Health, environment, animal welfare: professional cyclist Dillier thinks far beyond the sporting horizon

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It’s like an image you know from advertising: a man standing at the grill, in a good mood turning over the sizzling meat and confirming the cliché of the man as hunter, carnivore and grill master. In the case of Silvan Dillier (32), that is an exaggerated interpretation.

On the day before the Tour de France at the Zimberihof in Baldingen AG, he also likes to barbecue, he also jokes, laughs and soon bites into a juicy Angus burger. Only: the professional cyclist of the Alpecin-Deceuninck team, who is currently riding the Tour de France, is anything but a carnivorous macho! «My wife Cornelia and I rarely eat meat. When we do it, as we do today, the quality of the product is important to us. We want the animals to have a good, species-specific life behind them.”

Animal welfare and sustainability are important to the Dilliers – you quickly notice that. They want to pass on these values ​​to their sons Ilja (3) and Finn (16 months). “Environmental protection is also very important to us. If we see a piece of paper lying on the floor while walking, we pick it up and later throw it in the trash. These are little things that matter to us.”

Travel health

Back to the Zimberihof. Dillier’s friend Dominik Binder is the fifth generation to run the company. They go for quality: the cows walk in the meadow every day, just like the grazing pigs. There are also many apple and plum trees and agriculture is also practiced on the two and a half hectares.

And the farm is the destination of the Movember Ride on October 28 – Dillier raises money for the foundation that researches male diseases during the charity event. «I want to make as many people as possible aware of the theme of health and the environment. That’s why this year is the fourth edition of the Dillier Classic – it’s also a bike ride for everyone.”

Dillier travels by train

Dillier is aware that as a cycling professional he has anything but a particularly ecological footprint. “Professionally I am an environmental polluter. I try all the more to travel by train as often as possible. And I want to inspire people with events for our causes.”

That’s exactly why Dillier doesn’t list placing in a bike race as the biggest success of recent years. He says: “One of our friends used to smoke a pack of cigarettes a day. At one point we were able to motivate him to start cycling. Today he is a non-smoker and completely absorbed in sports. That pleases me a lot.”

Source : Blick