(ENG) Argentina: it's Madison time @ World Championships with T°RED & TOOT Lezica&Ruiz in Paris w/ metal 3D printed bikes in AlScaZir & Scalmalloy
Facundo Lezica and Ivan Ruiz are the athletes called up by the Argentina Federation for the UCI Track World Championships scheduled from 12 to 16 October 2022 in Saint Quentin, Paris. A return that confirms the enormous work done by the Federation since it crossed the path of T°RED Bikes , their Reparto Corse T RED Factory Racing Team and TOOT Engineering .
After last year's return with Lezica and Argentina in the Points race, this year of racing has been worth the confirmation for the Points race and the qualification in the Madison. In fact, the growth path started in 2018 with Lezica and Juan Ignacio Curuchet and continues together with the T°RED Factory Racing Team, T°RED Bikes and TOOT Engineering. The first years of growth and preparation immediately led to the conquest of all the national endurance titles by the two athletes who had prepared the season in Europe by winning in the most important European competitions in 2019. After the global pandemic that slowed down the growth path, in 2021 the confirmation of the work in progress of the whole team arrives: Argentina can participate in the World Championships after 10 years of absence, with Facundo Lezbica qualified for the Points Race and the Elimination.
If in the points race as in the other individual disciplines, the work of the individual is also rewarded (6 athletes out of 24 are chosen from the individual ranking and not from that for nations, denoting the intense work of 2020-2021 to reach the qualification of Lezica with major international podiums), Madison only qualifies for nations. There are 18 nations that can participate, the best eighteen in the world based on the international ranking that counts class races, cups and continental championships.
2022 marked the arrival of Ivan Ruiz in the T°RED FRT, so as to be able to expand the possibilities and international participation and also work on the Americana in view of the Olympics and their qualification path. A strategic choice to involve another strong Argentine athlete, shared with the federation, which race after race, appointment after appointment allowed the two athletes to find a feeling, understanding each other and conquer podiums and excellent positions both individually and in pairs, up to the Madison's gold medal at the Barcelona velodrome last September.
The path does not concern only the technical preparation but above all the continuous research and development done together with T°RED and TOOT Engineering on the bikes and components available to the two Argentines. After starting with the Manaia in different versions, Lezica made his debut at the Roubaix World Championships with the newly approved prototype of The Falcon, after a year of track and laboratory tests.
2022 saw the debut of further versions and experiments in which the AlScaZir was once again joined by the Scalmalloy in the almost definitive versions of use, in order to enhance the performance and improve the geometries and techniques of the bikes. Metal bikes with 3D printed parts: AlScaZir is the aluminum superalloy designed by Romolo Stanco and used in bikes since the early Manaia, while Scalmalloy owned by AP Works is a very similar alloy that is 3D printed in SLM, Selective Laser Melting. Tests and experiments in progress have involved the resumption of other disciplines, thanks to the design of specific frames and components as for the pursuit. The Falcon 420 is completed in pursuit set-up by the Khataa handlebar and extensions, entirely 3D printed in titanium on the measurements and positions of the two Argentine athletes.
The results were seen very quickly, with performances improved by almost 20” between the Pan American Championships in Lima in August and the times in Aigle. The path, in this case, has just begun and a lot of work is being done both on Individual Pursuit and in Team, starting with a team of mixed nationality that, when necessary, can become entirely Argentine and bring the national team back to the top of the world in this discipline as well.
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The Falcon 1.23-300 is in fact a project that goes beyond "the bike", it is a series of bikes (for track and not only) resulting from the search for a structural and dynamic balance of the frame balanced by the overall optimization of the bike/cyclist binomial. Developed on the basis of anthropometry and the position of each individual athlete with adaptive generative software, it is made with aerospace-derived metal superalloys such as AlScaZir? with which the drawn parts are made and 3D printed Scalmalloy?. Scalmalloy? is a material developed by APWORKS Additive Manufacturing (Airbus group) for high performance additive manufacturing applications and printed by METRON Additive Engineering for T°RED Bikes. Together with the CompMech@UniPV ( Ferdinando Auricchio Gianluca Alaimo e Massimo Carraturo ), the T1000 fork is being developed, designed to optimize the aerodynamic flows generated by the front wheel with a 3D printing technology in filament composite continuous.
The next steps look to the Paris and Los Angeles Olympics, goals that are increasingly achievable from a sporting point of view thanks to teamwork to continue to combine with The Falcon project in which technology, innovation, technical and design collaborations and the sports sector are enhanced, looking for top-notch performance.
The satisfaction between Italy and Argentina is great.
“It is an honor to be alongside the Argentina Federation and to be able to work for the preparation of top level athletes such as Lezica and Ruiz. Their presence in Europe allows them to always compare themselves with the strongest athletes at an international level and arrive better prepared for the most important competitions. They are also a fundamental element for working step by step on technical and design choices, thanks to their feedback”, comments Romolo Stanco .
"There are not many CEOs on the track, let alone the directors of companies that work on the wool thread of innovation and research. For T°RED and TOOT, being operational and "getting your hands dirty" on the field is essential to carry out new projects and the results can be seen on the track, with the many medals, and outside with the various collaborations born in recent years. Collaborations that I intend to expand to make this project even more concrete and competitive - underlines Erica Marson.
It is Gabriel Curuchet (on behalf of the Federation and of the whole team with which we have had the opportunity to collaborate in recent years and be present, from Marcelo Lanzi to Walter Perez) to convey the closeness of the whole nation to the two athletes and to the team that accompanies: "On the eve of the World Championships in France, in Saint Quentin, I take this opportunity to greet and congratulate for the great performances of Facundo Lezica and Ivan Ruiz in this 2022. Their work and commitment have allowed Argentina to qualify in these World?Championships in the Points Race and Madison. We just have to wish them great successes and also thank the T°RED team that once again accompanies our selection, bringing the best in terms of technology, products, accessories and above all bikes. Without forgetting that they are also by our side from an emotional and personal point of view. I wish Facu and Ivan and their companions much success. We, as always, will be by their side even if at a distance. A hug to the whole team!”.
All that remains is to connect live during the races, and look for the boys dressed in the blue-white and the sun of the Argentine flag and two shiny metal bikes between their legs. Appointment on Friday 14 from 18.30 CEST (13.30 in Argentina) for the Points Race and on Sunday 16 from 16.30 CEST (11.30 in Argentina) for Madison.