Vote: Which clothing brand will sponsor Team Sky in 2017?

So Rapha’s sponsorship of Team Sky will come to an end at the conclusion of the 2016 season, but what clothing brand will replace the British clothing company in 2017?

- Rapha and Team Sky to part ways at end of 2016

Rapha has sponsored Team Sky since 2013, taking over from adidas, the first clothing sponsor of the new British team when it founded in 2009. Even though 2017 is a long time away, it’s likely any deal will be done well before then. Our bet is a deal will be done by the New Year, hence why Rapha is announcing the news now. If not, it at least gives Team Sky plenty of time to arrange a new clothing sponsor.

How much might a new sponsor have to fork out to replace Rapha? That nugget of information has never been revealed, but details of Team Sky’s accounts do show us that in 2013, Sky’s performance sponsors - Pinarello, Shimano, Rapha, Jaguar - paid a combined £5.8 million.

Rapha, of course, has done more than just dress Team Sky, it has been pushed by the company famous for its quest for marginal gains, to develop new garments to help Chris Froome and Bradley Wiggins meet the challenges of racing at the highest level in the toughest conditions. It's likely the next clothing company will need a similar approach.

So what clothing company might be dressing Team Sky in 2017? Will it be another British clothing brand, or will it be a brand that doesn’t currently have a deal with a WorldTour team? 

Here are our tips for the clothing brand that is most likely to succeed Rapha, and you can have your vote at the bottom. Voting is open until Midnight and we'll bring you the result tomorrow.

So what are the criteria we think a possible Team Sky kit supplier needs to meet? Here's some more insight from editor Tony Farrelly:

First they either need to have the money and capacity to cope with being Sky’s kit sponsor. 

Second they need to have some sort of track record for quality and technical innovation. 

Any other criteria? Well looking at Rapha and adidas - we’d say the sort of company that’s likely to want the Sky gig is either a big sports clothing brand that wants to get bigger in cycling or a boutique cycling brand that wants to step up to the next level. 

Other things that might play a part? Well for all Sky’s focus on marginal gains and technical innovation they aren’t afraid to go with classic kit that just works - Pinarello make great bikes, but (look away now Pinarello fans) we’d argue they aren’t at the very leading edge of technical innovation. Of course, that isn’t a bad place to be when it comes to  learning and improving on others mistakes. 

Oh, and don’t overlook the importance the Italian market to Sky as a company - they’re big there. The team rides Italian bikes, and wear Italian helmets and have made a habit of employing Italian riders and support staff. A lot of the big names in cycle clothing are Italian but do date none has supplied Team Sky - there’s got to be a good chance that will change.

Favourites

Assos 2/1
Legendary clothing company that is probably due a spot in the WorldTour. Classic kit but with a track record of technical innovation and very high quality. The purists choice

X-Bionic 5/1
Super high tech knitted clothing, logos etc would have to be knitted but Sky's is pretty simple right? Advocates of technical clothing as a second skin. The marginal gains candidate. Big, but want to be bigger - a team looks a logical next step. Swiss, but might as well be Italian
Read our X-Bionic reviews here

Santini 8/1
Sponsors Lotto Jumbo but might want to upgrade its team? Classic Italian kit with a long and distinguished racing heritage. Claimed by some to be the real source of many teams' actual kit - we'll take that with a large pinch of salt, but there's no doubting they are very highly regarded
Read our Santini reviews here

Craft 12/1
Used to sponsor Trek Factory Racing, now partnered with the small Novo Nordisk. Time to step up to the big league again?
Read our Craft reviews here

Outsiders

MOA 16/1
Currently supplies Astana but how much longer will that team be around for?
Read our Moa reviews here

Etxeondo 20/1
Is it happy with the  Giant-Alpecin that it currently sponsors? Another company with a reputation for technical excellence - especially when it comes to shorts
Read our Etxeondo reviews here

adidas 50/1
Used to sponsor Team Sky, and has been expanding its cycle clothing range in recent years, so could return to its former team?
Read our adidas reviews here

Castelli  60/1
Already has two WorldTour teams, but the brand is popular with British cyclists so could a change be in the air?
Read our Castelli reviews here

Vulpine 200/1
Another British brand to follow in Rapha’s footsteps? Unlikely, but you never know
Read our Vulpine reviews here