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Team kit as cartoon anatomy lesson? Another attention grabbing women's team kit from Latin America

It hasn't created the same stir as THAT 2014 kit, but Xirayas de San Luis outfit is certainly striking...

What is it with Latin American women’s teams? Back in 2014, one from a Colombian  made the news with a kit that seemed to have a nude panel on it, while this year a team from Argentina has not only one of the brightest kits we’ve seen, but one that at first glance seems to be based on a cutaway anatomical model.

The kit belongs to UCI Continental team Xirayas de San Luis, shown in the picture above at the presentation of the Tour Femenino de San Luis 2016. As a description of the kit goes, it’s difficult to top this one from VeloNews journalist Dan Wuori.

The kit does seem to be a hit with fans, though – currently, it is in second place on a poll on the blog Prowomenscycling.com for the best kit outside the UCI Women’s WorldTour.

In September 2014, the Colombian IDRD-Bogota Humana-San Mateo-Solgar women's team found itself at the centre of a storm as a result of this photo taken at the Giro della Toscana.

Worst womens cycling kit ever

The picture went viral and even UCI president Brian Cookson  chipped in, saying on Twitter “It is unacceptable by any standard of decency.”

It turned out however that the seemingly flesh coloured panel was in fact gold – the photograph had simply been taken in poor light.

The kit itself was designed by one of the team’s riders, Angie Tatiana Rojas, who explained that the colours chosen were simply "to highlight our team's sponsors, that was always the goal" and that neither she nor her team mates were embarrassed to wear it.

She added: "As an athlete, as a woman, as the cyclist that I am, I wouldn't be ashamed with this kind of design."

> Video: Colombian riders "not ashamed" of That Kit

Similarly the 2015 Xirayas de San Luis kit, shown below, could also appear flesh coloured, depending on the light ... not an accusation that can be levelled at this season’s outfit.

On closer inspection though, that’s an optical illusion on last year’s kit, which has a Missoni-inspired zig-zag motif.

Xirayas de San Luis 2015 kit.jpg

Of course, it’s not just in women’s cycling that kits can attract attention and even ridicule – remember Footon-Servetto’s gold kit with the giant black foot on it?

Footon-Servetto.png

Which kits – men’s or women’s – do you remember as being particularly striking for their design, good or bad?

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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4 comments

Avatar
J90 | 8 years ago
0 likes

I think I can see a penis.

Avatar
velo-nh | 8 years ago
2 likes

It's less boring than most any of the other team's kits, I like it.  

Men don't have much room to criticize, IMO.  Regardless of the color of mens' kits they're inevitably giving an anatomy lesson of their own.

 

Avatar
cdamian | 8 years ago
0 likes

That is a good looking kit.

And they look fast even standing still.

Avatar
JorgeSilva | 8 years ago
1 like

Why are we always judging garments?
Let them use whatever they want.
I like the colors and the moto behind it.

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