In the month of December Bicycle flash traditionally back to the past cycling season with the series of year-end lists. What were the highs and lows of the past year and which riders still deserve an honorable mention for 2022? Every weekday there is a new list with an associated vote. Today is central: the most beautiful outfit in the WorldTour in 2022.
For countless hours, the cycling enthusiasts’ TV screen is filled with a patchwork quilt of different sets that make up the field. The clothing ensures the necessary recognition of the different riders in the colorful mass of drivers. Besides that, something that is so much in the spotlight can look pretty nice. The eye also wants something.
With the cycling year 2022 behind us, there has been enough time to thoroughly study the different outfits from the WorldTour. We list them one by one and ask which outfit you liked best. Will EF Education-EasyPost take the title for the third year in a row?
AG2R Citroen
For years AG2R Citroën’s white-brown livery has been admired in the field. Blue details gave way to red, but changes were few over the years. This does not mean that the outfit produced by the Italian Rosti is inconspicuous. In fact, the brown pants have set tongues wagging for years, and the team surprised many with the special diagonal logos on the jersey.
photo: Cor Vos
Astana Kazakhstan
Over the years it has been refined a bit, but Astana clothing is practically synonymous with blue. Although the typical light blue that the team made waves with for years gave way to a darker blue in 2021. This season, the Kazakh team raced in a jersey similar to last season, with a checkered pattern on the stomach. There was also a special outfit for the Vuelta a España where the design had few changes but the shirt was predominantly white instead of blue.
The blue outfit from the clothing manufacturer Giordana was in any case to the team’s own taste, because the design will be largely unchanged next season.
Lutsenko during one of Astana’s only five wins this season – photo: Cor Vos
Astana Qazaqstan’s special Vuelta outfit – photo: Cor Vos
Bahrain victorious
Sporting a bright red jersey, Bahrain Victorious was easy to spot in the cycling field this year. The clothes produced by Alé had blue sleeves, black areas on the sides and some orange details, but red dominated.
photo: Cor Vos
BORA hansgrohe
BORA-hansgrohe could be seen this year in clothes from the relatively young British clothing brand Le Col. The predominantly green color was not new, but the design, consisting of various square surfaces, was. With the red and black details, the German formation had a unique outfit.
To stand out even more during the biggest race of the year, the team chose a special Tour kit. The style remained the same, but most of the green areas had to give way to white areas.
Cofidis
Cofidis has long been admired in red and white clothes. For years it was with the yellow logo of the French bank that is their namesake, but this year the clothes were very simple. Clothing manufacturer Van Rysel’s shirt consisted of a white area on the shoulders and sleeves and was further red on the chest, while the trousers were almost completely black.
photo: Cor Vos
EF Education EasyPost
They have won our WorldTour best dressed cycling team award two years in a row, so they have a name to protect: EF Education-EasyPost. At least they have some numerical advantages, because this year the team raced in no less than 3 (!) different outfits. The plain outfit caused quite a stir before the season had started. Not because of the pink shirt, but mainly because of the combination with the dark green pants.
During the Giro d’Italia, the team replaced Rapha’s predominantly pink jersey with a much darker jersey, where the color scheme was almost reversed. The American team also appeared in the Tour de France with a special outfit. In collaboration with clothing brand Palace known from the skate culture, the team designed a colorful shirt with a Venus symbol to celebrate the return of the Tour for women.
But the most talked about item of clothing from EF Education-EasyPost? It was undoubtedly crocs.
Groupama FDJ
Blue, white and red have been the colors of the traditional French Groupama FDJ for years. It should come as no surprise as the team is sponsored by the French gambling company FDJ and the also French lender Groupama. The outfit produced by Alé was again relatively simple this year, with white front and back, blue sides and two different colored sleeves.
photo: Cor Vos
INEOS grenadiers
Less is more, they must have thought of the INEOS Grenadiers when they sat at the drawing board last year. The clothes that Bioracer produced can rightly be called simple. The outfit was almost entirely solid dark blue, with only a few red details on the sleeves and sides of the shirt.
photo: Cor Vos
Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
The outfit for Intermarché-Want-Gobert Matériaux can be summed up in two words: well-stocked and striking. Striking because producer Nalini’s garment with a sleeve and some other details in fluorescent yellow was easily recognizable in the field. Well filled, because no less than ten different sponsors adorned the front of the shirt.
Israel-Premier Tech
Israel-Premier Tech’s outfit – produced by Jinga – hasn’t had many changes this season compared to last year. The dark blue surface on the belly became a little lighter and a dotted pattern was incorporated. There was all the more difference with the Tour outfit. Clear blue, different patterns and details in all the colors of the rainbow: they definitely stood out.
Jumbo Visma
Pretty yellow isn’t ugly, right? Ugly or not, Jumbo-Visma was at least successful, and they also stood out in AGU’s yellow-black outfit. To avoid confusion with the yellow leader’s jersey in the Tour de France, there was a special suit for it, as in previous years Le Grande Boucle. That shirt was inspired by artworks by Vincent van Gogh, Rembrandt van Rijn and Johannes Vermeer. Jumbo-Visma aptly named that outfit the masterpiecealthough opinion is divided as to whether this was justified.
Lotto Soudal
Lotto Soudal has run in red-white-black for years, and this year was no different. Nevertheless, the outfit of the Belgian clothing manufacturer Vermarc Sport was markedly different from last year, because the black top gave way to red surfaces again. From the Tour there were some notable changes to the kit, with the addition of blue details on the leg and sleeve of the shirt and a blue helmet.
Movistar
The Spanish clothing brand La Passione entered top sport last year as a clothing sponsor for Movistar. The Spanish team’s outfit was dark blue with some light blue stripes and the logo of telecom giant Movistar prominently on the chest. Particularly striking was the special Vuelta outfit. Dark blue was swapped for white, and the shirt featured not only a few stripes as a detail, but also Alejandro Valverde’s most important victories, as a tribute to the outgoing winner.
Quick Step Alpha Vinyl
As we are used to in the meantime, we saw Quick-Step-Alpha Vinyl run in blue and white last season. Clothing manufacturer Castelli supplied Patrick Lefevere’s drivers with a dark blue shirt with white shoulders and some red detailing.
photo: Cor Vos
BikeExchange – Jayco
Blue was clearly popular this season as it was also the color by which BikeExchange-Jayco could be known. Various shades of blue adorned the shirt, with some tufts of white here and there. Opinions were divided on the beauty of the set, but the drivers from the Australian team were certainly visible in Alé’s clothing.
photo: Cor Vos
Keep DSM
Last season, Team DSM chose an almost unchanged kit compared to the previous year. A few sponsor logos were added to the chest of Nalini’s clothing, and Zoover gave space on the shoulders and sides to Youfone and Eyes and More respectively.
photo: Cor Vos
Trek-Segafredo
Trek-Segafredo’s 2022 outfit was mostly white with a red patch on the chest in the house colors of namesake Trek. For the Tour, clothing sponsor Santini produced a special kit to celebrate the return of the Tour for women, as did EF Education-EasyPost. The outfit was mostly blue with a red and blue stripe across the chest, symbolizing “the unity of two groups that share the same colors, values and goals,” Elisa Longho Borghini said.
UAE Team Emirates
UAE Team Emirates raced again this year in the colors that can be seen on the flag of the country from which the team takes its name: the United Arab Emirates. Apparel sponsor Gobik’s shirt was white with red-black sleeves, a red stripe on the chest with the UAE flag below.
photo: Cor Vos