{"id":381679,"date":"2026-01-01T15:14:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T15:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/381679\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T15:14:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T15:14:09","slug":"pushing-boundaries-together-ef-education-easypost-and-ef-education-oatly-partners-with-new-kitmaker-assos-following-split-with-rapha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/381679\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Pushing boundaries together&#8217; &#8211; EF Education-EasyPost and EF Education-Oatly partners with new kitmaker Assos following split with Rapha"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"0ec6bd7d-d817-4092-acda-cba4e99b4de1\">After <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/news\/rapha-pulls-plug-on-ef-sponsorship-ending-12-year-stint-in-the-worldtour\/\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/news\/rapha-pulls-plug-on-ef-sponsorship-ending-12-year-stint-in-the-worldtour\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">splitting with long-time kit supplier Rapha<\/a>, EF Education-EasyPost and EF Education-Oatly will race in Assos kit from 2026 onwards.<\/p>\n<p>The EF men&#8217;s team had been clad in British brand Rapha since the 2018 season, but the partnership came to a close at the end of 2025. Now, the long-rumoured collaboration with Swiss brand Assos has been confirmed.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"elk-seasonal\" data-url=\"\" href=\"\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"0ec6bd7d-d817-4092-acda-cba4e99b4de1-2\" class=\"paywall\" aria-hidden=\"true\">The first kit made for the team by Assos sees a move away from the previous argyle pattern, which harks back to the men&#8217;s team&#8217;s early days as Slipstream and Garmin almost 20 years ago. Instead, the 2026 kit features a grid pattern over a swirling jersey design while retaining the team&#8217;s modern colourway of pink and white.<\/p>\n<p>You may like<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\" aria-hidden=\"true\">&#8220;Assos has a long history of setting the standard for innovation in cycling. They&#8217;ve been pushing boundaries since before many of our riders were born,&#8221; said team CEO Jonathan Vaughters of the brand, which had manufactured cycling clothing since 1976.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\" aria-hidden=\"true\">&#8220;My first pair of bibs were Assos, and they were a revelation. Decades later, they&#8217;re still leading the way, producing the most technically advanced clothing in the peloton, and our riders can feel that every time they suit up.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\" aria-hidden=\"true\">&#8220;This partnership is rooted in creating the fastest and best-looking kit in cycling. We&#8217;re excited to keep pushing boundaries together.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\" aria-hidden=\"true\">The brand will provide kits to both the men&#8217;s and women&#8217;s EF teams, with the 2026 looks apparently &#8220;inspired by themes of exploration and discovery&#8221; while retaining the signature look of the WorldTour and Women&#8217;s WorldTour squads.<\/p>\n<p class=\"newsletter-form__strapline\">The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!<\/p>\n<p>The new kit &#8220;[introduces] a new, almost other\u2011worldly energy to the peloton,&#8221; Assos say.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\" aria-hidden=\"true\">&#8220;Designed as a complete <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/tag\/performance\/\" data-auto-tag-linker=\"true\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/tag\/performance\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">performance<\/a> system, the kit blends form and function, using colour, materials, and construction with the same purpose\u2011driven intent as Assos\u2019 engineering philosophy \u2013 every element serving a role in the pursuit of speed.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The new look will be sported by team leaders <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/riders\/ben-healy\/\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/riders\/ben-healy\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ben Healy<\/a>, C\u00e9drine Kerbaol, Richard Carapaz, and <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/riders\/kristen-faulkner\/\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/riders\/kristen-faulkner\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kristen Faulkner<\/a> next season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\" aria-hidden=\"true\">What remains to be seen, however, is how Assos will handle the yearly change in kits during the Giro d&#8217;Italia following a series of eye-catching switch-out designs at the Corsa Rosa, including the <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/news\/rapha-and-palace-create-radical-giro-ditalia-team-kit-for-ef-pro-cycling\/\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/news\/rapha-and-palace-create-radical-giro-ditalia-team-kit-for-ef-pro-cycling\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">off-the-wall 2020 Palace collaboration<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:66.67%;\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/z39z8ZQB8Di2haqDrUZQcb.jpg\" alt=\"EF Education-EasyPost and EF Education-Oatly 2026 kits by Assos\"   loading=\"lazy\" data-new-v2-image=\"true\" data-original-mos=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/z39z8ZQB8Di2haqDrUZQcb.jpg\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/z39z8ZQB8Di2haqDrUZQcb.jpg\" class=\"inline\"\/>\n<\/p>\n<p>The argyle has gone but the pink remains for EF (Image credit: Jered Gruber &amp; Ashley Gruber | Gruber Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After splitting with long-time kit supplier Rapha, EF Education-EasyPost and EF Education-Oatly will race in Assos kit from&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":381680,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-381679","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381679"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381679\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/381680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}