Uniforms 2008

New kits are currently making their debut down under as riders embark on the new season. So what better time than now to pontificate on who'll look snazziest in 2008? My best and worse uniforms for the coming season.

Bob Stapleton had to scramble this year after his main title sponsor, T-Mobile, pulled their sponsorship. Now Team High Road, Stapleton's team no longer boasts the familiar magenta of T-Mobile. Instead, High Road consists of a boring black outfit that looks very much like it was made at home by High Road team director's Bob Stapleton's wife. Also in the above link is a peek at the new Silence-Lotto outfit, being modeled by a not quite on-form Robbie McEwin at this week's 2008 Tour Down Under. Notice the green and yellow stripes on Robbie's sleeves, signifying that he is a past Australian national champion.

Another notable kit change is at CSC, where they have managed to completely ruin a previously great uniform. Check out the previous kit before checking out the new one. Even Stuey would admit that he liked last year's version better.

Over at Astana, Johan Bruyneel promised a drastically different look to the team, one that would feature less of that aweful turquoise/yellow combo. Wrong. The kit this year is only slightly different from last, as you can see. I for one am not a huge fan of either version.

And what about team Slipstream powered by Chipotle? Last year they featured some of the coolest uniforms in cycling, employing an argyle motif that had never been seen before. This year, they invited fans to design the kit, and they picked the "best" of all entries. So what do you think? I say go back to the old layout here too. Probably won't happen though. Shoot, at least they kept the argyles.

Some teams really didn't change that much. Rabobank, Gerolsteiner, Cofidis, Liquigas, La Francaise des Jeux, Caisse d'Epargne, Credit Agricole, AG2R, Lampre, Milram and Saunier-Duvall all look about like they did last year. Rosters are for a seperate post.

So who is the early front runner or best uniform of 2008? I think I'll go with the classic Caisse d'Epargne kit. Velvet black and blood red, the Spanish outfit will have a classy look for 2008. Hopefully they won't have their star rider Alejandro Valverde banned for being involved in Operation Puerto.

Good times: Can Valverde re-capture his 2006 form (here winning ahead of CSC's Karsten Kroon at the Fleche Wallonne, only days before his more prestigious victory at the oldest classic, Liege-Bastogne-Liege) while dodging doping allegations in 2008? Time will tell.

Briggs Heaney