A few months after being sanctioned for a non-conformist jersey, the EF Education-Nippo team presented a 2021 outfit which falls within the framework imposed by the UCI and which does not hesitate to show it, like a snub to the authorities.
The EF Education-Nippo team never wanted to do things like the others. The team led by Jonathan Waughters demonstrated it at the start of the last Giro when, instead of her traditional pink and blue jersey, she presented herself with a multicolored jersey adorned with the emblematic duck of the skateboard brand Palace, who had collaborated with the British brand Rapha like another partnership forged around football with Adidas and Juventus. A jersey that had not been to the liking of the UCI whose commissaires then sanctioned each of the eight riders present on the Tour of Italy and their sports director Fabrizio Guidi with a fine of 500 Swiss francs each for wearing “Clothing not in conformity with the obligations linked to the podium”. A sanction which, obviously, was not well accepted by the leaders of the team and their equipment supplier, which served as a working basis for the 2021 outfit.
Designed to disrupt or created to comply?
Here’s to not ruffling too many feathers in 2021.
Yours truly,@Rapha + EF Education-NIPPO pic.twitter.com/6PNrODp0IF
— EF Pro Cycling (@EFprocycling) January 30, 2021
A jersey “created to comply” with the rules
For this new season, the EF Education-Nippo team, which recently welcomed the South region and the city of Marseille as partners, has decided to go back to basics. Indeed, the new outfit will be essentially pink with dark blue shorts… but the devil is in the details. In fact, the designers of the Rapha brand have applied the UCI regulations concerning outfits to the point of indicating all the measurements directly on the jersey. “To make sure we comply with all rules and regulations, no matter how small, the designers have shown their work,” the US formation said in a statement. They have left visible their meticulous measures regarding the correct positioning and spacing of partner logos while subtle annotations are a nod to their creative approach to compliance. The finer details will not be visible on the helicopter shots but for those who wear our jersey, whether runners or supporters, they will serve as a reminder of our team’s desire to break convention and change cycling. ” If the jersey wants to be wise, the message is much less.
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