Elitewheels race off to a winning start with Team Vini Fantini

Elitewheels' move into pro cycling has got off to a flying start.

The ink is barely dry on the sponsorship deal with Team Solution Tech - Vini Fantini and already the Italian team have scored three podium places in a row on the opening stages of this year's Sharjah Tour.

After three stages of the five-day race in the UAE, the team also top the points classification thanks to Rajovic Dusan's win on stage 2, backed up with a third place finish on stage 3. Team mate Lorenzo Quartucci finished second on the race's opening stage.

Elitewheels's new partnership with Team Vini Fantini is off to a dream start.

The deal between Elitewheels and Team Vini Fantini was announced earlier this month. The Italian team will race this season on Elitewheels' Drive, Drive Helix SS, and Velo TT wheels.

The team counts some experienced pros among its ranks, including Valerio Conti and Kristian Sbaragli, former World Tour race stage winners from the Vuelta Espana and the Giro d'Italia.

The idea is that their feedback will help Elitewheels further refine and improve their product through testing at the highest level of racing - and already first impressions are positive.

"We can compare Elitewheels for sure with top brands at the moment, and we are looking forward to using it in the races," said Conti after testing the wheels.

Sbaragli added, "From the team's perspective, we believe we can help the brand improve by giving feedback throughout the season."

The team will provide feedback over the season helping further refine the wheels.

Established in 2013, Elitewheels launched their own brand in 2015 and now have over a decade of experience in designing and manufacturing carbon fibre wheels at their facility in Xiamen, China. The partnership will further raise the brand's profile internationally, building on their sponsorship of the popular GCN cycling YouTube channel.

When it comes to designing wheels, Elitewheels say their focus is not only on innovation, but also on quality, reliability, and performance. They produce their own carbon fibre, rims, wheels, and wheel hubs in-house, passing on the cost savings to customers.

The results is that cyclists can get proven, pro-level wheelsets for a fraction of the price of those from other brands. Elitewheels' carbon road, gravel, triathlon, and mountain bike wheels are among the lightest available, starting at just 1260 grams for the pair.

We recently reviewed Elitewheels' top tier gravel wheels, the Drive Gravel CS, and were left highly impressed.

The Drive G45 CS is Elitewheels high performance gravel wheelset.

> Review: Elitewheels Drive G45 CS Gravel Wheels >

Sportive.com readers can take advantage of a 15% discount across the Elitewheels Drive series of gravel and MTB wheels (excludes Drive Helix CS/SS, Marvel Series, TT and Accessories.

Visit www.elite-wheels.com and use the code SPORTIVE15 at checkout.