Gallery: Dan Martin's new panda-friendly POC Octal helmet

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The bamboo motif runs front to back between the Octal's generous vents (Image credit: Adrian Cockle / WWF-Canon)

This article first appeared in Bike Radar

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To celebrate the partnership between Team Garmin-Sharp and the Worldwide Wildlife Fund, Dan Martin will be wearing a specially designed, bamboo-inspired POC Octal helmet during the Tour of Beijing. The new-look helmet was created by East London designer Steve Edge and will be auctioned at the end of the race to raise funds for the WWF's global conservation efforts.

Garmin-Sharp and the WWF joined up, with the logo featuring on the back of the team's jersey. The partnership came about after a long running joke on social media, which began with Martin being chased by a fan dressed as a panda during his race-winning ride at the 2013 Liege-Bestogne-Liege. The Tour of Beijing took advantage of the link to the panda and going as far as having a panda corner during a stage of last year's race. Martin is targetting the overall classification at the Tour of Beijing, which begins on Friday.

See the photos here.