Riva del Garda, April 30, 2025: Moderator Petra Bindl, a renowned journalist and sport & AI expert, first welcomed Bike Festival founder Uli Stanciu and Garda Dolomiti S.p.A. Tourism Association General Manager Oskar Schwazer on stage. After a brief overview of the history of the FSA Bike Festival Riva del Garda, they explained the idea behind the Bike Festival Riva Future Summit, providing context for the AI topic. "I believe the bike industry operates in an extremely dynamic environment where innovation and AI play a crucial role. We’re ambitious about leading the way, driving innovation, and continuously evolving. Last year, we launched the Bike Festival Awards as part of the Bike Festival Riva del Garda. This year, we aim to deepen our focus on this topic within the B2B sector," Oskar Schwazer adds.
Before the discussion began, Petra Bindl introduced the four participants: former Amazon manager and AI expert Claudius Zick, mobility expert, eBike pioneer and chairman of ExtraEnergy e.V. Hannes Neupert, YouTuber, content creator and bike tester Andrea Ziliani, and Ciro Malacarne, mechatronics engineer at ProM Facility with a focus on additive manufacturing. Halfway through the event, two-time Olympic sailing champion Ruggero Tita from Rovereto joined in via video from Quiberon, France, where he is currently training with the Italian, French and Danish SailGP teams.
After defining the term AI in more detail, the panel discussed where the use of AI makes sense in bike sports, how it can help with bike development, support training, or increase riding pleasure for the users. The experts also explained how AI is being used profitably in other sports such as motorcycling and sailing. It became clear that AI opens up great opportunities for the bike scene. Petra Bindl concluded the event by asking the audience what bike sports might look like in ten years' time if AI technology continues to advance, and a lively discussion ensued between the AI experts and the exhibitors, who also shared their current practical experiences with AI.
Simultaneous AI Translation
Given the AI theme, it’s no surprise that the Future Summit audience had access to a simultaneous translation entirely carried out by artificial intelligence. Attendees could scan a QR code to access a web app, select the output language and listen to the translation through their headphones or read it on their screen.
Festival Riva Future Summit Expo Stand
It’s not just about the exhibitors either – the Bike Festival visitors can also get a glimpse of the future of bikes. Open from May 1 to 4, the Bike Festival Riva Future Summit stand in the Expo Area displays ground-breaking prototypes from start-up laboratories, universities and researchers, including models from the Space Education Institute Germany, 2Lock, Dynamic Drives, Ateliers Heritage Bike/CIXI Mobilité Active, Ziegler Metallbau, Ezpedal/Unicorn Engineering, and mocci, in addition to the Bike Festival Awards winning bikes. The Expo stand was developed in collaboration with Hannes Neupert. See here today the market revolution of tomorrow!
The FSA Bike Festival Riva del Garda 2025 kicks off tomorrow, Thursday, under the motto “Riding Freedom” with the first guided tours powered by Mmove and the opportunity to test over 1,500 bikes from 400 brands in the Expo Area. First day’s highlights include the official opening ceremony and the Bike Festival Awards on the main stage, as well as the Red Bull Summer Vibes Party in the evening. All information, including the detailed program, can be found at www.bikefestivalriva.com
