Assos Man

Behind the man behind the pose

Is modelling a full time job for you?

Andrea Zamboni:

No it’s not. I am manager of a pharmacy in Locarno. It’s nice work but at the end of the day what I really like to do is ride my bike.

A lot of people see your picture and assume you’re not a cyclist. Are you ever insulted by that?

Sometimes. A blog called ‘Fatcyclist’ had a piece about me that was very negative. It had about 250 comments, many of which said I didn’t look like a cyclist. At the bottom somebody wrote, ‘Just go to the Ironman results list and check his name.’

AZ:

What was your best result in Ironman?

I won my age group at the Ironman World Championships at Kona. The first time I raced in 2004 my time was

AZ:

9h 24min, but it was really windy. In 2011 I did an 8h 53min.

On those blogs, people have wondered about your dramatic poses when modelling. What’s the reason behind it?

At the end of the day, it’s a technical catalogue. Assos is shaped for the bike, so the idea was to do the position that shows how it would look on the bike. Also, I am not a professional model, I am a normal person so I can’t do lots of modelling positions.

AZ:

How did you get into modelling for Assos?

When I won Kona in 2004 I was looking for a sponsor. I contacted Assos to see if they were interested and they said they would give me an answer in two days. One day later I had a call asking

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me to come up to the head office. I drove to San Pietro, but I had no idea what the meeting was about. I got there and it was everyone from Assos, and it had nothing to do with sponsorship. They asked me if I wanted to model, since the model they had looked good but didn’t have the legs of a cyclist.

Do you ever wish you’d become a professional cyclist?

Perhaps, but only a long time ago. After high school I cycled full-time for one year. I told myself that if I made the podium at the Swiss Championships I’d carry on for another year, but in the end I came fourth. When I was trying to ride full-time, I struggled to recuperate. Maybe I could have managed, but the level is very high at the top of cycling. But you know, you dream.

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