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Is this the worst team kit ever? Colombian women's team suffer spectacular wardrobe malfunction

Red, yellow and... er, nude kit raises eyebrows, but Giro Toscana face stiff competition for worst team kit title

Is this the most disastrous cycling kit of all time? A Colombian national ladies’ cycling team have raised eyebrows across the world.

The poor ladies, cycling in the Giro Toscana this week, discovered they appeared to be showing off more than they intended in a stunningly badly designed ‘nude-look’ skin suit.

One Twitter user, @theBikeFaerie, posted a photo captioned: “Worst designed garment of clothing in the history of the human race.”

Other users shared it more than 1600 times, one commenting: “Why would someone agree to wear it?!” and another saying: “Extraordinary that someone would design it and even more extraordinary that any woman would wear it!! :-)”

It’s not the first time the figure hugging properties of Lycra have been exploited by kit designers.

In 2010 we reported this shocker from ProTour team Footon-Servetto-Fuji, for whom officially, the colour scheme, dreamt up by the artist Dario Urzay, is described as gold and black. That season however the ‘gold’ was more of a flesh tone. And the main motif on the shirt was a large, black footprint. All of which means that any rider wearing the kit looks like a giant has discovered them in the altogether and, outraged, has decided to stamp on them. With the foot he's just dipped in a big pool of black ink.

 

More recently the 2013 Boels -Dolmans kit, as modelled here by Lizzie Armitstead, was somewhat over-designed to accentuate the positive...

Possibly intentional too was the attire chosen by Team Near Naked Men a slightly bonkers charity effort to raise money for the Male Cancer Awareness Campaign - well it certainly got our attention.
 

 

Seen any wardrobe malfunctions recently? Let us know in the comments below.

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26 comments

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Gordy748 | 9 years ago
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Wow, some of you folks seriously have very little to do.

Female rider designs her own kit that incorporates part of her team's country's cultural identity. Perhaps it was clumsily executed, but inferring it's ridiculous and appalling the women are taking part in it? Seriously?

Compare with Lizzie Armitstead whose kit has clearly been designed to look like a BDSM corset.

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koko56 replied to Gordy748 | 9 years ago
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Gordy748 wrote:

Wow, some of you folks seriously have very little to do.

Female rider designs her own kit that incorporates part of her team's country's cultural identity. Perhaps it was clumsily executed, but inferring it's ridiculous and appalling the women are taking part in it? Seriously?

Compare with Lizzie Armitstead whose kit has clearly been designed to look like a BDSM corset.

Or maybe Spade?

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truffy | 9 years ago
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Although still not great, this is at least slightly better, and shows the points made above that it's actually gold colour:

Still a pretty uninspiring design, but that's just my opinion, I'm no designer.

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Ghostie | 9 years ago
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In my best attempt to be Sherlock Holmes or some other detective (is there a cycling equivalent?), I looked it up to see what the fuss is about and specifically looked at various pics posted on Twitter by Angie Tatiana Rojas who I believe designed it. Unfortunately, she hasn't mentioned anything about her thinking for the design and neither has anyone asked her (who can speak Spanish that is).

The so-called flesh bit is gold but there is a distinctive darker pattern very similar in design to the engraving on one exhibit at the Bogota Gold Museum called the San Agustin armband - the team has a direct link with Bogota (beyond just being Colombian) - as the government (Bogota Humana) is one of the sponsors while Rojas comes from there. The team jacket also has the same gold, albeit a smaller flash lining at the bottom of the jacket. If that's right, then the designer has been on the receiving end by the international media and on social media of something completely blown out of proportion due to one poorly lit photo.

After reading the fuss on Twitter and all over t'Internet, will be interested to see what comes back, so I can walk off smugly into the sunset with another case successfully solved. Or maybe not.

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daviddb | 9 years ago
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I'm only here because I thought this was the article about the benefits of shaving....

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Stumps | 9 years ago
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I have to admit it doesn't look good.

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euanlindsay | 9 years ago
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When in reality the kit looks completely different in person. It's golden not flesh coloured. Imagine how a team managed to go an entire season without causing a fuss and then one picture appears that is washed out and processed to look that way

https://twitter.com/jonocoulter/status/511375818673491968

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bikebot | 9 years ago
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That's just ridiculous, and appalling for the ladies taking part.

