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All the blue Tour de France jerseys ranked
All the talk recently has centred on two things: Whether Tadej Pogačar or Jonas Vingegaard will win the Tour de France, and how many blue kits are in the peloton? I don’t have the answer to the former – though I’ve made my predictions – but I can certainly rank the latter.
Now this ranking doesn’t include the Bahrain Victorious or Intermarché-Wanty teams as I have decreed that they are white jerseys with a dash of blue on. Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe’s new kit has been described by some as being blue, but it’s very clearly black.
Jayco-AlUla meanwhile have just swapped their blue and white kit for orange and green, and Alpecin-Deceuninck have released a grey Tour de France kit to support the release of sponsor Alpecin’s ‘Grey Attack’ shampoo.
They said, ‘While our riders are constantly fighting the time and never giving up, this campaign and kit, symbolise the fight against one of the most visible signs of ageing – grey hair.’
Damien Howson fans around the world are currently submitting formal complaints to the UCI. If you ask me, I like grey hair. I am thankful there’s one less blue kit to rank though, because there are still way too many.
10: DSM-Firmenich-PostNL
Some things just have a colour. Maths is blue. Science is green. This synesthesia lends itself to cycling, albeit helped by jersey colour. Team Sunweb was red. Team DSM was black and blue. Now they’re white, blue and orange?
I get it, sponsors change, but it’s unnerving. It was too sudden. I needed time to acclimatise. If you’re going with orange, at least make it the defining colour like Euskaltel-Euskadi. Or CCC. Remember them?
9: Israel-Premier Tech
The Israel-Premier Tech kit design is based on the team’s 2023 Giro d’Italia kit. The navy blue comes from Premier Tech while different shades of blue are then interspersed on top. They say it’s bold, but this isn’t how I would define bold.
8: Lotto-Dstny
I dislike maths (which we know now is blue) but appreciate the ratio influence that has gone into the Lotto-Dstny jersey. Half red for Lotto, half blue for Dstny. There’s structure and sense in the kit.
It felt slightly wrong including this one in a list of blue jerseys because the red half being on top and on the sleeves makes it feel like a red-based jersey with a blue element. But is a zebra white with black stripes or black with white stripes? I know there’s an answer, I just don’t want to hear it. This is my list.
7: Soudal-QuickStep
Another team perpetually intertwined with blue. There should really be a limit on these things, but Soudal-QuickStep has been rocking their shade since the team’s inception in 2003. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.
Designer Stijn Dossche said about this year’s, ‘I tried to add some different shades of blue, which refer to the sky and the seas, and the movement in the floral patterns, which show the team’s movement through the natural surroundings in which cycling takes place.’
6: Movistar
These guys have darker blue on lock, never shifting from the colour since becoming ‘Movistar’ in 2011. That’s some consistent team identity, only adapting the shade over the years from navy to a brighter blue and switching the once-green Movistar ‘M’ to white.
For 2024, the Gobik kit is a gradient fade from blue to black with Telefónica’s 100th-anniversary celebration logo included. Oh Movistar, never change.
5: Groupama-FDJ
Groupama-FDJ have been sticking with the same Alé kit since revamping from a predominantly white style in 2022. The jersey has a navy base with blue panels to look sleek and stylish, incorporating that nice red and white stripe down the middle. Very suave.
It does the job without shouting about it. I just miss seeing Thibaut Pinot in it.
4: Decathlon-AG2R La Modiale
I will never forgive Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale for ditching the iconic brown bibs. Unfortunately this has coincided with a fierce number of victories, so c’est la vie, but is the trade off worth it, really…?
The jersey features two different arms – a lighter blue and a mint colour – with stars decorating the front. Press releases often feature a lot of mumbo jumbo, such as the following, ‘The Galaxy jersey is designed with utmost precision and advanced technology. The jersey stands out for its uniqueness, ensuring it is highly visible in the peloton. In short: designed to attract attention and arouse admiration, it embodies boldness, originality and change.’ But really they could’ve just said stars = pretty. As someone who loves the moon, I would’ve understood.
3: Astana Qazaqstan
This blue of the Kazakhstan flag has been synonymous with Astana since its inception in 2007. For 2024 they’re wearing a Biemme kit decorated with gold flecks and a pattern ‘similar to mineral stones’ that adds a dimension to the solid blue.
It’s meant to represent the blue sky and golden sun, but I just want Mark Cavendish to win #35 in it.
2: Visma-Lease a Bike
The new kit on the block had an immediate impact. But not before they convinced fans to provide their emails in order to ‘reveal’ more of the jersey before its actual release. Let’s hope Vingegaard and co. have had time to do GDPR training while at altitude.
Visma-Lease a Bike’s switch-out kit for the Tour de France is really nice. ‘In the spirit of limitless thinking’ is the caption the team have attached with it. Sometimes things just feel a bit AI with Visma-Lease a Bike, like there’s not a human presence, probably something I just can’t shake after that fake AI Jonas Vingegaard baby video – although the emails don’t help.
Anyway, you can tell it’s inspired by the Renaissance with its design. It’s certainly striking, providing a pattern as opposed to only having colours. They say it ‘symbolises the period where revolutionary ideas and a hunger for knowledge were at the centre of the Renaissance… not only a tribute to a revolutionary era, but also a powerful representation of the innovative and ambitious spirit of Visma-Lease a Bike’.
I like the touch on the collar too. It has ‘MMXXIV’ on the back, or Roman numerals for 2024.
1: Lidl-Trek
With its yellow, red and blue rectangles on the sleeves, Lidl-Trek’s jersey is something of a Mondrianesque figure in the peloton. It wasn’t an immediate hit, with the sleek Segafredo design replaced with a brasher kit that boasted the ‘Lidl’ logo on the chest.
We gradually warmed to it like a hesitant cat however, and it began to compliment the team’s personality. It’s loud, it’s bright, it says ‘we’re here’, and seeing riders in the jersey pose next to crates of apples or bananas just feels right. Seeing it in action amid a swath of lifeless blue jerseys or gradient kits, the splash of colour is a welcome one indeed.
All they need to complete the look is those Lidl trainers. Get those fitted with cleats and be on your way.
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