Which teams will have an outfit change for the Tour de France?
The one-off jerseys which will be seen at the Basque Country’s Grand Départ
It’s becoming more and more fashionable in modern cycling for teams to switch up their kit ahead of what is undeniably the biggest race of the year, the Tour de France. Some of the most famous Tour de France special kits include Rapha’s famed collaboration with skateboarding brand Palace when they brought dinosaurs and bold colours to Le Grande Boucle in 2022, as well as when Alpecin-Deceuninck (then known as Alpecin-Fenix) made a classy tribute Mathieu van der Poel's late grandfather, Raymond Poulidor, in 2021, by wearing the the colours of the Mercier-BP-Hutchinson team which Poulidor rode for in the 60s and 70s.
Some teams have specific sponsor changes for the Tour de France which is why their kits get an upgrade, while others simply do it for the undeniable attention it garners on social media. We’ve been keeping our eyes peeled for some of the fresh kits that will be on the start line when the Tour rolls out from Bilbao this year and have compiled a handy list below, so that there’s no confusion on race day. It’s hard enough getting to grips with the new jerseys at the start of the season each year, let alone another switcharoo mid-way through. Cycling commentators, we feel for you…
Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
Scandinavian team and Tour de France wildcard, Uno-X Pro Cycling were one of the few teams to keep the same jersey this season, not making any changes ahead of 2023. At the time, they cited environmental reasons for this choice and also noted that they had no changes in sponsors, so no requirement for a whole new kit. Since then, however, the situation for Uno-X has changed. For the Tour de France, both the men’s and women’s squads will be backed by supermarket chain REMA 1000. The partnership makes clear sense as REMA 1000 is owned by the same parent company as Uno-X and it’s said that the men's and women's teams will be using some of the nutrition products sold in store as they race the Tour this summer.
While the old jersey was predominantly red and yellow, the new jersey is almost completely red apart from the yellow strip along the middle with the Uno-X logo on top of it. REMA 1000’s signature ‘R’ logo sits proudly at the back of the jersey as well as on the sleeves and side panels. As the colours are still in keeping with the current iteration of the Uno-X jersey, it’s not going to be too much of a challenge to get used to the bright red version, and with Uno-X’s signature attacking style, we can expect to see plenty of this jersey at the front of the peloton in the Tour de France.
Bahrain-Victorious
One team that sees a significant change to its kit ahead of the Tour de France is Bahrain-Victorious. Usually recognisable in their bright red and orange uniforms, the team will switch to a white get up for the race around France, said to be inspired by Bahrain’s pearling history – a world centre for pearl fishing and trading. When they released the kit, Bahrain-Victorious explained that the teal accents symbolise the Arabian Gulf while the splashes of gold represent the shimmer of pearls. Along the top of the jersey are four pearl shapes, each holding the logos of four of Bahrain-Victorious’s key sponsors. Although the sleeve edges and bottom of the bib shorts feature a gold colour, the bib shorts stay a relatively safe black.
Bahrain-Victorious has gone further than just kit, too, their bikes also get an upgraded paint job for the Tour de France. The likes of Fred Wright and Matej Mohorič will use white bikes with blue patterning on the forks, as well as the Merida logo in gold, loud and proud on the frame. Socks from kit providers Alé also get the pearl treatment, as do the team’s Rudy Project helmets and Scicon glasses. That’s some serious commitment to the switch-up from Bahrain-Victorious.
Jumbo-Visma
Reigning Tour de France champions Jumbo-Visma released their Tour de France special kit to the public way back in April this year, alongside a slightly strange AI-generated video of a young Jonas Vingegaard (you can find it here, but watch at your own peril). The idea behind the kit, according to the team, is to inspire future generations of cyclists to follow their dreams of competing in the Tour one day. The jersey is produced in association with Efteling, a famous theme park in the Netherlands, with a focus on the fact that the park used to feature a merry-go-round where you could ride a bike: The Vélodrome.
In order to inspire the new Jumbo-Visma Tour de France kit, Efteling wrote a “fairy tale about faith, dreams, and perseverance” about a child who breaks free from the The Vélodrome merry-go-round and finishes on the Champs-Élysées. The team’s jersey is supposed to represent the power of dreams, with a starry sky and constellations covering the black parts of the jersey, while the right sleeve remains Jumbo-Visma’s signature yellow colour. The back of each rider’s jersey features personalised touches about some of their biggest victories (Dylan van Baarle’s references his Paris-Roubaix win, for example), alongside more stars and dream-like night skies. When we grow up, we dream of being Wout van Aert…
Team DSM
Team DSM’s new kit isn’t just for the Tour, but a switch-up for the rest of the season as a whole. Both the men’s and women’s squads are now sponsored by dsm-firmenich, a company which the team’s press release describes as “a trailblazer in the reinvention, manufacturing, and combination of vital nutrients, flavours, and fragrances”. As of the Giro Donne for the women’s team and the Tour de France for the men’s team, Team DSM will now officially become Team dsm-firmenich.
