Santini has released a collection of cycling kit celebrating key stages of this year's Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes Avec Zwift stage races, including finishes in the ski resort of Courchevel and on the iconic Col du Tourmalet.
The Italian brand, who supplies the race leaders and classification jerseys in its role as an official partner, has chosen to honor five stages from the men's race and one stage from the women's race. Each outfit will comprise a jersey, bibshorts, baselayer, socks, gloves and cap.
This year’s Grand Depart is the Spanish city of Bilbao and Santini is celebrating the opening stages of the race with a kit that draws heavily on the colours of the Basque flag alongside other symbols of the region such as the Basque cross.
Next up is Stage seven, a flattish 170km from Mont de Marsan to Bordeaux. Here Santini takes the cities namesake colour and it’s most famous product as its inspiration for the jersey and matching kit, which features a design that’s said to represent the ”fluid movement of wine poured into the glass”. Given the parcours sprinters such as Mark Cavendish, Caleb Ewan and Sam Bennett will be hoping they get to toast a glass as stage winner.
Stage nine finishes on the sleeping volcano, the Puy de Dôme, which is probably most famous for the 1964 battle on Stage 20 between Jacques Anquetil and the ‘eternal second’ Raymond Poulidor. Even if you’re not familiar with the stage, you’ll most likely be familiar with the now iconic photograph of the two French heroes going to elbow to elbow up the slopes. The Spanish climber Julio Jiménez won the stage, but it was Anquetil who won the race, leaving PouPou on the second step of the podium again. Santini uses the L'Equipe front page from that day as the background for the jersey.
Another mountain stage that should play a significant role in deciding this year’s winner is Stage 17 from Saint-Gervais-Mont Blanc to Courchevel, finishing at an altitude of 2,010 meters. A famous Alpine ski resort, Santini has used the colours that signify the slope or ‘run’ classifications as its inspiration, with the kit adorned with green, blue, red and black. Likely protagonist Tadej Pogačar will hope he stays upright as he seeks his third yellow jersey.
Last up for the men's race is the final stage into Paris. Described by Santini as the ‘Triumph kit’, it uses the finish on the Champs-Élysées and the Place L’Étoile as its guide, with the shape of the square and the streets that run off it spread out on the jersey, naturally in the colours of the French tricolour.
As for the celebratory Tour de France Femmes kit, it’s dedicated to perhaps the most famous mountain of them all, the Col du Tourmalet. Featured in the men's race since 1910 it will conclude this year’s Tour de France Femmes, where the winner will be greeted by a sight familiar to millions of amateur cyclists who make the pilgrimage to the col year after year, the bar, with its steeped roof. Santini has taken the shape of this famous cycling waterhole and used it to create a pattern for the jersey and supporting garments.
As for prices, the men’s jerseys retail at $135 / £90, while the women’s cost $120 / £80. Bibshorts are $190 / £125, while the matching baselayer retails at $40 / £28. The ‘finishing kit’ of socks, cap and gloves cost $25 / £14, $25 / £17 and $40 / £28 respectively.
All designs are available from www.santinicycling.com and in selected cycling stores worldwide.
