Vittoria’s buyout of handmade tubular specialist A. Dugast signals both their continued development of classic supple tire construction, and a new capacity to manufacture premium limited edition tires in Europe. That first special tire looks set to be a Vittoria x Dugast L’Eroica tubular, handmade in Holland and destined to be ridden glued up to a retro classic bike ridden in one of the popular Eroica series events…
Vittoria buys Dutch handmade tubular tire maker A. Dugast
In another update that tubular road tires aren’t actually dead, the Vittoria Group seems to have bought up A. Dugast mostly to bring onboard their expertise in manufacturing the premium cotton and silk tubulars favored by many pro road, cyclocross, and track cyclists, including a long list of World Champions in several disciplines.
Together, Vittoria says they intend to “reinforce the development and production capabilities of both bicycle tire brands, building on the innovative know-how and shared global manufacturing capacities.”
Richard Plugge, General Manager of the Jumbo-Visma Team, commented on the news: “We have worked exceptionally with both A. Dugast and Vittoria for many years and have always been able to count on their excellent products. Their support for our riders has never been lacking. This year alone, athletes like Wout Van Aert and Marianne Vos have won many cyclocross and road races using both brands’ cotton tires. We are happy that Dutch cycling excellence can develop within an international group. “
The Alpecin-Fenix team also uses both Vittoria and A. Dugast tires, which fully satisfies all the riders of the team, including Mathieu Van Der Poel. They commented: “We are extremely satisfied with Vittoria’s support. Thanks to their flexibility, Vittoria cotton carcasses offer exceptional rolling which allows runners to use all their power in the longest races and up to the final sprint. With the cotton tires, we have already achieved 10 victories this season. Our athletes engaged in cyclocross during the winter successfully use A. Dugast tires. The combination of these winning brands will help improve performance throughout cycling.“
What that means is that Vittoria will support more Dutch handmade manufacturing. They plan to push some of their most premium, top-tier production to the Netherlands. And they also hope to adapt some of Dugast’s techniques to their current development in Italy and manufacturing facilities in Thailand. The Dugast workshop will also help the larger Vittoria parent company work on more research and sustainable product development.
New direction for Vittoria x Dugast, and limited edition L’Eroica tubular tires
A. Dugast will continue to operate with the same staff & management, and Vittoria hopes to add their own new limited edition products to the Dugast factory soon. First up is expected to be a presumably large volume L’Eroica tubular, handmade in limited numbers in the Netherlands, both to celebrate the purchase of Dugast and Vittoria’s recent support of the Eroica amateur series as a whole.
In fact, another way to celebrate L’Eroica, Vittoria is giving away a free entry to each of the events, raffled off to one of those who sign up for their newsletter here.
