BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Team Sky will race and train in Castelli clothing beginning in 2017. Sky is currently supplied with Rapha clothing.
Team principal Sir Dave Brailsford said: “Castelli will be more than a kit supplier; they will be an innovation partner. Castelli has a long history of breaking new ground when it comes to kit and design. We will continue to push hard to make sure our riders have the best clothing and equipment."
Andrea Peron, Castelli’s race performance director said: "Castelli and Team Sky share the same drive for results-driven innovation in everything we do. Team Sky has a structure and the resources to help us to continuously give our athletes a performance advantage. Whether it’s aerodynamics, foul weather protection or solutions that let the riders train more comfortably, we’re looking at every opportunity for an advantage.
The 2017 jersey has been designed by Richard Pearce – the graphic celebrates the victories in Team Sky’s first seven seasons. The classic Breton shirt has been reimagined in a data pattern with each stripe on the jersey, short, mitts, socks and cap representing a specific Team Sky victory. The longest lines are the four Tour de France victories, with Chris Froome’s 2016 victory immediately below the Sky logo on the chest.
The short dashes represent one-day races, while the medium-length lines represent multiday stage races, with the number of stages determining the length of the line. WorldTour races are blue lines, while non-WorldTour races are white. The gaps represent the ambition for future victories.
“We spent a lot of time thinking about our new kit and what we wanted it to represent visually,” said Brailsford, who was instrumental in defining the data pattern. “We wanted to find a way of celebrating the success we have had as a team, but also to make sure we keep our mind firmly on the future. As a team we still have an enormous amount of goals we want to achieve and, through the design of our new kit, those will always be at the forefront of our thinking.”
Beginning in January many of the same products used by Team Sky will be available in bike shops
