From Visma to “home team” Movistar and debutants Q36.5: Who's got the best new Tour jersey design?

Shiny new race jerseys at a Grand Tour. This has become a trend among more and more cycling teams in recent years. A number of teams have also had new designs developed for the upcoming Tour de France and have presented them to the public. Note: some teams have completely changed the color of their race jerseys...

The Spanish Pro team Caja Rural-RGA will make its debut in the Tour de France on home soil. This isn’t the first time the green-and-white squad has done so, as the Southern European team also competed in the Tour back in the 1980s. Wearing a new kit, the team is celebrating its return to the Tour after nearly forty years of absence.

Caja Rural-RGA is thus returning to its roots with an exact replica of the design the team wore during the 1988 Tour de France. The jersey combines the iconic green with large, retro white panels and classic lettering, resulting in the historic retro design shown below.

One of the most eye-catching team uniforms in today’s cycling peloton is that of Jayco-AlUla: with a purple jersey and matching bike, the team quickly stands out. For the upcoming Tour de France, the Australian team will continue to race in purple, though it has added some extra color to the existing kit.

The black accents have been replaced with bright green colors on the front, back, and sides of their new kit. So it’s even more eye-catching!

For the Spanish Movistar team, this will be a special Tour de France, as the world’s biggest stage race begins in their home country of Spain, with the start in Barcelona. That’s reason enough to design a special race jersey for this “historic start,” according to Movistar on social media. For this special race, the white jersey has been swapped out for the familiar blue one.

After all, Movistar has been known for that color in the cycling peloton for years, and it’s making a comeback in the Tour de France for three weeks. It’s not just any blue jersey with Movistar’s famous white “M,” but a blue kit with several accents—and, according to the team, above all, “a tribute to Barcelona, Gaudí, and the Sagrada Família.”

Not all 23 teams set to start in Barcelona have experience in the Tour de France. For the Pro-Continental Pinarello Q36.5 team, for example, this will be their first time. And to celebrate this milestone, the Swiss team has unveiled a new kit. “This is much more than just a ‘special’ jersey,” said Douglas Ryder, team manager of Pinarello Q36.5, on the team’s website.

"The team will race in an exclusive Limited Edition collection, consisting of a special Q36.5 racing kit, a unique Pinarello DOGMA F color scheme, and a matching ABUS helmet, all designed exclusively for the team's Tour de France debut." While the team normally races in a dark-colored kit, it will wear white during the Tour to increase visibility.

Just like the Spanish team Movistar, the Dutch team Visma | Lease a Bike is paying tribute to the city of Barcelona, where the Grand Départ will take place on Saturday. “An iconic location where sports, culture, and architecture come together,” the team’s website states. “The inspiration? None other than Antoni Gaudí, whose masterpieces have made Barcelona’s streetscape world-famous. The flowing lines, playful shapes, and distinctive details from Gaudí’s sketches have been subtly incorporated into the design of this unique Tour jersey: The Architect.”

What makes this new Tour jersey special is how it came to be. Cycling fans were given the chance to help decide what the team’s official Tour jersey would look like. Out of thousands of votes, this design emerged as the clear winner.