Team Sky reveal Nicolas Roche's new Irish national champion's kit

The British team also revealed the skin suit of new Czech national time trial champion Leopold König

Nicholas Roche on stage eighteen of the 2015 Tour of Spain

(Image credit: Watson)

Not all national champions kits turn out well (just take a look at Tinkoff's current designs for Rafal Majka and Roman Kreuziger), but Team Sky have done a pretty decent job over the years of keeping it fairly classy.

That's predominantly been through British national champions, from Bradley Wiggins and Geraint Thomas in 2010 through to Peter Kennaugh's particularly elegant looking kit last year.

Despite no British champ in this year's roster after Adam Blythe (Tinkoff) took the win in Stockton-on-Tees in June, they've still got Nicolas Roche, who seriously impressed by taking both the national road race and time trial titles of Ireland for 2016/17.

Sky revealed designs of Roche's new Rapha national champs kit on Twitter on Monday, with a generally positive reception. There's no Irish colours around the torso, but a green hoop with a shamrock and the Irish colours on the sleeve.

See more

We'll assume there's no white shorts here based on Sky's track record, with the white base of the jersey set to complemented with some black bibs.

The team also revealed the colours of their other national champ, Czech time trial champion Leopold König. It's a fairly straightforward design to the skinsuit, with a white top and black bottoms with the Czech national colours.

See more

Roche is set to debut is new colours in the Tour of Poland, which starts on Tuesday, while König will have to wait until the final stage to show off his new skinsuit.

Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Richard Windsor

Follow on Twitter: @richwindy


Richard is digital editor of Cycling Weekly. Joining the team in 2013, Richard became editor of the website in 2014 and coordinates site content and strategy, leading the news team in coverage of the world's biggest races and working with the tech editor to deliver comprehensive buying guides, reviews, and the latest product news.


An occasional racer, Richard spends most of his time preparing for long-distance touring rides these days, or getting out to the Surrey Hills on the weekend on his Specialized Tarmac SL6 (with an obligatory pub stop of course).