Rapha collaborates with Palace on new EF Education kits for the Tour de France and Tour de France Women
By Kimberly R. Vasquez on June 28, 2022 Sneakers brand
"], "filter": { "nextExceptions": "img, blockquote, div", "nextContainsExceptions": "img, blockquote"} }">
Don't miss a moment of Paris-Roubaix and Unbound Gravel, the Giro d'Italia, Tour de France, Vuelta a España, and everything in between when you >","name":"in-content-cta", "type ":"link"}}">join Outside+.
The ducks are out. The dragons are in the game.
EF Education–EasyPost, EF Education-Tibco-SVB and team kit sponsor Rapha have once again collaborated with skate and streetwear brand Palace on a limited edition kit design, this time for the Tour de France and the Women's Tour de France.
The new jersey celebrates the Tour de France Women.
It's a decidedly tamer design than the last time the WorldTour team and Palace collaborated on a kit, a design for the 2020 Giro d'Italia that featured a cartoon duck and a mostly deviating color scheme the team's usual pink. But this time around, the jersey isn't just meant to avoid confusion with the pink maglia leader's jersey and drum press; it celebrates the return of the Tour de France Women.
The new kit retains the trademark pink of the men's and women's teams, while incorporating a large female gender symbol, a circle with a cross below, on the front of the shirt. Two cartoon green dragons rest their arms on the symbol cross.
"The dragon is a symbol of supernatural power, wisdom, strength and hidden knowledge," said Rapha's North America Marketing Manager, Brandon Camarda. "It's not gender specific, but we thought it was a great way to encapsulate the spirit of women who ride for EF Education-TIBCO-SVB."
And it's not just Rapha having fun. Other team sponsors are joining in, with POC, WHOOP and Wahoo designing gear to match. Apparently rubber shoe company Crocs, whose shoes swing in and out of style, is also on board with the collab, but we've yet to see what the brand has put together.
POC provided matching helmets.
For its part, Cannondale is providing the team with a refreshed paint job on its SuperSix Evo, SystemSix and SuperSlice bikes. Starting from the rear of the head tube, the paint changes from pink to white to blue, with the female symbol and several Palace logos prominently displayed. At the front, the handlebar tape matches the green of the Palace logos and the cartoon dragons. And the design becomes unique in the true sense of the word for bikes, with each rider's SuperSlice time trial frame including easter eggs specifically for each rider.
Cannondale has painted its suite of road bikes and TTs to match the collaboration. (Photo: Benoit Brink)
The Rapha team kit will include both men's and women's versions of the Pro Team Aero Jersey, Pro Team Training Jersey and Pro Team Bib Shorts II. Both team kits are complemented by matching editions of socks, caps and haversacks.
Rapha also announced off-the-bike casual wear as part of the collaboration, but has yet to release images or other details.
The teams will use the kit and the special bikes only for the Tour de France and the Tour de France Women. But there's good news for fans of the collaboration who aren't good enough to make the EF Tour lists: the Rapha team kit and Cannondale SuperSix Evo frame will be available for purchase.
Demand was high last time. The first Rapha-Palace kit sold out quickly, with kits soon finding their way to resale sites at marked-up prices. Rapha will release the kits in three drops, one for the USA/Canada, one for Europe and one for the Asia-Pacific region to give riders around the world a better chance of purchasing the kit. The kits will be available on Rapha and Palace websites and retail stores.
The SuperSix Evo frame will be available on the Cannondale, Rapha and Palace websites.
The availability date for the kits and frames has not yet been released.
EF Education – EasyPost has a history of eye-catching designs since that first swap kit with Palace at the 2020 Giro. have not called on external collaborators like Palace.