June 19, 2009 (Romentino, Italy) – Two Briko athlete ambassadors will serve as honorary starters at the Red Bull Road Rage to take place in Cortina d’Ampezzo on June 20 and 21: a downhill road race in which adrenaline plays the leading role. For the occasion, Paolo Bettini will wear new items designed by the Romentino-based company, featuring the innovative CeramicaProtek® insert, the result of the research and development work carried out by the Briko Lab to improve cycling safety.

All his life Paolo Bettini has been asked to ride fast uphill. Now, Athens 2004 Olympic king is being asked to push hard on the pedals also downhill. And not on any hill! Indeed, Paolo Bettini is to start the Red Bull Road Rage, the innovative adrenaline-fuelled contest that is to make its debut appearance in Italy on the 20th and 21st of June in Cortina d’Ampezzo. But what type of race is it? It’s a “four-cross” competition, with tennis-style qualifiers: four riders race each other on a downhill road course and only the first two make it to the next stage; the best 32 will compete in the final.

“In my cycling career I did alright downhill” remembers Paolo Bettini “and my downhill skills played to my advantage also when I decided to have a go at rallying, but here, at the Red Bull Road Rage, it will be all different and the idea to serve as honorary starter in a totally new event is rather exciting”.

For the occasion, Paolo Bettini will wear items from the “Paolo Bettini Collection”, made in limited edition by Briko, with the precious contribution of the twice world champion. Both the shorts and the jersey feature the innovative CeramicaProtek® side insert, designed by the Romentino company based on the research and development work carried out by the Briko Lab, the centre for innovative solutions created in the company owned by Carlo Boroli. The ceramic fibres in the fabric are resistant to abrasion like no other textile material which will cut down the risk of superficial injuries if the cyclist falls off the bike and slides across the tarmac.

Bettini will not be the only Briko athlete to serve as honorary starter at the Red Bull race, he will be accompanied by Pietro Piller Cottrer, the Italian Nordic ski champion, who too has accepted Red Bull’s invitation. “For a day, I will in a way go back to my origins: speed” remarks the Sappada-born athlete, winner of the relay competition gold medal at Turin 2006 “indeed, before becoming a cross-country skier I was a reasonably good downhill racer, until the excessive audacity I showed on the piste prompted my parents to move me to the Nordic skiing team in my ski club”.

But let’s go back to the competition. The Red Bull Road Rage will take place over two days: on Saturday, the 100 participants will compete in the qualifiers, with the best 24 among them entering the finals, to be held on Sunday, together with 8 more athletes that will be reinstated in the next round of qualifiers, to take place on Sunday morning. The 32 fastest participants will then compete in four-rider heats and the first two in each one will then go on to the next stage, until the actual final. The course involves 13 demanding bends and a 400-meter altitude drop over 5 kilometres, starting from Località Rio Gere and finishing in Cortina’s historic centre.

To mark Briko’s presence at the Red Bull Road Rage’s Italian debut, the winners of the “best crash” award in Saturday’s qualifiers and Sunday’s competition will receive two pairs of shorts featuring Ceramica Protek®.

Info: www.redbull.it/roadrage