IronMan and Xterra Winning Free
What does it take to win in Hawaii? Apparently Castelli’s Free tri line is de rigueur.
Ironman champions Frederik Van Lierde and Mirinda Carfrae, along with XTERRA champ Ruben Ruzafa all earned their victories in Castelli’s Free race kits.
Free is the result of years of Castelli aerodynamic research in cycling clothing resulting in flat seams and aerodynamic fabric surfaces that minimize time on the bike, along with run-enhancing comfort and temperature management.
Rinny won in the Free W Tri Short that is the same that you can buy, though we had to make a custom fit for her small frame. Her Free W Tri Singlet is the same construction as our inline construction although she wanted it without the front zipper.
Frederik used the Free one piece race suit. To give his sponsors maximum visibility he actually used the version with the back zipper that was designed for ITU racing. Ruben used the Free two piece suit that has carried him to multiple XTERRA victories all season.
All three athletes enjoyed the innovative Kiss Tri seat pad. It’s one of the most padded seat pads in Tri for maximum comfort on the bike, but thanks to Castelli’s skiving technology it’s one of the most comfortable pads for the run. Rinny’s 3rd fastest run time of the day, along with Fred’s comeback from 4th place exiting T2 certainly confirm that this pad is made to run.
All our tri tops and one piece suits feature two back pockets, often a major weakness in tri tops.
Most pockets either cause a lot of drag in the swim and on the bike, or are extremely small. Some even manage to do both.
We engineered a pocket opening that is actually held in closed in tension during the swim and on the bike for nearly zero extra drag. Yet the pockets are bigger than most. Our design criteria was to make this top your choice even for a cold race day, with pockets that can hold a vest and arm warmers so you can start the bike leg warm and stash away extra layers if needed. Plus there’s still room for nutrition. These pockets are certainly unusual in triathlon, yet they’re still fast enough to have won both the 2013 men’s and women’s Ironman titles in Kona as well as the 2013 men’s XTERRA world championship.
Castelli also offers these world championship-winning pieces to be customized for your team. Head over to learn more about our custom teamwear.