It’s been a while coming but the Garmin – Sharp team today revealed the kit it will be using this season, with the design of the kit largely similar to the jersey used last year from the Tour de France onwards.
Once again featuring the team’s big sponsors Garmin, Sharp and Barracuda, plus the partners Holowesko, Cervelo and Castelli, the predominantly blue kit will be seen in all the top races this year thanks to the WorldTour licence held by the team.
These events will include the Giro d’Italia, won last season by Ryder Hesjedal, plus the Tour de France, Vuelta a España, the Classics and the intermediate-length stage races such as the Tour de Suisse and Critérium du Dauphiné.
The tweaked team kit will be used for the first time at the Santos Tour Down Under, which begins on January 20th in Adelaide.
The 2013 jersey features a more distinct argyle design on the front of the jersey, with the entire back section now featuring the characteristic pattern.
Castelli brand manager Steve Smith said there have been other changes. “The close partnership we have with Garmin-Sharp and Director of Sport Science, Robby Ketchell, has led to improvements in eight models and the addition of five new models to make sure the riders have the best possible clothing for every condition,” he said, talking about the range of clothing the riders will be able to use this year.
“We're happy that our partnership with Team Garmin-Sharp leads to real innovation for the pros that we can then bring into our Castelli collection and our Servizio Corse custom team products.”
In addition to the team kit, new Edge 810 and 510 computers were launched today by Garmin itself. The main changes to the devices, which are updates on the previous Edge 800 and 500 units, are connectivity via Bluetooth to smartphones, thus enabling real-time updating of position, downloading of maps and other features.
“Castelli and Garmin are crucial partners for the team,” said Director of Sport Science, Robby Ketchell. “Their commitment to working with us to provide with the best racing apparel and electronics possible contributes hugely to how we perform on the road.”
Features of the new devices can be seen in the video below, which was released today and features Garmin – Sharp riders Dan Martin, David Millar, Ryder Hesjedal and Andrew Talansky.