For ardent followers of De Ronde, there is a new collection of riding garments from La Passione, paying homage to the race
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Ride pavé in style and comfort(Image credit: La Passione)
As cycling fans prepare for the Spring Classics, there is added anticipation relating to which kit a favourite rider or team will be wearing this season.
But what if you feel more passion for a specific race, than any of the individual teams or riders? In the context of cycling’s monuments, that is often the case.
La Passione has produced a new range of jerseys and bib shorts that pay homage to De Ronde, with a design blending contemporary fabrics, with respectful colourways, and data-rich iconography.
As one would expect from an Italian active wear fashion house, La Passione’s design and product teams are staffed with people who obsess about rider ergonomics and cycling comfort. Beyond the brand’s inherent Italian design sensibility, La Passione also leverages its access to the finest Italian textile and fabric specialists.
(Image credit: La Passione)
Digital awareness and proven design
Garment design, premium fabrics and production quality are pillars of La Passione’s business philosophy. And beyond understanding what riders need, to be comfortable on a long outride, La Passione also recognizes the shift in consumer behaviour.
A digitally native vertical brand, La Passione comes to its customers instead of expecting them to venture into a physical store. Its consumer-direct online store is on-trend for how most riders transact, in a contemporary world, reinvesting the traditional dealer margin into better garments and a slicker online buying experience.
With its vertical integrated sourcing, production and distribution structure, La Passione’s customer direct retail model lowers pricing, increases convenience and retains premium garment quality.
All those core attributes are present with the De Ronde Collection. On both the men’s and women’s De Ronde Cobble jerseys, the classic black to grey colourway features a yellow transition on the front, which is shaped in the form of De Ronde’s route profile.
At the back, some of the race’s most celebrated segments are detailed in name, distance and average climbing gradient.
The left sleeve cuff contains the official race font as its graphic design element, whilst the right has a cobbled pattern, also featuring on the centre back pocket. This full Flemish race name is repeated on the De Ronde Collection bib shorts right leg gripper, whilst the left leg has the striking yellow route profile.
(Image credit: La Passione)
Perfect for pavé - and everywhere else
With its pro cut and combination of four fabrics, the De Ronde Collection Cobble jersey offers a seamless fit and pleasing comfort, in both men’s and women’s sizing. Breathable side panels keep you cool on those long spring and summer riders, whilst the jersey’s reference weight is only 124g.
For the De Ronde Collection, breathability was a design objective. Followers of De Ronde van Vlaanderen know that heat, dust and cobbles are amongst its most challenging attributes.
To keep the De Ronde Collection true to purpose, La Passione’s bib shorts have a highly breathable back mesh section. The Elastic Interface pad expertly supports rider weight, even when rolling over a section of cobbles, whilst also facilitating adequate airflow.
If De Ronde approved riding kit appeals to your inner Flandrien, which lurks in every rider, this new jersey offering from La Passione prices at €95.00, with the men’s only bib shorts retailing for €135.00. All items are available in a generous range of sizes (from XS-XXXL) and purchasable online, for your transactional convenience.
Lance Branquinho is a Namibian born media professional, with 15-years of experience in technology and engineering journalism covering anything with wheels. Being from Namibia, he knows a good gravel road when he sees one, and he has raced some of Africa’s best-known mountain bike stage races, such as Wines2Wales and Berg&Bush.
