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New clothing maker L'Etape rolls out limited-edition jersey/shorts combos

Start-up offers stylish designs — but move quickly or they're gone

L'Etape is a new internet clothing company from the Netherlands, with a twist: every month they'll announce a new design of jersey and shorts and they'll only be available to order for a maximum of two weeks. After that, they're gone.

It's an intriguing idea for those who want something a bit more exclusive that the same Assos and Rapha gear everyone else is wearing.


13

L'Etape is kicking off with three designs: 13 celebrates the tradition of pinning on your race number upside-down if you draw 13; Hall of Fame gets inspiration from the painting of riders' names on the road on mountain stages; and Put the Hammer Down says 'Allez!' to the breakaway specialists who animate races. They're available to order until March 10.


Hall of Fame

Each edition will set you back €229.00 for a jersey and shorts, about £170 at today's exchange rate. That's not cheap, but it's not outrageous either, and shipping anywhere in the world is included.


Put the Hammer Down

The clothing's made in Italy and L'Etape claims only top-quality materials and pad are used. If they deliver on that promise then the price is, well, not exactly a bargain, but very decent value.

As well as the men's kit you'd expect from a start-up company, L'Etape are offfering their shorts and jerseys in women's cuts from the off.

Just in time for the cobbled classics, their next design will be Pavé:


L'Etape's Pavé design will be available to order from March 10-24.

As you'd expect, there's a promotional video too:

For all the info, take a look at Letape.nl

John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.

He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.

Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.

John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.

He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.

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12 comments

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Pengo69 | 9 years ago
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@dgmtc: l'etape seems to watch road.cc as well because they have changed the design. The outfit now has the proper flemish lion printed upon it!! Good work!

Avatar
mickcee | 9 years ago
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Would have to cycle up hills for my at that cost!

Avatar
dgmtc | 9 years ago
0 likes

Oh dear, yet another non-Belgian company that uses Belgian imagery but doesn't feel the need to do proper research and uses the right-wing version of the Flemish lion.
The Flemish lion they used comes from the 'Stijdvlag' (battle-flag) and is a symbol of the right-wing, separatist, xenophobe Flemish movement and is not an official symbol.
It's kinda like someone is making a jersey refering to American cycling and then puts the confederate flag on it.

And yet it is so simple, just wikipedia 'flag of flanders' and boom there you have it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Flanders

"But..." I hear you say "when watching the Flemish classics we see that lion on hundreds of flags along the course..". Yes indeed you do, but that is because there are right wing organisations specifically distributing thousands of little flags during those races to promote Flanders as an independent entity.

So please, if you want to do anything related to Flemish cycling, please please please use the official Flemish lion!

Avatar
tehcrash replied to dgmtc | 9 years ago
0 likes
dgmtc wrote:

So please, if you want to do anything related to Flemish cycling, please please please use the official Flemish lion!

Had to check, but my Stolen Goat jersey uses the correctly oriented lion. Yay!

Avatar
dgmtc replied to tehcrash | 9 years ago
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tehcrash wrote:
dgmtc wrote:

So please, if you want to do anything related to Flemish cycling, please please please use the official Flemish lion!

Had to check, but my Stolen Goat jersey uses the correctly oriented lion. Yay!

Yes but, even though the Stolen Goat 'Lion Hart' jersey has the correct lion design, it should ALWAYS have red claws and a red tongue.

Avatar
farrell replied to dgmtc | 9 years ago
0 likes
dgmtc wrote:

Oh dear, yet another non-Belgian company that uses Belgian imagery but doesn't feel the need to do proper research and uses the right-wing version of the Flemish lion.
The Flemish lion they used comes from the 'Stijdvlag' (battle-flag) and is a symbol of the right-wing, separatist, xenophobe Flemish movement and is not an official symbol.
It's kinda like someone is making a jersey refering to American cycling and then puts the confederate flag on it.

And yet it is so simple, just wikipedia 'flag of flanders' and boom there you have it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Flanders

"But..." I hear you say "when watching the Flemish classics we see that lion on hundreds of flags along the course..". Yes indeed you do, but that is because there are right wing organisations specifically distributing thousands of little flags during those races to promote Flanders as an independent entity.

So please, if you want to do anything related to Flemish cycling, please please please use the official Flemish lion!

Have you ever considered that they are right wing xenophobes and therefore have actually selected the correct flag?

Avatar
dgmtc replied to farrell | 9 years ago
0 likes

In that case they would not have used the Belgian flag and certainly not the French word 'Pavé' but rather the Flemish 'Kassei'.

Avatar
dgmtc replied to farrell | 9 years ago
0 likes
farrell wrote:

Have you ever considered that they are right wing xenophobes and therefore have actually selected the correct flag?

In that case they would not have used the Belgian flag as well and certainly not the French word 'Pavé' but rather the Flemish 'Kassei'.  16

Avatar
bikeandy61 | 9 years ago
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£170.00 for Jersey and shorts combined so equivalent to upper mid product brands?

Avatar
OnTheRopes | 9 years ago
0 likes

Nice looking kit and I'm sure some will buy it for it'd exclusivity but at Eu 229 for a jersey I for one will be hanging on to my hard earned cash

Avatar
rasalati replied to OnTheRopes | 9 years ago
0 likes
OnTheRopes wrote:

Nice looking kit and I'm sure some will buy it for it'd exclusivity but at Eu 229 for a jersey I for one will be hanging on to my hard earned cash

That seems to be the price for jersey and bibs. So ~£170 for bibs + jersey. I've seen worse pricing, and these are indeed some nice designs, but not for me, either!

Avatar
OnTheRopes replied to rasalati | 9 years ago
0 likes
rasalati wrote:
OnTheRopes wrote:

Nice looking kit and I'm sure some will buy it for it'd exclusivity but at Eu 229 for a jersey I for one will be hanging on to my hard earned cash

That seems to be the price for jersey and bibs. So ~£170 for bibs + jersey. I've seen worse pricing, and these are indeed some nice designs, but not for me, either!

Better than I thought then I guess but I shall pass for now

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