MARIANNE VOS AND SHIMANO JOIN FORCES TO LAUNCH STRONGHER, A NEW INITIATIVE TO SUPPORT WOMEN’S CYCLING

Oct 9, 2015: At a press conference held today in London, multiple World and Olympic champion Marianne Vos launched Strongher, a new and unique international concept in cycling.

Strongher is a movement that will connect professional and grassroots cycling worlds and unify all global women’s cycling initiatives under a shared and common goal, to create a stage for women around the world to perform.

Shimano is supporting Strongher by promoting the campaign on its web channels and through the production of tips, tricks and product features for the Strongher website, www.strongher.cc. In addition Shimano will feature Strongher in its BikeGear magazine and will help bike dealers join the campaign with in-store promotions and displays to inform and inspire women.

Strongher Women Friendly Store label

“With Shimano and Pearl Izumi we have always had a clear focus on providing women’s-specific products, as women cyclists have different anatomy and preferences,” says Mike Smink, Senior Marketing Manager at Shimano Benelux.

“The creation of the Strongher platform inspired us to spread the message towards our retail partners that women have different needs to male cyclists. By initiating the Strongher Women Friendly Store label not only will a wider selection of women’s products within cycling stores be promoted, but stores will also offer specific facilities that are appreciated by women, such as decent and comfortable fitting possibilities.”

A stage for women’s cycling

The goal of Strongher is towards the continued development of women’s cycling, giving women a stage to perform and getting more women on bikes. Founder of Strongher Marianne Vos said: “Women’s cycling is getting more and more popular and as the sport is growing more initiatives are being developed. The time is right for women’s cycling to take the stage and close the gap to the men’s cycling; Strongher will be this stage.

“We want to increase the exposure of female professional athletes and reveal the characters of the sport. We want to give amateur women the confidence they need to start racing, developing events and other grassroots initiatives. In addition we want to give women the confidence to cycle more often, giving everyone a platform to achieve their goals.”

Online and offline

Strongher will have both an online and offline presence. From a newly developed app to connect women in cycling to new events on the international cycling calendar, Strongher also intends to seek cooperation with organizations like L’Etape de Tour to create races like an Amstel Gold Race for professional cyclists. During all these initiatives Shimano will be the content partner to inform and inspire women to cycle more often.

For more information about the movement go to www.strongher.cc