2011 is upon us and the UCI Pro Tour has begun in (hopefully sunny) Australia with the Tour Down Under, giving all the teams chance to show off their new team kit and equipment which they’ll be using throughout 2011.

Thor Taking It EasyWith that in mind, I’ve been collecting all the snapshots and official images from the team launches and training camps to bring you the kit and equipment they’ll be using, all in one place.

As yet, the office aren’t very opinionated on which team they’re supporting, but that will all soon change  once the riders start showing what they’ve actually got and whether all that prancing around in warmer climates has brought fresh legs and more power!


So in no particular order, here is a run down of the teams, their kit and anything else that has grabbed my attention concerning them or their bikes:

Leopard Trek:

  • Team Motto – “True Racing Gets Into Gear”.
  • Whether they’ve spent the budget on scarves and hair gel we’ll have to wait and see, but the rider line-up certainly looks impressive.
  • Hard to pick a #1 rider, but for the Tour at least it’ll have to be the Schleck brothers – with Cancellara and big Jens Voigt backing them up causing mass suffering to the hangers on!

The launch was flashy with tweets galore coming from the 4000 reporters and photographers at the conference in Luxembourg. With Trek supplying the machines and a line-up to make anyone quiver on the start line, these guys are sure to feature in the news and probably results this year.

“We have developed our new team, aiming for a fresh and innovative style. Of utmost importance, though, is to take cycling back to its proper roots: It’s all about the racing.”- a quote from Brian Nygaard the 2011 team manager who also added that the team’s top goal will be the Tour de France, but it is also looking to Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders.

“We know that we won’t win all the races. But we are confident and will keep our feet on the ground.”

Click here to register your interest for the Leopard Trek 2011 team kit.


Team Garmin-Cervelo:

  • Team Motto – “Race Hard, Race Clean”
  • With the unfortunate demise of Cervelo Test Team, the Garmin-Cervelo team has a lot of familiar names and some names which are bound to appear in countless top 10’s and podium lists.
  • Ryder Hesjedal has the form of his life, but can he return to the Tour stronger in 2011? Can Meyer make the transition from track to road? Plus, Tom Danielson must be due his time to shine?

There’s Farrar for sprinting (whether Thor will also be allowed a shot we’ll have to see), Bobridge may be brought up now he’s the Aussie National champ plus Dan Martin, Cam Meyer and Christian VDV to provide back-up.

Another black, white and blue team kit does blend in rather unhelpfully with Sky who are carrying over their previous design. Castelli are producing the clothing which can only mean one thing – plenty more development this year and perhaps a one-off TdF kit as we’ve been treated to each July?

  • Bike wise, they are of course on Cervelo’s flagship frames, with Rotor cranks and Mavic wheels.

Click here to register your interest for the Garmin Cervelo 2011 team kit.


Team HTC-Highroad:

HTC 2011

  • Motto – “The most winning team in Pro cycling” – already firing on all cylinders in 2011.
  • A team with Matt Goss, Mark Cavendish and Mark Renshaw racing together at a sprinters race is bound to give the guys some coverage and podium time. Already they have scored a 1,2 at the Cancer Council Classic race.
  • The main question is; do they have enough of a team to win anything but the blisteringly fast sprints where a train is vital???

“For two consecutive years, Team HTC – Highroad, owned and operated by High Road Sports Inc, has been the world’s most winning cycling team. Our international roster of 39 men and women is comprised of talented young cyclists and supported by a leadership group of experienced riders and management. Together, our teams achieved 285 victories in 2008 and 2009 combined, more than any other team and in 2009, we won 132 races by 22 different athletes.”

“Our roster of 37 men and women includes 21 talented young athletes aged 26 and under, making Team HTC-Highroad the youngest team at the top level of professional cycling. Our athletes come from 19 different countries and hold 10 national champion titles and six current or former world champion titles. In 2010, HTC-Highroad men and women won 108 races by 24 different riders.”

A fresh kit for 2011 with a touch of retro, the guys and girls have been making the most of pre-season posing:

HTC Champions

Click here to register your interest for the HTC Highroad 2011 team kit.


