La Passione Duo Jersey Woman

The La Passione Duo Women's Jersey is a lightweight, breathable jersey that's made from high quality materials and feels lush to wear. It's great that this comfy performance jersey is also available in several stunning colours.

La Passione has expanded its female-specific offerings to include the Duo jersey. It comes in a selection of beautiful two tone options: Graphite/Burgundy (as seen here), Natural Sand, or Cherry/Blue.

Various blends of polyester and elastane have been used in different locations. The fabric feels almost silky smooth, and it's also super thin.

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The stretchy material gives a skin-tight fit – the jersey sits close, but is still comfortable for longer outings. The low-cut collar sits flush against the skin.

The downside of the lightweight fabric is that it's slightly see through, so your bra could be visible, depending on its shade.

The sleeves are laser cut at the end, and there's no stitching here or and silicone grippers. This is great as there are no pressure points or irritations, but the fit needs to be spot on for the sleeves to stay put while riding.

Following La Passione's sizing guide puts me at the bottom end of a size medium, and though I found the fit spot on around my chest, the sleeves didn't quite hold my proportionally narrow arms tightly enough. They shifted upwards, creating some bagginess over the shoulders. Sizing down to the small, the fit was much improved. The sleeves hugged my arms and were unnoticeable while riding.

Given the stretchiness of the material, if you're on the edge of sizes and have particularly skinny arms I'd say it's worth sizing down. The size small still fitted me well across my 88cm chest – it wasn't too tight at all.

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The arms extend halfway to the elbow, slightly longer than some, but not ridiculously long for aero gains. This is my preferred length; it's long enough for easy pairing with arm warmers, but still provides plenty of tanning potential.

The hem is elasticated at the front, while the rear has a silicone strip tucked inside. The tail is only slightly dropped, but still provides enough coverage when shifted forward, and it stays in place well.

The Duo has three standard, evenly-sized pockets at the rear, with slightly angled sides for easier access. There's no zipped pocket though, for safely stashing valuables.

As the pace ramps up, the Duo works well thanks to the mesh side panels and perforated back.

It's been a rather cool spring so I haven't had blistering hot sunny weather for testing, but I've worn it on the turbo during killer workouts and found the breathability is excellent.

The thin fabric dries incredibly quickly after rain, and also gives UV 50+ sun protection whenever the summer heat finally does arrive.

High quality fabrics are used and there's lots of attention to the detail. The zip is colour-matched with the burgundy shade that covers most of the jersey, and there are hidden zip guards top and bottom.

Priced at £80, the Duo is very good value for a close-fitting, lightweight summer jersey. Rapha's comfortable aero-fitting Pro Team Crit jersey is much more expensive at £110, and the Duo is even a tad cheaper than Bioracer's high-quality Epic Women Jersey Camo Dot (£88).

Overall, the Duo is a stylish, light and effective jersey that's stretchy, breathable and very comfortable to wear.

Verdict

Brilliant, breathable jersey with looks that match its top performance