Continental Tyres- News

Continental tyres will be 30 seconds faster en Route to Alpe d´Huez

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Continental have unveiled a secret weapon in the race for this years Tour de France yellow jersey. Two race favourites will use a specially applied chemical solution for their tyres which promises to lower road rolling resistance. Tyler Hamilton and Jan Ullrich will be the two riders who will save 30 seconds on the mountain time trial at Alpe D’Huez thanks to Continental’s cutting edge technology.

The competition for the yellow jersey will get especially fierce on stage 16. The uphill time trial to promises to turn into a spectacular showdown between the major contenders. The 21 bends from Bourg d´Oisans to the ski resort perched high in the French Alps, at an altitude of 1130 meters could prove decisive when the race reaches Paris. The crowds will get to see each rider individually, and will also witness who has and hasn’t done their homework on the famous Alpe.

Optimum preparation includes a selection of the right material. In this Tour de France, Continental tyres, Germany’s sole manufacturer of top-class handmade racing tyres supply Jan Ullrich from T-Mobile and Tyler Hamilton from Team Phonak Hearing Systems with elaborate technology and sophisticated tuning.

Both team captains will tackle the race against the clock with especially light-weight hand-made tyres.

On the ascents, the wheel has a tendency to roll backwards. It has to be accelerated with every turn of the pedals. The lighter the tyre, the easier it is to propel it forward.

Whereas minimal wind resistance is crucial in time trials on flat terrain, where average speeds tend to be high, during the relatively slow time trials in the mountains the greatest share of road resistance is due to rolling resistance.

That’s why top racing cyclists rely on a further development from Continental. Prior to the race, the tyres on the racing bikes are treated for hours with a special tuning liquid. The interplay of fluid with the tread pattern concept leads to a clear improvement in rolling resistance.

A field study with the T-Mobile team demonstrated that the tyre’s rolling resistance dropped by 15% thanks to the chemical aftertreatment.

En route at Alpe d´Huez, these tuning measures can make for a 30-second lead. 30 seconds - which could be more than the margin between victory or defeat going across the finishing line in Paris.

Alongside this tyre, designed especially for uphill time trials, the teams have different versions of the Continental “Competition“ racing tyre to choose from for all 21 stages of the Tour. Much like in Formula 1, racers can choose among different compounds for dry and wet roads and various designs with and without anti-puncture plies.

Continental AG, the sole German bicycle tyre manufacturer, is official outfitter and technology partner of the German pro cycling team T-Mobile, the Swiss pro team Phonak Hearing Systems, the Belgian Lotto-Domo team, the French “équipe” Crédit Agricole and the Spanish Saunier Duval team.

Team Ireland ride to victory at the FBD Milk Ras on GP3000 tyres

GP3000's are the secret weapon of the victorious Irish cycling team

When we at Continental were contacted by Cycling Ireland’s Chief Executive, Stuart Hallam with regards to supplying the national team with tyres for their national tour, we were only too happy to help.

Once the race had taken place, we received another call from Hallam to thank us for supplying tyres that did not puncture during the entire race, furthermore the Irish mechanic, John Keegan told us that the tyres had another great feature in their ability in keeping wheels true on the notoriously tough Irish roads.

The 8 day FBD Milk Rás took place between 23rd - 30th May over 1200 kilometres and was contested by international teams such as Kazakhstan, Great Britain, Ireland, Wales, Scandinavia, Germany & USA. In addition, many British & Irish area teams also competed, including Yorkshire, North Wales, Liverpool, Dublin (5 teams), Kerry and many more.

2004 was the first year that Ireland had tried Continental tyres and the team were using our Grand Prix 3000 clincher tyres for the race.

The race itself could not have been better for Team Ireland. David McCann achieved a life long ambition of winning the Rás, aided by his four team mates along the way. McCann scored two stage wins including a solo victory on the last road stage which climbed over three first category climbs, breaking away on the last climb of Mount Leinster to take the yellow jersey from Slovenian pro Valter Bonca.

In addition to McCann's success, team mate David O'Loughlin captured 3rd place overall to seal a marvelous tour for the team.

We spoke with Stuart Hallam, Cycling Ireland’s CEO about Continental's contribution to the teams success.

"5 riders riding 1200 kilometers on the most demanding roads in Western Europe and not one single puncture! Our mechanic of ten years, John Keegan, is a man not easily impressed by equipment, but on this occasion he praised your tyres on two fronts. Firstly, the lack of punctures obviously helped the team out on the road, but, secondly, the tyres also saved our wheels on the rough roads, which normally hammer the wheels out of true on each stage. The supple Grand Prix 3000 seemed to absorb the road shock more than other tyres and John's evenings on the workstand were certainly less busy than in previous years. Our rivals in the race, who didn't ride Conti, seemed to be suffering two or three punctures per stage, roughly 20 overall, so thanks very much Continental for saving us all that stress & hassle!

