New Irish UCI Pro Continental team Aqua Blue Sport has unveiled its team kit for the 2017 season today and also announced some additional team sponsors for the coming season.
The kit has been developed in partnership with professional cycling clothing supplier Vermarc Sport and uses carbon-infused fabrics for optimum fit and performance.
The team also confirmed US manufacturer Knight Composites as suppliers of its race wheels for 2017 and German manufacturer Schwalbe is to provide the team’s tyres.
The team will be riding the full range of Knight clincher wheels in 35mm, 65mm and 95mm depths, built with bespoke Aivee SR5 hubs, Sapim CX Ray spokes and Schwalbe Pro One tyres. The Knight 65s will serve as superfast race wheels, while the lighter Knight 35s will be used for training and races with more mountainous terrain. Knight 95s will be raced on flatter, fast courses favoured by the team’s sprinters and in time trials.
The kit design incorporates the team’s signature colourway, featuring a dark navy base with gold and white piping on the sleeves and thighs.
Both the front and back of the jersey are dominated by large chevrons in striking gold, while the rear of the jersey and bib shorts features representations of the team’s gold shamrock logo.
The chevron echoes the name of the team and the scale of their ambition, the path of their direction and the peaks that they will climb. The gold shamrock, a prominent feature, represents the team’s Irish roots with the gold colour symbolising the team’s ambition as much as its origins.
On the right breast, the jersey carries the logo of kit suppliers and team sponsors Vermarc Sport and Knight Composites. The jersey collar showcases the Aqua Blue Sport logo and a pink ribbon for breast cancer awareness, a cause close to the heart of the team’s founders. The kit is finished off with a small tricolour inside the collar, again hearkening to its Irish roots.
Rick Delaney, Aqua Blue Sport owner was instrumental in the design and commented on the idea behind the kit, “We’re excited to reveal our team kit, bringing together many of the ideals that drive our team; our Irish heritage, our pursuit of excellence and our determination to bring a new model of stability and self-sustenance to professional cycling. To see a team rider wearing our colours, shortly after confirmation of our registration for 2017, is a dream come true for me but also just the beginning of the journey for Aqua Blue Sport. The next step is to seeing the jersey on our riders in competition.”
Commenting on Aqua Blue Sport’s partnership with Knight Composites, Rick Delaney said, “Beverly [Lucas, CEO Knight Composites] and her team have created an incredible product that we are proud to showcase on a global stage. We look forward to our riders enjoying to the benefits of Knight’s excellence in innovation, and to a long and fruitful partnership.”
Beverly Lucas, CEO of Knight Composites commented, “Aqua Blue Sport have been on our radar since the buzz first started, and so when we were approached to consider putting Knight wheels under the team, I was already sold on their objectives and their values. As the first ever Pro Conti team out of Ireland, they will have to work hard to prove themselves by getting ahead of the competition. I guess you could say the same about Knight Composites, we’re a small band of dedicated people who have the same commitment to making the best wheels out there, and this is why a partnership with Aqua Blue Sport is so attractive.”
