Evenpoel's 'unflattering' new jersey ridiculed by David Millar and others: 'Just the most absurd display'
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Follow us on GoogleEuropean Champion Remco Evenepoel debuted his new jersey at the Tour of Lombardy, which, given the Belgian's palmarès, features quite a few stripes here and there. The design sparked conversation and admiration among cycling fans, but not everyone likes the flashy new kit. Podcasts Escape Collective, and For the Love of Cycling both ridiculed the design, saying the Belgian had 'gone too far.'
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Evenepoel couldn't fit all his previous wins onto his sleeves
Evenepoel can boast a fair few titles. He is the former world road champion, four time world TT champion, former Belgian champion, double Olympic champion, and now European Champion. As is customary, his sleeves show his previous titles, but with all he has won, he was unable to fit the Belgian stripes onto the kit.
Read more below the photo!
Red Bull Bora-hansgrohe announced the jersey on social media
Instead the sleeves boast the rainbow bands of world champion, and a gold band, signifying his historic wins at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
The design also had to fit within strict regulations, but was eventually completed so Evenpoel could debut it at Lombardy.
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Millar dismisses jersey design: 'He looks like an African warlord'
In their podcast, For the Love of Cycling, David Millar and Ned Boulting were particularly sniffy towards Evenepoel's new threads. Boulting said, "Did you get a good close-up look? Because his cuffs... he has just the most absurd display of different colours on his cuffs hasn't he?"
Millar chimed in with his take on the criticism. "He's like some dictator. It's like an African warlord king with just all his awards on there, it's maybe getting a bit much."
The pair agreed that Evenepoel had earned them, but questioned why he had everything on display. This attitude was echoed on the Escape Collective podcast
Read more below the video!
Millar and Boulting dismissed the jersey as 'too much'
Escape Collective think jersey does not suit Evenepoel
Dane Cash, Ronan McLaughlin, and Jonny Long also did not pull any punches when they talked about Evenepoel's new kit. Between them they called it, "terrible", "unflattering", and "nonsense".
During the discussion they did acknowledge the immense hard work behind the stripes and colours, with Cash asking, "I mean, if you won all those things, wouldn't you want the world to know that?"
They questioned the rainbows around the collar, and the distorting of the flag across Remco's chest, which they blamed on Evenepoel being shorter than average. "The cut of the jersey, it's very unflattering for him," McLaughlin said.
Belgian stripes missing is a bonus for Escape Collective
Evenepoel jersey does not feature the stripes of the Belgian Champion on the sleeves because of all the regulations and rules surrounding design.
“Unfortunately, that is not allowed because it is the ‘least’ – with all due respect – championship. So, unfortunately, those bands are not permitted,” Evenepoel told Sporza.
However, for the hosts of the Escape Collective podcast, "there was enough going on" already.
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Clarice WebsterEditor
Clarice has been following cycling her whole life, wroting about Thibaut Pinot (among others) for her university magazine while earning her masters in Journalism. She is passionate about furthering equality in sports coverage, and has taken huge inspiration from pillars of women’s cycling like Beryl Burton, Marianne Vos, and Laura Kenny.
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