Jumbo-Visma will sport a new darker look at this year's Tour de France, with the Dutch squad opening a fan vote to decide their jersey design at the July Grand Tour.
The team, who usually race in a yellow kit with black and red accents, have taken the decision this year to race the Tour in a black jersey, with yellow reduced to an accent colour. The move comes after talks with Tour organiser ASO as the team look to avoid a clash with the race leader's yellow jersey.
"Since the last edition of the Tour de France we have been in talks with the organisation ASO. Out of respect for the yellow jersey we and our main sponsors Jumbo and Visma wanted to think along to adapt our jersey," said Jumbo-Visma general manager Richard Plugge.
"This presented us with quite a challenge. We have taken this as an opportunity to involve cycling fans in our team as never before. So, the ‘ninth’ man will be at the start in Brest with our team of eight.
Fans are able to choose from three different designs, including 'the black bee', 'the rapid rebel', and 'the transition'. All three feature a largely black and grey colour scheme, with fans' names to be added as part of the pattern later.
The vote is open until April 15 on Jumbo-Visma's website, with the designs available for purchase from April 19-28. The winning design is set to adorn Primož Roglič, Wout van Aert and their teammates when they line up in Brest on June 26.
It's far from the first time that a team has changed their look for the Tour de France. In 2008, Saunier Duval switched from their yellow kits to a whiter version, though their race was remembered more for the positive tests of Riccardo Riccò and Leonardo Piepoli.
During the 1990s and 2000s, both ONCE and Mercatone Uno switched from their usual yellow jerseys to pink get-ups, with Alex Zülle and Joseba Beloki both gracing the podium for the Spanish squad, while Marco Pantani famously won the Ventoux stage in 2001 wearing pink.
Further back in cycling history, Kas switched from yellow to blue during the sponsor's two stints in the peloton.
