Rapha's new Team USA kit drops tradition in favor of pastels
New USA Cycling apparel sponsor Rapha wasted no time coming up with its first kit design for the national team. The new design, called Lightspeed, is a significant departure from past kit graphics that leaned heavily on a traditional stars-and-stripes motif in primary flag colors. The new one incorporates those elements in a muted pattern of pastel hues, although the large, block-letter USA on the chest, back and side panels on the navy blue shorts makes no mistake about who's wearing it.
In the release announcing the new kits, USA Cycling and Rapha noted that riders had requested lighter colors for hot weather. Less of a focus of discussion – perhaps for competitive reasons – are the technical details of the pieces, in particular those related to aerodynamics.
