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Christa Rigozzi. Former Miss Switzerland
and now Tour de Suisse promoter
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Saturday
the 9
th of June Italian journalist (and a good friend of mine)
Alberto Celani met up with Swiss beauty Christa Rigozzi to have a talk about cycling, marketing,
being a national icon and of course the ongoing Tour de Suisse which Christa
Rigozzi is promoting. Here is the introduction to the interview by Alberto
Celani.
Today I've met Christa Rigozzi, Miss
Switzerland 2006, together with Davide Calabresi (young photographer
and industrial designer) and I must say that
any woman in the world of cycling should be proud of her. Christa Rigozzi
represents women, her nation and cycling in the best way possible. I very much
respect her for the way she’s handling being
a former Miss Swiss, the love she has for
her country, her open mind and her great way of promotion Swiss culture,
tourism, sponsors and herself. I would like to thank Mikkel Condé for the
opportunity he gave me and Davide to meet this great cycling personality.
Christa, first of all, how did a former Miss
Swiss get into cycling?
I got
into it when I was crowned Miss Swiss where I got a contract with Wurth and
that partnership has been going on ever since. I like it a lot and I like the relationships
we have enforced here.
Let’s start with a quick introduction. Who is
Christa Rigozzi?
She's a
spontaneous girl with a strong desire of discovering new things. She likes
travelling and she has a great motivation.
You are a now a Swiss symbol. What does it mean
to be Miss Switzerland nowadays?
Well, I
was crowned Miss Switzerland in 2006 [Christa Rigozzi is still the most known
Miss Switzerland] and I've understood the value of being a Miss in my country. Being
Miss Switzerland makes you even more popular than politicians here! It also helped
me to get the job I love and it gave me several opportunities in different
fields like fashion, TV, radio, marketing and being representative of Wurth
here at Tour de Suisse. Of course it helps being open minded and speaking all
the Swiss languages (German, Italian & French). When I became Miss Switzerland I had to drop
out of university, but in 2008 I graduated in Law and Criminology studying at night
while I was working and travelling by day.
Cycling and Marketing are entities very much
connected these days, how can a model like you help sponsors to find a good
leverage in the modern market?
I'm
representing many companies and here at Tour de Swisse is like I'm representing
all the Swiss people. I think we have to study hard marketing drivers in a scientific
way in order to choose the right strategy. It's not just a
"sponsorship" but a true partnership and I believe that all the firms
I’m working with are making some pretty good campaigns. Probably it’s because
we work together all year long and in many cases also for many years (Wurth
contracted her back in 2006).
Let’s talk a little about territorial marketing.
Switzerland is doing a great job in promoting tourism abroad and as national
symbol yourself, what do you think about
the MySwitzerland campaign?
First of
all I must say that Switzerland is not expensive! There are many special offers
for families too and here we really have everything; lakes, wonderful mountains,
historic places, nice cities etc etc. In the winter we have our ski areas and
in the summer you can enjoy amazing tracks and roads for cycling and mountain biking.
MySwitzerland (www.myswitzerland.ch) does a great job to help hikers, riders
and tourists plan their holidays here. I myself represent Canton Valais and you
should really try Leukerbad. It’s an amazing place and appreciated by many
people from all over Europe for its thermal facilities and landscapes. Tour de
Suisse is also an opportunity to show to the world what we have here and to
give a reason to come and visit us.
As you say, Tour de Suisse is a great opportunity
to promote all this. But also a great opportunity to get more people to start riding
their bike.
Exactly.
Tour de Suisse has to be an occasion for families and young people to discover
the pleasure of riding their bikes. Not only to dream about being like Fabian
Cancellara but also because ‘riding your bike is wonderful’. We must promote this
type of mobility and Tour de Suisse is a great opportunity to do so.
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| Christa Rigozzi. Here interviewed by Alberto Celani.
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Let’s talk about Tour de Suisse now. For a
rider’s point of view why should he decide to ride this bike race?
Because of
our mountains, they are hard but also amazing. Because the people here here
love cycling. Because the race is well organized and because the calendar puts
the race in a great moment to prepare the second part of the season. It is a
short race with all the difficulties you need to gain fitness for Tour de
France. I saw a great Damino Cunego in mountain stages last year and maybe Tour
de Suisse is the best race to fine tune your condition.
What is your best memory from the race?
I would
say the ambient. It’s awesome driving your car on these amazing roads getting
to the finish after being at the start to greet and introduce the riders at the
sign in. I also love the fans and the special stamina you and the riders get
from their support. It's really important having so many people supporting the
race.
Do you think Tour de Suisse will ever be more
than 'just' a warm-up race for the Tour?
I think
it already is for many others than the big Tour-favorites. It’s a very hard
race and I think it will be a very interesting race to watch again this year.
Who is your personal favorite for the overall win?
I would
like to say Cancellara, but the race is very hard and the mountains are not really in his
favor. The rain will make them [the mountains] ever more difficult!
Talking about Cancellara. Being Swiss yourself,
knowing how it is to be the pride of the nation, it must have hurt seeing
Cancellara miss all the big spring classics due to his crash. Do you think it
gave him extra motivation for his comeback?
Yes! I
know him well and I think he'll be back better than before. He is tough his
body has responded well to the recovery. The whole country love and support
him. Let’s see what this race has got for him.
