The presentation of the four official Santini jerseys for the La Vuelta 22 champions took place today in Madrid. A special version was unveiled too a few weeks ago (D-100) for the first three stages in the Netherlands. Four kits each dedicated to a separate stage of the iconic Spanish race were also given their first public outing in addition to the leader jerseys, which are made from recycled fabrics.
Santini Cycling Wear and Unipublic presented the official leader jerseys for La Vuelta 22 today in the La Grupetta store at the Parque Comercial Rio Norte shopping mall in the Spanish capital. Also unveiled were the four kits designed and made by Santini for the highlight stages of the iconic race which takes place between August 19th and September 11ththis year.
«We are delighted to be dressing the great La Vuelta champions once again this year – commented Monica Santini, CEO Santini Cycling Wear – and to be here today at this event to celebrate six years of very fruitful partnership!».
There will be five rather than the usual four official 2022 jerseys: the classifications leaders of the first three stages in the Netherlands will sport a special edition of La Roja in homage to the host cities: Breda, 's-Hertogenbosch and Utrecht. The Red Jersey for those stages was designed by the fashion designer Mattijs van Bergen, whose clients include the Queen of the Netherlands, Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti d'Orange-Nassau. He took his inspiration from the emblems of the three Dutch cities La Vuelta passes through: all use red and white motifs, lines and blocks which are combined with the blue of the Dutch flag to create a grid on the jersey.
Once La Vuelta returns to Spanish territory, the overall leader will swap back to the traditional red jersey sponsored by Carrefour, while the points leader will sport the Škoda-logoed Green Jersey. The Plenitude-branded White Jersey will go to the best young rider and the Polka Dot jersey sponsored by Loterías y Apuestas del Estado will be donned by the King of the Mountains.
All of the leader jerseys were produced in Santini’s Italian factory from extremely sustainable materials: Ecofabric RECY by Corno made using recycled yarn derived from recovered and recycled materials, and Native – Ecoknit by Sitip also made from fibres and yarn recycled without the use of polluting chemicals to reduce consumption of natural resources and dependency on non-renewable energy.
The general manager of La Vuelta, Javier Guillén celebrated “five years of profitable and mutual collaboration”. “The jerseys are the hallmark of any cycling stage race and for La Vuelta it is a pride and a joy to be equipped by Santini, one of the most efficient and prestigious brands in the market and probably the most stylish one !”, he added.
THE SPECIAL LA VUELTA 22 KITS
Alongside the official jerseys, each year Santini also makes several special kits dedicated to specific iconic La Vuelta stages and comprising jersey, bibshorts, socks and gloves.
The Asturias kit celebrates the eighth stage of the Spanish race which traverses the northern region and has a new finish-line at Colláu Fancuaya: the yellow and blue colours of the region’s flag set the tone for the Santini kit dedicated to this stage. The Victory Cross, which legend has it was carried by Pelagius, the first King of Asturias, into the Battle of Covadonga against the Moors, also features on the jersey and bibshorts.
La Vuelta 22’s 10th stage is a 31.1-kilometre time trial from Elche to Alicante. This kit was inspired by the Muralla Roja, a post-modern building on the Alicante coast designed by architect Ricardo Bofil in the early 1970s. The Muralla Roja’s façade ranges from pink to red and then sky blue to sea blue. Its unusual geometric forms follow the lines of the cliff it is perched on.
Dedicated to the Queen of this edition of La Vuelta, the Sierra Nevada kit celebrates the challenging climb. The white and green of the Andalusian flag provided the inspiration this time and are, of course, also to be seen in the stunning Sierra Nevada landscape. The kit will also feature a motif inspired by the Virgen de las Nieves (Virgin of the Snows) statue at the top of the Hoya de la Mora climb.
The La Vuelta 22 finish-line is in Madrid, the star of the Santini kit dedicated to the last stage. It sports the city’s coat of arms of a bear and a strawberry tree, of which there is a statue on the Puerta del Sol square. The kit is red – the La Vuelta colour – with a touch of orange in a nod to the Netherlands, host of the first three stages in the race.
Santini has also created three must-have cycling accessories to coordinate with these kits: a jacket, windproof vest and cap with a multi-colour, multi-striped motif. For leisure wear there is also a white t-shirt with coloured stripes.
Replicas of the leader jerseys and the four special kits will be available to buy from the Santini site, the official La Vuelta store, and select cycling stores worldwide.
OFFICIAL JERSEYS BY SANTINI, ALSO AT LA VUELTA VIRTUAL BY ROUVY
Besides dressing the leaders of the four classifications of La Vuelta 22, Santini’s jerseys will also be present in La Vuelta Virtual by ROUVY. Participants racing from home in this virtual edition of the race will be able to virtually wear the four jerseys on the ROUVY app thanks to their augmented reality technology.