Photo: Eltoromediadotcom
With this sponsor change also comes an update to the DSM kit, with the outfit moving from black to a navy colour with a blue fade at the rear. The distinctive light blue stripes which represent Team DSM’s ‘Keep Challenging’ philosophy remain on the kit which ensures that the team remains visible in the peloton, but the front of the jersey sees a striking new addition; the dsm-firmenich logo sits in three white blobs along the chest, on the rear of the jersey and on the side of the shorts, prime sponsorship space for the company. It’s not a huge departure from the Team DSM kit we know well, so it won’t be too hard to get used to the likes of Romain Bardet using this kit in the Tour. A bit of difference while keeping the team’s identity, good job Team DSM.
Movistar
Titled the ‘Iceberg’ kit, both Movistar’s men’s and women’s squads will wear a radically different kit from their usual get up in the 2023 Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes. White instead of the team’s usual navy blue, Movistar says that its 'Iceberg' kit has four objectives: to improve the technical performance of the garments and the sustainability of the fabrics used to make them, to make Movistar stand out with an innovative design in the Tour de France and to raise social awareness for the protection of seas and oceans.
Image: Movistar
The team says that the kit, manufactured by Gobik, will be made of at least 60% fabrics made from recycled plastics, creating “the most sustainable kit ever worn by a team on the Tour.” Movistar says that the jerseys worn by the riders will be signed and auctioned after the race to contribute to funds that are dedicated to environmental causes. While the main priority of Movistar’s Iceberg kit is undeniably to raise awareness about the environment, Gobik has done a great job on the aesthetics of this jersey too – the white is a fresh colour and a nice contrast to the blue Movistar ‘M’. The eventual wearer of the white jersey might have a thing or two to say, though…
Bora-Hansgrohe
Celebrating ten years since the team first competed in the Tour de France, Bora-Hansgrohe’s special edition kit is a sentimental one. It features names of the riders who have made history with the Bora-Hansgrohe team manager, Ralph Denk, over the years, notably Peter Sagan with whom the team secured their first stage win and Emanuel Buchmann who finished fourth overall in the Tour in 2019. In the team’s press release about the new kit, Denk also thanked Tour de France organisers ASO for granting his squad a wildcard three times in a row to compete in the three-week race.
Image: Bora-Hansgrohe
The back of the jersey also features Bora-Hansgrohe’s ‘Band of Brothers’ slogan which symbolises the team’s togetherness, as well as the Bora-Hansgrohe, Specialized and Le Col logos – the main sponsors of the German outfit. The hem of the bib shorts includes the same patterning as the jersey with the names of many current and former riders of the team, ensuring that the whole look ties together nicely. While the kit stays true to the iconic green colour that Bora-Hansgrohe has been known for over the past couple of seasons, it still has a clear difference from the usual Bora kit, meaning it will take some getting used to in the Tour de France peloton.
If everything goes to plan for Astana Qazaqstan, the 2023 Tour de France could be a very special race for the Kazakh team. They will be riding with the sole focus of getting Mark Cavendish his 35th stage win and if they manage, it will be a moment that goes down in cycling history. Cavendish with his arms aloft, breaking records – it's the stuff of dreams for his team, and a special jersey is only appropriate in anticipation of the event. The team's kit sponsor, Giordana, has pulled out all of the stops for Astana's special-edition Tour jersey with a marbled gold and blue pattern that is striking and eye-catching. Astana themselves wrote on the team's website: "the unique charm of the pattern, similar to the veins of mineral stones, comes from the colour affinity with the blue of the sky and the gold of the sun, as well as with elements of the flag of Kazakhstan."
The team also explains that the jersey symbolises the precious stones and natural resources that Kazakhstan is rich in, but also comes with two new sponsors for the team. These are KAZ Minerals and Freedom Broker which the team describes as "two leaders of the Kazakh economy in their fields." This new Astana jersey is one of the most stunning that has been thrown into the 2023 mix so far and could have eternal meaning for the team if things go well for Mark Cavendish.
Lidl-Trek
Image: Lidl-Trek
On to the jersey itself. Judging by social media reactions to the kit reveal – which came just days before the Tour de France kicks off in Spain from inside a Lidl store – the new look for Lidl-Trek is a little like marmite, some love it, some hate it. On the one hand, Lidl is undeniably a modern iconic logo and the kit is eye-catching and will certainly stand out in the peloton. On the other hand, it sort of looks like that logo has just been slapped on right in the middle of the rider’s chests – made even more prominent when it breaks up the flags of specific national champion’s jerseys. Either way, everyone’s talking about it, so that’s the first box ticked for the new sponsor. All that has to come next are some stage victories throughout the next three weeks for the team in both the Giro Donne and the Tour de France.
Israel-Premier Tech
Inspired by the Israel National Trail, Israel-Premier-Tech's jersey sees a new, unique design for the Tour de France in partnership with the Israel Tourism board. According to the team, the Israel National Trail runs from Kibbutz Dan in the North to Eilat in the South, showcasing Israel’s most exotic landscapes. The Trail spans over 1000km is marked by three stripes; white representing Mt Hermon in the North, blue representing Israel’s coastline, and orange representing the desert in the South. These are reflected in the colours that make up the majority of the team's special TDF jersey, with an orange sleeve and three blocks of colour on the body of the kit.
Image: Israel-Premier Tech
On the front of the jersey, the white line represents the map of the trail, while the team's usual sponsors adorn the rest of the kit. Whether this outfit is an improvement on the usual Israel-Premier Tech get-up is a matter of opinion, but it will certainly turn heads in the peloton.
We'll update this page as more kits are revealed.
