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Rating the 2018 UCI WorldTour team kits

A closer look at the new threads of the WorldTour teams

WorldTour teams

With 2018 here, teams have rolled out their fresh threads for the coming season. While there are no new teams in the WorldTour for 2018, there will be squads sporting new looks. Some teams rework familiar designs, others opt to make small changes while some decide to do a full redesign for a whole new look. Here is our rating of the 2018 kits of the men’s WorldTour:

Bora-Hansgrohe

Bora-Hansgrohe

9/10

A fresh update for the squad led by world champion Peter Sagan. The checkered turquoise on the chest and back of the Sportful jersey is striking while the black shoulders will make the team easy to spot in a much lighter colour palette of WorldTour kits in 2018.

Trek-Segrafedo

Trek-Segrafedo Mollema

8.5/10

Reworking the same colours but with a striking simplicity. The dark red horizontal pin-stripes look great.

Quick-Step Floors

Quickstep Floors

8/10

Quick-Step blue is a great colour for kit and is distinctive to the Belgian super team. A white band across the chest replaces the white sleeves. The yellow Lidl logo breaks up the solid colour.

Mitchelton-Scott

Mitchelton-Scott

8/10

One thing is for sure, if the Mitchelton-Scott’s bikes look similar to their steeds in 2017, they will be very colour coordinated. With a new title sponsor in Mitchelton, the team have gone with a black and yellow kit. Instead of a horizontal yellow bar on the best, the shoulders get the yellow treatment. Some new stylistic graphics have been added to the jersey and sleeves.

Bahrain-Merida

Bahrain-Merida

8/10

Minor changes for the team of Bahrain prince Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa. The sleeves go from navy to red and the rest gets a larger navy section. Whether you like or hate the sponsor, the kit works.

Katusha-Alpecin

Katusha Alpecin

7.5/10

Katusha’s new kit is similar to last years. The 2017 kit was all red but a white top was seen at the Tour de France. For 2018 they’ll sport a light coloured top but go with light blue. The rest of the kit has the same two toned red theme.

AG2R La Mondial

AG2R

7/10

While a lot of ridicule has been directed AG2R La Mondial’s way for their kits, the 2018 edition is a drastic improvement over past years. The brown shorts remain but the three panel jersey is a good reworking of the sponsors colours into a nice looking design.

EF Education First- Drapac powered by Cannondale

EF Education First

7/10

While stylistically the design isn’t so bold the pink is a nice splash of colour that will be hard to miss in the peloton. The green collar and cuffs clash but keeping the argyle design in the kit was important.

Team Dimension Data

team dimension data

7/10

White is in for 2018 and Dimension Data go with green to contrast. It’s a good look for the South African squad which will be looking for a bounce back season from Mark Cavendish.

Team Sunweb

Sunweb

7/10

Mostly unchanged though the back gets a more prominent Sunweb logo. Looks nice enough and lands them a middle of the pack spot. Though if there results are anything like in 2017, you’ll see the jersey a lot contesting wins.

LottoNL-Jumbo

LottoNL-Jumbo

6.5/10

The yellow kits of the Dutch squad isn’t changed much from 2017. The white which appeared on the top half at the Tour de France is mercilessly gone and black sleeves remain. It’s simple and will make them easily spotable in the peloton. The colour still clashes with their celeste Bianchi bike though.

Lotto-Soudal

Lotto-Soudal

6.5/10

Lotto-Soudal’s previous design was one of our favourites and they don’t depart too far from it with the 2018 kit. The playful bubbles on the back play to the teams lottery sponsorship and white, like on so many kits for 2018, is used more prominently.

Astana

Astana

6/10

Astana dial back the fade that was prominent last year though there’s still a hint of black on jersey. Other than that it is very similar and still a good looking kit.

FDJ

FDJ

5.5/10

We’ve kind of gotten used to the blue shorts and the colours of France’s national lottery in the peloton. Thankfully the team decided not to make the mistake of using white shorts like they have in the past.

Team Sky

Sky Froome

5/10

While Team Sky have stuck to black in previous years they depart from that and go with a white jersey for 2018. The digital lines hidden in the blue band represent the teams victories. It’s similar to what the team wore at the Tour de France and though it took some getting used to it remained distinctive.

Movistar

Movistar

4/10

The Movistar kit for 2018 has a very different look. Gone is the dark navy blue with the green Movistar logo and in is a kit that borrows heavily from Astana’s 2017 kit with it’s black shorts a fade into a blue top. While the blue is slightly different and the big white Movistar logo is different, the lack of originality on their part is a real drawback otherwise it would have scored higher marks.

UAE-Team Emirates

UAE

4/10

Wasn’t good when it was unveiled last year and the few changes it received are not significant enough to make it any nicer.

BMC

BMC

3/10

The familiar red and black of BMC returns for 2018 with a splash of blue on the collar and back of the jersey from sponsor Sophos. The sleeves stay white with the Tag Heur logo prominently placed. It’s an iconic look but sort of makes the riders look like giant puzzle pieces. The worst kit in 2018 in our eyes.