Even worse, I keep wondering what it looks like from the back. Not because I want to oogle the teams bottoms, but because I'm curious if it is just as ridiculous. Must resist urge... or maybe ask the GF to look for me... no that's probably worse.

Can we change the story please?

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marche | 9 years ago
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As usual, bike clothing tends to be full of sponsors logos and colors. A lot of riders like to wear the same jersey as their favorite pro hero despite the fact that it is just advertising and not stylish at all.

And then, as it happens, you see the shape of things - things that actually exist, you know! Nipples, breasts, genitals etc.

Oh, don't forget, you can see the rider's bum, naked arms and legs. Before wearing helmets, they even used to appear in public without a proper hat on!

Then there were pro riders seen with a wide open jersey showing actual naked skin - not just it's pure color. And some puritans claimed the lack of good manners again…

If you don't want to show the shape of your twat or groin, then wear a black dress.
If you don't like my shapes: close your eyes!

cheers

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Chuffy | 9 years ago
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The Polish men's team springs to mind. The Colombian team kit is awful, but there are plenty of other terrible examples. It's not uniquely dreadful as some would like to make out.

* - I see Jimmy beat me to it...

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hairyairey | 9 years ago
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The worst kit would have to be the all white kit I saw being worn by a female rider in the Etape one year. Once sweaty it was transparent. I nearly fell off my bike!

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j1mmy76 | 9 years ago
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And in the interest of balance, here's the Poland kit from a few years ago.
http://cyclebucket.com/images/poland.jpg

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notfastenough replied to j1mmy76 | 9 years ago
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j1mmy76 wrote:

And in the interest of balance, here's the Poland kit from a few years ago.
http://cyclebucket.com/images/poland.jpg

Hahaha, who sponsored them, a boiled-egg smuggler?!

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mrmo | 9 years ago
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What is the point of pro sport?

I would say the kit is working perfectly.

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notfastenough | 9 years ago
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That this is a national federation kit is indicative of how women are valued/viewed in South America generally, (and that's why this does matter Beaufort) and really isn't acceptable. Do the UCI not have minimum standards around public decency?

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Beaufort | 9 years ago
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It's just a cycling kit. Be outraged by something that matters.

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BigAl68 | 9 years ago
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Quite how anyone thought this was a good idea baffles me. However there was someone who knew the international coverage it would get so they certainly knew what they were doing. The women in the team who I am sure had no say so in wearing this must have been mortified and highly offended as @spin sugar has already pointed out. When will we move into the 21st century as a sport?

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Northernbike replied to BigAl68 | 9 years ago
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BigAl68 wrote:

. However there was someone who knew the international coverage it would get so they certainly knew what they were doing. ?

isn't it the apparent lack of coverage which is the issue here though?

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BigAl68 replied to Northernbike | 9 years ago
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Northernbike wrote:
BigAl68 wrote:

. However there was someone who knew the international coverage it would get so they certainly knew what they were doing. ?

isn't it the apparent lack of coverage which is the issue here though?

I agree. If this is the only way to get coverage then the UCI and national federation needs to look at themselves and worry.

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mathelo | 9 years ago
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What was the point? It's not even attractive or sexy or anything positive that I can think of. Must be some poor excuse for getting attention, which they got ... but not the good kind.

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georgeince | 9 years ago
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Not like they're now getting international media attention... Sponsors have got their money's worth!

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Peowpeowpeowlasers | 9 years ago
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The designer knew EXACTLY what he/she was doing.

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mattsccm | 9 years ago
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Most amusing actually  24

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spin sugar replied to mattsccm | 9 years ago
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mattsccm wrote:

Most amusing actually  24

Amusing? Try and put yourself in the cycling shoes of these young women. As if they don't have it hard enough trying to make a career in this sport, they've had to decide on wearing this shite vs breaching contracts and consequently become a laughing stock. I don't think it's very amusing at all, I think it's extremely sad and disappointing.

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banzicyclist2 | 9 years ago
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Shamefull, someone needs sacking. Not funny!  22

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Leodis | 9 years ago
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Team Brazil

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