Robin van Persie on the ENGWE E26 3.0
Image credit: ENGWE
E-bike brand ENGWE has named Dutch soccer legend Robin van Persie as its new global brand ambassador, timing the announcement to Car-Free Day. The partnership, called "GOOD AS G.O.A.T," runs through the end of 2027 across the US and several European markets, including Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the UK. Van Persie will make his first public appearance for ENGWE on September 19 at Sea Otter Europe, a cycling festival in Girona, Spain.
For those who aren’t soccer fans, Van Persie spent his playing career at Feyenoord, Arsenal and Manchester United, along with more than a decade with the Netherlands national team. He won a Premier League title, two Premier League Golden Boots and scored one of the more memorable goals of the 2014 World Cup, a diving header against Spain.
The signing of van Persie lines up with a shift in how much attention those of us in the US are paying to soccer. The share of Americans who say they actively follow soccer has risen from 8% to 12% since 2022. With more than a quarter of American saying they'd watched soccer for the first time because of this year's tournament.
For the campaign, Van Persie is promoting the ENGWE E26 3.0, the brand's flagship all-terrain e-bike. It runs on a dual-motor system rated at up to whopping 2,000 watts of peak power and 160 newton-meters of torque. With 26-by-4-inch fat tires and a claimed range of up to 100 miles, this is specced to deliver solid performance as a city hauler and over rougher terrain like gravel and trails. But he should probably keep it off the soccer pitch.