Team Sky:

  • With an aim to “create the first British winner of the Tour within five years” they may have another season or two yet…
  • Relatively unchanged for 2011, the team kit is still black with blue and white highlights.
  • £30 million of funding has made them the ultimate team in terms of gadgets, transport and machines. The riders all have their own laptop, captain style chair in the bus and all the support they could ask for.

Will a fancy website and massive financial support give Sky some results in 2011? We’d definitely like to see it happen!

Click here to register your interest for the Team Sky 2011 team kit.


Saxo Bank – Sungard:

Saxo Bank-SunGard Team Jersey

  • Motto – “Communication, loyalty, commitment and respect”
  • The off-season has been troubled for Saxo Bank with the on-going saga of AC and his contaminated steak and positive clenbuterol test which will most likely result in a ban at some point soon – not great news if he’s planning on winning yet another Grand Tour.
  • Otherwise the team is looking good, others have not been so praise worthy of the eagle sticking out of the rider’s waistband!
  • For 2011, the team has Richie Porte – a very popular Aussie rider, flying sprinter JJ Haedo along with a good number of Danes in the mix.

A new sponsor in Sungard for 2011 should give the team even more funding than previously (how bad can it be to have a bank funding you?!) The guys continue in a similar looking kit with the addition of an eagle to the jersey – there have been some suggestions about what it’s doing which I’ll leave to google and other blogs!

The team at the Santos Tour Down Under 2011.

Click here to register your interest for the Saxo Bank – Sungard 2011 team kit.


Team Movistar:

  • Motto – “passion for sport, teamwork and respect for the environment”
  • Previously known as the Caisse d’Epargne team, the Spanish-based team started under the name of Reynolds in 1980 and was then sponsored by Banesto and Iles Baleares before the French bank took over in 2006.
  • With predominantly Spanish riders, the team has already placed well in Oz with Jose Joaquin Rojas coming in 9th on a mass sprint and they’ll be hoping for plenty of wins on home soil and in the Vuelta.

The new kit looks good with the jersey and shorts combining nicely on the sides. The 24 riders of Team Movistar debut in January (now), with a dual appointment in Australia and Argentina, to continue to race the greats of the world calendar – the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Tour of Spain. Here, Team Movistar have a strong team and full of motivation, which aims to transfer the road to all towns and cities that compete, the values that make it unique to the team: passion for sport, teamwork and respect for the environment.

Equipment wise, the team are very lucky in that they will be racing on Campagnolo’s new electronic groupset – their rival to Di2. From the first images it looks good and the parts look to be integrated in a similar way to Di2:

  • Battery below bottle cages.
  • Front mech with the ‘brains’.

Click here to register your interest for the Team Movistar 2011 team kit.


Quickstep:

  • What would the Classic races be without some Belgian and Northern European attendance?
  • Strong as anything and with the calibre of riders we’d all like to have on board.
  • The rider’s names impress as you read on, Boonen, Chavanel, Chicchi, Ciolek, Pineau, Steegmans, Terpstra, Seeldraeyers and Kevin Van Impe to name but a few!
  • The new sponsorship by pillow company Innergetic and the continued support of Quick Step flooring should put the guys in a good position at the early races of the year.

Bike wise, the team continue on the Merckx’s which Chavanal famously rode to success in the 2010 Tour and even had his own super yellow version made for his time wearing the jersey. If these bikes can’t get them to the line first I don’t know what will!

Click here to register your interest for the Quickstep 2011 team kit.


Cannondale – Liquigas:

  • An Italian superteam with Giro winner Basso, Peter Sagan and Nibali. The squad has confirmed 18 riders for 2011 and revealed this list of 14 riders it recently confirmed for the next year or two.
  • Add Pellizotti to Basso and Nibali, you have three possible contenders for stage race winners – will this help them to thrash their rivals early season?
  • A co-sponsor team with Cannondale bikes and their “commitment to building the most technologically advanced bikes, with the Liquigas roster of world-class athletes you can’t help but come up with the perfect ride,”

Click here to register your interest for the Team Liquigas 2011 team kit.


Let us know below your favourite kits and who you’ll be cheering on through the UCI Pro season. We can’t wait to see the duels commence and let the sprints decide who’s the fastest man in the world.

We will of course be stocking all of the Pro Team cycling kits – look out here and on www.probikekit.com for the launches and massive range of kits which we always have in stock.



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