Alejandro Valverde got his season off the mark last week by winning the Volta a la Comunitat Valencianato. A first for the rider, his team and his new footwear sponsor, Fi’zi:k.
Despite previously stating that its footwear division wouldn’t blanket sponsor a team – and would continue working with individual riders instead – it’s backing the entire Movistar squad with the Infinito R1 shoe.
A first for Movistar is its new women’s team for this season. The squad is loaded with talent that includes Poland’s Malgorzata Jasinska, who bagged a couple of wins at the Premondiale Giro Toscana Internazionale Femminile, France’s Aude Biannic, victorious at the Giro Toscana, and Australia’s Rachel Neylan who took the 2016 Grand Prix de Plumelec-Morbihan Dames.
The men’s and the women’s team will be wearing the Infinito R1, the brand’s top tier road shoe, in a deal that secures their feet to Fi’zi:k this season and next. The style has been in the catalogue for a while, but this is a new colour scheme to match the teams’ on-trend shades of blue Endura kit.
The upper is made from a Microtex Lazer Perforated material and echoes the blue fade design for the Movistar jersey. It has a carbon sole, so it’s both stiff and light at 232g (42.5). Weight is one thing in cycling shoes, but comfort is arguably more important, so Fi’zi:k installed a couple of Boa ratchets for easy adjustments on the fly.
Pro cyclists are particular about their choice of footwear. Aren’t we all? It’s an intimate bit of kit. Signing up a whole team shows how confident Fi’zi:k is that the Infinito R1 is a shoe for every woman and man that rides a road bike.
And if it’s not, Movistar riders will be getting through a lot of overshoes this season.
Read: Comfort seating – Fi’zi:k Open White saddle
