It was a simple time. Team kit was understated, with black shorts and a few colored panels on the jersey. Race Leader and National Championship jerseys were plain, and often even lacking in the name of the sponsor. National Championship jerseys in particular were a matter of national pride more than sponsorship; it was an honor to fly the colors of your country in a jersey that payed homage not to the team’s branding, but to that of the nation’s flag. The jersey was worn with standard team kit, often in garish contrast to the colors of the sponsor. It was gloriously Casually Deliberate.
Then, as more money came to be at stake and the sponsors became ever more loosely tied to Cycling’s history, it started to change. First with the shorts, which were modified to match the jersey, either with different accent colors or with an entirely matched design. Then teams started discouraging their riders from winning national championships and, if left no choice in the matter, they chose a design which matched the standard team kit design as closely as possible in order to maximize sponsorship investment.
The first time I noticed this trend was an account from Roger Hammond, the reigning British Road Champion, who had just signed with Discovery Channel. It was a matter of pride for him, of course, to wear the jersey but his new sponsor was not so keen and certainly held no special respect for the history of his jersey. After all, a national championship jersey has very little room on it for Discovery’s branding, and that meant a smaller return on their investment in the rider as a billboard. If I remember correctly, he was strongly discouraged – if not barred – from entering the race.
The Tricolore jersey is my favorite of any jersey available. If I were a Pro, I would carry a Dutch and not American license for no other reason than for the chance to race in the red, white, and blue stripes of the Dutch flag as opposed to the vertical stripes and star-spangled design of the American flag (however cool that jersey is as well).
To declare this In Memoriam is perhaps premature, but we are moving inexorably away from this glorious jumper; shorts are too often matched, bicycles too often repainted. I have nothing against maximizing a sponsor’s investment, but I worry over the consequences. I worry for the loss of standard team shorts, standard team kit, and the tricolore jersey. Will all teams follow Team Radiosanschelck?
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@Matt Carey
Indeed they do. They've been leading the charge in keeping it real.
@Marko
Sounds great! I don't have any V-Kit so this is good news for me. I look forward to seeing what you come up with.
And a Z jersey acquisition, nice! The only PRO jerseys I like are all older ones. Have a cool Lotto one, a Banesto one, a really awesome Suntour one, and a very colorful Pinarello one. The only problem is that I've gotten very spoiled by modern kit - I love a race fit jersey with good snug pockets, full zip, and even like the "fourth pocket" for zipping up my house key. Now when I wear older jerseys with saggy pockets I feel disoriented.
Oh, and one of my most prized possessions is a super cool wind jacket all the TdF jerseys. Saw it at Prendas and it was too cool to pass up, even though the wearing of that jersey was before my time.
These are great, bu they are national team jerseys, not national champions (though I am not sure about the French one being team instead of champ).
That Big Mat rider is truly awful looking. Eeek, all that branding, the pink shades, the gold tape...the tricolor of the LOOK label is pretty cool, no need to have so much else going on.
As for Cavendish in hit kit this weekend during interviews - I liked it! Black shades, black bibs, white cap and jersey.
This is a great show not of evolution, but of artistic license being taken. I firmly believe that one should be required to wear the design issued to you on the podium, updated with sponsor names/logos only, and not allowed to change the design.
For something to mean something, it needs to be consistent. US champions are particularly guilty of violating this. Often is the case where road, TT & CX jerseys are all different.
@Marko
count me in and keep it simple!
Have to say, Chavanel doing a very fine job in a very cool-looking tricolore this year:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/photos/startline-gallery-day-1-at-de-panne/214449
@Touriste-Routier
Better?
Maybe it was just a Fignon thing, but here are shots of him just riding in jerseys with no team branding at all. The Tricolore, and the Giro, on two separate years. Seems the Giro for a spell didn't have any team branding on it?
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@Touriste-Routier
Fucking this, mate. Well done. With the slight note that those three jerseys are actually different as handed out on the podium (I think) but they should just be the design issued. Totally agree.