talent and stamina, he retained it for the remainder of the race. His second stage victory was a showdown on Mont Ventoux in stage 15, and he achieved a third stage win on the mountain time trial from Embrun to Chorges that defined stage 17.
“This is a truly proud moment for Oakley,” Baden continued. “It honors not only an incredible athlete who pushed performance Beyond Reason, but the Oakley innovators who help empower athletes with the vision of victory by creating world-class performance eyewear. The sheer number of cyclists who put their faith in our technology is a testament to how much we have achieved since a Tour competitor first relied on our innovation to win the event 27 years ago.”
Oakley was the Official Eyewear Provider of Team SKY (UK), BMC Racing Team (USA), Team RadioShack Leopard Trek (Luxembourg), Team Omega Pharma Quickstep (Belgium), and Team Belkin (the Netherlands). In addition to the 70 team riders in the Oakley family, there were individual riders who relied on Oakley technology, and even riders who competed in Oakley eyewear without any official partnership with the company.
To honor its athletes and the 100th edition of the Tour, Oakley created special editions of RadarLock™, RadarLock XL Straight Stem and Half Jacket™ 2.0 XLJ performance eyewear. All three models feature interchangeable lens designs that let athletes take advantage of the company’s wide array of premium lens tints. An added lifestyle design, the Tour de France 1903 Fuel Cell commemorates the first year of the Tour.
Select models of Oakley performance eyewear utilize a revolutionary breakthrough known as Switchlock™ interchangeable lens technology. The innovation helps athletes keep up with changing light conditions by taking advantage of specially engineered lens tints and the unbeatable clarity, visual fidelity and impact resistance of Oakley’s High Definition Optics®.
Baden concluded, “This is a sporting event for which athletes put their bodies through hell in training and preparation, and they leave nothing to chance when it comes time for the most important competitions of their lives. The fact that so many choose Oakley eyewear is a salute to a heritage that has pushed technology beyond all limits, and we continue to defy the impossible because the obsession of professional athletes is our obsession as well.”
Cycling is a top sport in terms of interest and participation in Europe, and more than 100 million Europeans cycle regularly. Oakley has fueled excitement in the sport this year with Conquer the Road, a broad scope of initiatives designed to inspire everyone to get out on a bike and ride. Part of this drive was a collaboration with Eurosport for a four-part television program called “The Ride” which featured two amateur cyclists, instructed and inspired by professionals as they conquered the route of two stages from this year’s Tour.
The 21 stages of the 100th Tour de France event included six mountain stages and five hilly stages. The event featured some of the famous climbs from the history of the race, and the final thrilling week tested riders on three brutal mountain stages. Starting in Corsica, the 2013 Tour culminated with a first-ever nighttime finish on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.
Press Office