Alpina Renews Its Partnership With The Freeride World Tour

Press Release

Alpina Renews Its Partnership With The Freeride World Tour

Alpina is renewing its partnership with the Freeride World Tour in 2021 for the fourth year running and is proud to be able to include three athletes taking part in the international freeriding competition in its team of 'Alpinists': Juliette Willmann (FRA), Victor De Le Rue (FRA) and Markus Eder (ITA).

Sharing the same values and the same passion for adventure, Alpina and the Freeride World Tour have been working together for four years now, helping freeride athletes achieve their goal of mastering some of the most challenging lines the mountains have to offer.

"The Freeride World Tour is extremely pleased and proud to be renewing its partnership with Alpina Watches for the 4th year in a row. Our values are similar, our visions are aligned and our long-term collaboration reflects this" said Nicolas Hale-Woods, CEO of the Freeride World Tour.
 

Oliver Van Lanschot Hubrecht, Brand Director at Alpina, added: “We are delighted to be renewing this partnership with the Freeride World Tour for another year and thrilled to be establishing this powerful long-term collaboration. We are proud to include Juliette Willmann, Victor De Le Rue and Markus Eder in our team of 'Alpinists'. Their passion and determination are perfectly in tune with Alpina Watches and we can’t wait to see them in action on these steep lines! We also wish all the participants in the Freeride World Tour a great season!".

Freeriding at its peak

Having proved extremely popular in recent years, freeriding is now an essential discipline among the alpine sports. Bringing together the best riders in the world to compete, for both ski and snowboard, the Freeride World Tour is held at the most renowned ski resorts around the world and on the most legendary and toughest faces.
 

Under the direction of the Freeride World Tour, the Freeride World Qualifier and Freeride Junior Tour are intended to support the growth of this sport. The world qualifying tour is designed to develop the talent and skills of future athletes. Competitors earn points via 60 events organised worldwide (including around 40 in Europe). The scoring system is based on the star rating for the qualifying events (1 to 4 stars) and the event region: region 1 (Europe, Asia and Oceania) and region 2 (United States, Canada, Chile and Argentina).
 

Three athletes in the 'Alpinists' team

As the official partner of the Freeride World Tour since 2018, Alpina Watches is not only renewing its collaboration for the year 2021, but also directly supporting three Freeride World Tour competitors, namely the French athletes Juliette Willmann and Victor De Le Rue. and the Italian Markus Eder.

Juliette Willmann

Originally from the Ubaye Valley in France, Juliette initially focussed on alpine skiing. After competing for several years, she found herself attracted to freeriding and set her sights on the Freeride World Tour. Taking part in the famous competition for the first time in 2019, Juliette glided expertly into seventh place overall that same year.
 

"Alpina is a company with a lot of values and it is important for me to share the same values as the brands I work with. The same goes for the Freeride World Tour. Athletes and staff have lots in common and our values are similar. I’m thrilled to be an athlete taking part in the Freeride World Tour and to be representing Alpina. The Freeride World Tour, like Alpina, brings enthusiasts along with sports and mountain lovers together", said Juliette.

Victor De Le Rue

The athlete from the French Pyrenees made his competitive snowboarding debut early on, with boardercross, slopestyle and halfpipe. His passion for freestyle and adventure intensifying, he set himself the challenge of competing in the Freeride World Tour for the first time in 2019 and came top of the overall rankings that year, winning the title of World Champion in his category.
 

"The new winter season is upcoming with new challenges, new ambitions...! It’s Freeride World Tour time again, so thank you Alpina for supporting me reachning my goals, as well as sponsoring this international tour! It’s thanks to you that we can do this" said Victor.

Markus Eder

Hailing from South Tyrol in Italy, Markus started out as a ski racer, before being attracted by the creativity and joy that freestyle skiing had to offer. After coming second place overall at the Freeride World Tour in 2018, he was crowned Champion of the Freeride World Tour in 2019.
 

“I’m way excited for the upcoming Freeride World Tour season. I can’t wait to follow the three stops ahead of Fieberbrunn from behind the screen and then be able to join and compete at Fieberbrunn just like last year. Only that this time, we’ll be able to do two runs on the same face, something I’ve always dreamed of. I think this new format adds a strategic approach to the competition which will definitely be much more gripping for us riders but also for the viewer. The icing on top of the cake is the renewed partnership with Alpina Watches. Both Alpina and the Freeride World Tour are constantly pushing the boundaries to new heights, especially for the upcoming season. " said Markus.

(Images © Alpina Watches)