Top Teams use Continental tyres at the 2004 Tour de France

The 2004 Tour de France is wide open with more pre-race favourites than in recent years......

Lance is still king, but there are a cluster of riders biting at his ankles with the sole intent of being the first non-texan in five years to win 'le grande boucle'.

This years route will make it difficult for anyone with overall aspirations to make much of a lead in the first half of the race due to a combination of factors brought in by the organisation to make a more open race this year. The team time trial, so often a stage where Armstrong's US Postal squad could forge a wide time gap between themselves and the teams of the spanish & basque climbers has been limited to a maximum deficit of two and a half minutes. There is no early individual time trial, another strong part of Armstrong & Ullrichs game. The first individual time trial is in the mountains at Alpe D'Huez, a 15km affair which will suit climbers like Iban Mayo and Roberto Heras although Ullrich, Armstromg & Tyler Hamilton are sure to be there or thereabouts.

If Lance Armstrong wishes to win a sixth tour, he is going to have to out climb his rivals, not simply match them. He has of course done this in the past, but it does seem this year that there are more contenders to shed on the slopes than ever before. It promises to be one huge battle.....

Continental tyres will be at the Tour as the official supplier to four of the teams that have qualified for the race. Jan Ullrich's T-Mobile squad will be riding Continental for the seventh consecutive season. Tyler Hamilton, another big favourite will be riding for the swiss Phonak team who will use Continental Competition & Tempo tubulars. Credit Agricole and Lotto-Domo will also ride on Conti rubber, as they do every year. They believe in the product and trust that Continental tyres will supply reliability, speed and unrivalled grip in pursuit of Tour de France glory.

Sport Contact wins best MTB slick tyre in What Mountainbike magazine

Our fast city slicker - Sport Contact has been voted 'Best MTB Slick Tyre' by What MountainBike magazine in a recent extensive tyre test.

The Sport Contact is available in both 700c (Hybrid) and 26" (MTB) sizes and is part of our SSG (Safety System Guarantee) range, meaning the tyre is guaranteed against punctures for one year from purchase, and also offers a free innertube upon purchase. The Continental SSG range offers commuters the best value for money available on the market today.

The Sport Contact tyre retails in the UK for £18.95. The tyre is constructed using the highest quality materials including the lightweight safety system anti-puncture belt under the tread meaning you get a tough tyre without the usual sluggish feel of a tyre with extra puncture protection.

What MountainBike magazine commented "great look and feel from a speedy tyre, and price inc.tube and guarantee". The test results gave the Sport Contact 10 / 10 for performance and 9/10 for value.

Also tested was our City Contact tyre, the more robust alternative to the Sport Contact. The City Contact also received a GOLD award. The verdict on the tyre was as follows "a speedy commuter tyre with armour, a tube and a guarantee", Performance 9/10, Value 9/10.

Saab Salomon 24hour Mountain Mayhem - come and see us!

June 26-27 2004 is the weekend when two thousand MTB enthusiasts gather to take part in the biggest offroad endurance meet of the year.

This year the venue has changed to Eastnor Deer Park in Herefordshire, and the course will be on a challenging 10mile circuit with enough climbs to worry the singlespeed riders and some great descents for everyone to enjoy.

This year also sees the introduction of a 'Giant Demo Day' which takes place on Friday 25th June where competitors and visitors can try out the latest bikes from Giant and can also take a look around the new enlarged expo area. Continental will of course be present to offer tyre tips and to fit any newly purchased tyres free of charge.

Continental have also taken the step of sponsoring race organiser Pat Adams by having his Suzuki Vitara revamped in Continental livery. Should you need to find Pat over the weekend, just look out for the Conti Trail Truck!

Continental will be promoting the Vapor 2.1 tyre which is specifically designed for enduro type events with it's large, yet sharp tread lugs for fast rolling and high grip capabilities. Our retail partners Pearce Cycles will be selling our tyres at the event. You will not be able to purchase Continental tyres at the Conti stand, as we will be working and racing at the same time and so retailing would mean lots more hard work, so thankfully our friends at Pearce are only to happy to take the responsibility.

However we are offering a free tyre inspection, tyre choice advice, free fitting on any Continental tyres purchased at the event and we are also offering free inner tubes to puncture victims of the race.

To qualify for a free tube, just bring your punctured tube to us as evidence and we'll swap it for a shiny new one. Also bring your bike/race number as proof that you are a competitor. The offer is valid between 2pm saturday & 2pm sunday.

Team Continental / Gravily Arse will be looking at improving on our 200th odd placing from last year. We'll be riding a mixture of tyres depending on the weather including Vapor ProTection, Explorer Supersonic, Twister ProTection, Gravity ProTection and of course Vertical ProTection.