CQ27_FINAL_SPREADS (1)

We picked up tools and went to
work to earn money for rims,
tyres and other parts. The guys
appreciated the components a
lot more after they earned them
themselves.
Čestmír Kalaš
riders of the team could often
be seen wielding pickaxes and
sledgehammers around the
streets of Tábor as they engaged
in local demolition jobs.
“We picked up tools and went
to work to earn money for
rims, tyres and other parts.
The guys appreciated the components
a lot more after they
earned them themselves.”
Eventually the demolition work
dried up and by 1989 the Tábor
team once again found itself
lacking the necessary support
and seeking a new source of
finance to keep the team racing.
By now Kalaš’ value as an
experienced coach had been
recognized at national level and
he was invited to coach the elite
cyclo-cross squad. Naturally, this
involved travelling abroad to
accompany his young charges
as they raced internationally. In
autumn of 1990 one such trip to
Switzerland would set Čestmír
Kalaš on an entirely new trajectory.
The Proposition
The Czechoslovak team, led by
Kalaš, were preparing for their
Swiss races when they were
approached by Toni Maier. Many
will be familiar with Maier as the
founder of Swiss cycle clothing
company Assos. Toni’s father
was a prominent promoter of
Swiss cyclo-cross and as such
was already well known to Kalaš.
Toni invited Čestmír to lunch,
and it was during that meal he
made an unexpected suggestion.
Labour costs in Switzerland
were comparatively high, and
Toni wondered if Čestmír could
help him source less expensive
workers in a post-communist
Central Europe.
Spotting the opportunity to
help his hometown cycling
club and despite having zero
previous textile or manufacturing
experience, Kalaš agreed
without hesitation to organise
the production of cycle clothing
for the Assos brand. Now 47
years old and chairman of the
Tábor club as well as coach of
the race squad, Kalaš took this
leap into the unknown focussing
purely on the opportunity to
secure the future of his club and
secure the further development
of young Czech talent.
“Without knowing what it all
meant and how much work it
would entail, I told Toni: kein
Problem!”
The Apprenticeship
Kalaš returned to Tábor full of
enthusiasm for this lucky break
that had fallen in his lap. He immediately
set about the creation
of a business plan and started
to work out how he could start
producing kit, determined not
to let the opportunity pass him
by.
First he hired seamstresses and
began to learn the process of
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