Images of Tadej Pogačar's new rainbow jersey have been released online ahead of his first race as road world champion this weekend in Italy.
As well as a video of the new jersey being sewn together, Italian brand Pissei shared an image of the finished kit on their Instagram story, which revealed that Pogačar might go with white bib shorts at Saturday's Giro dell'Emilia in Bologna.
A further video posted by the Slovenian's team, UAE Team Emirates, showed him dressed in the new kit for the first time. In the video, Pogačar is wearing black shorts and leg warmers, leaving fans guessing what colour he will opt for on Saturday.
Pogačar is scheduled to race all of the major late-season Italian classics for UAE Team Emirates. After the action this weekend, the Slovenian Triple Crown winner will then race Tre Valli Varesine on 8 October, before Il Lombardia, the final Monument of the WorldTour season, on 12 October.
Pogačar won the world title last weekend in Switzerland with a historic display in the elite men's road race around Zurich. After attacking with more than 100 kilometres left to race, the Slovenian pushed on, initially together with France's Pavel Sivakov and his compatriot Jan Tratnik, before he then rode solo to victory with 51 kilometres to go.
His epic performance capped a historic season for the 26-year-old, which started with victory at Strade Bianche in March. It has also included wins at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal, overall victory at the Volta a Catalunya and more.
After riding to victory in Zurich on a special edition Colnago V4RS, Pogačar joked that he thought his latest race-winning attack was initially "a stupid move".
"When I was a kid, I didn’t even dare to dream of having this jersey," he said in his post-race press conference in Switzerland. "I just dreamed to be on the start line. In the last couple of years, chasing races, the Worlds was always just another race, but I was never really prepared for it.
"But inside of me I wanted to perform well, and this year was the perfect opportunity. It was a good parcours for me. I gave it all today, and it’s more than a dream come true. I can’t wait to start the next races in this jersey, I hope it’s going to be cool and I hope I can have fun in this jersey at races."
The design of the world champion's kit has to follow strict UCI guidelines, which stipulate the exact colour tones and placement of the rainbow bands. Cycling Weekly will share more images of Pogačar's new kit when they become available.
