Among all the teams in professional cycling, none garner more interest for their kit than EF Pro Cycling, both the EF Education-EasyPost and EF Education-Cannondale squads. The design teams, year on year, seem to have a far greater range of creative freedom, and the zeitgeist has been added to year on year with the team’s annual Giro d’Italia switch-out kits, along with high-profile collaborations like the infamous Rapha X Palace duck kits.
This year, as always, pink is the main event. While last year it was a range of shades that reminded me of a pink highlighter at various stages of ink depletion, this time it’s a single shade, again with black for the sponsor decals.
In what seems like an homage to my favourite childhood chewy sweets, the venerable Fruit Salad, the jersey has been swirled and flecked with yellow, given a yellow Rapha armband, and the occasional encouraging “GO”, “TURN THE SCREW” and “UP UP UP” wordmarks.
In a shift from last season’s bright pink pairs, the team will, apparently “by popular demand”, be riding in crisp, white socks. It’s unclear if said demand is from within or outside the team, but from my point of view it’s a better option; more pro, more classy. In a homage to the team’s argyle kit from the Garmin-Sharp era, the long-sleeved team jerseys feature a diamond pattern on the cuffs.
We have also been treated to a glimpse at a couple of national champions jerseys too. Alison Jackson’s Canadian Champion’s jersey ditches the yellow and the black and opts for white sponsor decals and pink accents on an all-red jersey. Meanwhile, Ben Healy’s Irish Champion’s Jersey is a neat all-white affair with a simple green band and green sponsor decals, and Richard Carapaz's entire torso houses the Ecuadorian flag.
If you’re not someone who pays heed to the ‘no pro kit unless you’re a pro’ mantra, then you can pick up commercial versions of the EF kits on the Rapha website.
Same bikes, different colours
Moving on from the kit and onto the bikes, and its the same kaleidascopic attention-stealing effect with pinks, whites, reds, yellows and oranges scattered across the entirety of the teams' Cannondale SuperSix Evo frames (and presumably SystemSix frames too).
