ASO announces five-year partnership with Italian brand to supply leaders jerseys from 2022
(Image credit: Santini)
Amaury Sport Organization, the company behind the Tour de France, has announced Santini as a new official partner to the race. As of 2022, the Italian brand will supply all official jerseys for the Tour de France leaders, as well as the leaders of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, and the amateur riders competing in the L’Étape du Tour, in a deal that will extend through to 2027. The brand will also produce official replica jerseys that will be on sale to the public.
The move marks an end to a decade-long spell in which Le Coq Sportif has supplied the leaders jerseys after the French brand took over from Nike ahead of the 2012 Tour.
“Signing this agreement was a hugely emotional experience for us and we are genuinely thrilled to announce this partnership with the Tour de France,” says Monica Santini, CEO of Santini Cycling Wear. “It marks the continuation of a relationship with ASO, begun with the sponsorship of La Vuelta and followed on with the Deutschland Tour. Now we have also added the most important race on the international cycling calendar to our tally.”
Next year's Yellow Jersey will be supplied by Santini (Image credit: Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP/Getty Images)
The announcement comes in addition to Santini's existing agreements with the UCI and UEC, in which the brand supplies the podium jerseys for the rainbow and European champions. The Italian brand has also supplied the leaders jerseys for the Vuelta a España since 2016, in a deal that was penned for five years. It's unconfirmed whether that agreement will continue.
Yann Le Moenner, CEO of ASO, said: “We are glad and proud to welcome Santini on the Tour de France. A new chapter has opened itself for the leader jerseys of La Grande Boucle thanks to this historic brand of cycling equipment. It will offer high-performance products with creative designs to both the elite of world cycling and the regular amateur riders who will once again be present on all the events organized by ASO.”
Founded in 1965 by Pietro Santini, the Italian brand comes with a rich heritage and race history, starting with its official UCI World Champion and World Cup leader’s jerseys back in 1988, and the creation of a long-lasting relationship with the Giro d’Italia and Maglia Rosa five years later. Since then Santini has formed a multitude of high-profile partnerships and collaborations, with the likes of Lizzie Deignan, the Australian National Cycling Team, La Vuelta, Trek-Segafredo, and the Tour de Suisse. Now with the announcement of this five-year partnership, it adds the Tour de France to this list.
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Mildred joined as Reviews Writer for Cyclingnews and BikePerfect in December 2020. She loves all forms of cycling from long-distance audax to daily errand-running by bike, and does almost everything on two wheels, including moving house, and started out her cycling career working in a bike shop. For the past five years she's volunteered at The Bristol Bike Project as a mechanic and session coordinator, and now sits on its board of directors.
Since then she's gone on to write for a multitude of cycling publications, including Bikeradar, Cycling Plus, Singletrack, Red Bull, Cycling UK and Total Women's Cycling. She's dedicated to providing more coverage of women's specific cycling tech, elevating under-represented voices in the sport, and making cycling more accessible overall.
