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08/28/2003 - Jan & Rudy. A Success Story
RAINER KÜNNET, RUDY BARBAZZA AND JAN ULLRICH.
Jan Ullrich - Trying the Ekynox Sx™

For Rudy Project, maker of the famous italian Technically Cool Eyewear, Jan Ullrich has always been, in addition to one of the greatest Athletes of modern bicycle racing, a true friend and an irreplaceable testimonial.

The start of the collaboration with the German champion goes back all the way to 1996 when he signed with Rudy Project, initially for three years. At the time he was still not a such famous Cycling rider to the public at large.

"Our strategy at that time was to find an Athlete at the level of the Tour de France who could replace Miguel Indurain with whom we had established a relationship that must not just business but friendship too" explains Rudy Barbazza – founder and Guru of Rudy Project – and we soon realized that Jan could be the real alternative and the right choice. Thanks to his Sport Director - Rudy Pevenage - we "hooked" Jan and since then we have always worked together. In 1997 Jan, still a very young Athlete, won the Tour de France wearing our Noosa™ Eyerwear, and the boom in Germany was unforgettable. Millions of photos and thousands of hours of TV all over the world. It was a triumph!

In just a few years, Rudy Project became the leader on the German market in the field of bicycle Eyewear. A recent survey by Tour Magazine (a well-known German magazine specialized in Bicycling) declared that the best-selling and most requested glasses in the bike shops are Rudy Projects`!

Over the past few years Jan Ullrich has won the Olympics, the World Championships, the, Vuelta España, Stages in Tour de France, and has classified in second place at the Tour for as many as 5 times, as well as dominating countless races and always and only with his trusted Rudy Project Technically Cool Eyewear!

Unfortunately, in 2001 and 2002 the German champion had two of his worst years. He did not participate in the Tour de France for two years in a row because of problems with one knee, and he finally changed his historic Team after a difficult, laborious decision.

"It was a tough time for us" - says Cristiano Barbazza – Rudy`s son and Chairman of the company - "all Jan`s historical sponsors had cancelled their contracts for different reasons and we were the only ones that wanted to stick with him. In 2002 we launched a campaign with Jan entitled: I WILL BE BACK and he kept the promise"!!

We invited Jan to the Eurobike Fair in August 2002 when his athletic future was still uncertain. He did not know which team he would be racing for 2003 and above all, he had no way of knowing how his knee would react in the competition after the operation. In spite of this, Rudy Project, thanks also to the collaboration of Rudy Project Germany – Mr. Rainer Künneth and Jan`s manager - Wolfgang Strohband – launched the Jan UIlrich Collection again with the slogan I WILL BE BACK.

At the end of 2002 Rudy Pevenage decided to continue as Ullrich`s sports director, following him to the Coast Team. Pevenage has always been a big fan of Jan and did not want his pupil to risk an inglorious end. He has always believed in Jan and he was right. The beginning of 2003 was disastrous for the Coast Team that Ullrich races for. Luckily, after a series of negative events, a great and professional manager - Jacques Hanegraaf – stepped in and worked with incredible energy to build a new Team. That was the birth of the Bianchi Team. The great hope was to see Jan Ullrich become competitive again for the Tour de France in 2004.

The rest is history: Jan Ullrich impressed the whole World at the centennial Tour de France! He was the only Athlete to challenge Lance Armstrong right to the end, he won a Time Trial stage by a huge margin, he was always very warm and friendly to the public and press, he won a special Fairplay award and came in second at the Tour.

"Now we are ready with the new campaign: I AM BACK - declares Claudio Fantin - marketing manager of the Treviso company – and we are proud to have always believed in this wonderful Athlete. The power, the class and the grit that he shows when he races is a force of nature! When it was time to select the pictures for the advertising campaign we have more than enough to choose from because Jan`s style and expression are just thrilling to see".

Jan wears his Rudy Eyewear a lot. Over the years he has worn many different models, including Noosa™, Tayo™, Ekynox™, Ekynox SX™, Freeon™. He prefers the Red colour lenses (Racing Red™) for variable light conditions, and Smoke on days when the sun is very bright. He is particularly attentive to every new detail and is very choosy in selecting the final model. But this is not a problem for Rudy Project at all – indeed, it is a challenge in the name of continuous technological innovation!

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