Each season begins with ceremonious unveilings of new kit to be worn by the teams for the upcoming season. However, in recent years it has become more common to have specific jerseys for training and even for specific races. Further to this, as sponsors and manufacturers inevitably change, as do team colours and designs.
The 2017 season sees a prominence of red jerseys with Katusha-Alpecin, BMC Racing Team, Lotto Soudal, Bahrain-Merida and Trek-Segafredo all opting for a mostly-red design. Movistar, AG2R La Mondiale and FDJ retain their familiar designs despite FDJ and AG2R changing kit suppliers. New WorldTour teams Bora-Hansgrohe and UAE Abu Dhabi adorn fairly conservative designs, whilst LottoNL-Jumbo, Team Sunweb (formerly Giant-Alpecin), Astana and Orica-Scott run similar designs to the 2016 season. Team Sky, Dimension Data and Cannondale-Drapac update their familiar designs and Quick-Step have seemingly gone for a throwback design from the early 2000s.
Shimano’s S-Phyre clothing line makes its WorldTour debut with LottoNL-Jumbo. Shimano also supply shoes and eyewear to the Dutch outfit. With Lazer, (bought by Shimano Europe last year) completing the team issue kit.
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The iconic POC helmets and eyewear of Cannondale-Drapac extends to the teams clothing in 2017, with the red trim of the kit paying homage to the Drapac Pro-Continental team that merged with Slipstream Sports mid-season in 2016.
With Tinkoff folding, Italian brand Sporful’s presence in the WorldTour was under threat. However, with Bahrain-Merida opting for the Italian bran and a delayed announcement from Trek-Segafredo, the company has doubled its presence in the top level of the sport. The Italian supplier trend continues with Giordana providing both Astana and Orica-Scott with racing apparel and Castelli moving from Cannondale-Drapac to Team Sky.
Team issue helmets have long been a tradition with many WorldTour teams. In more recent years however, we have seen partnerships and official suppliers of accessories extended to both eyewear and shoes. The most prominent shoe designs are the teal S-Works shoes of Bora-Hansgrohe and gold, red and white Sidi Shots belonging to Bahrain-Merida. Peter Sagan’s second World Championship title earns the Slovakian the right to wear his own custom shoes and helmet to match his custom Specialized bike frames. Further to this, Sagan has a personal contract with eyewear firm 100% and seemingly has an endless supply of models to choose from, whilst his Bora-Hansgrohe teammates are equipped with Adidas eyewear.
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