Movistar have announced they will be switching kit sponsors at the end of the season, as La Passione join the Spanish WorldTour team.
La Passione Cycling Couture will be making the foray into top-level cycling for the first time, joining forces with the longest standing outfit in the peloton.
Movistar, home to superstar riders Alejandro Valverde and Annemiek van Vleuten, will be wearing the Italian kit of La Passione across both the men’s and women’s teams.
Founder of La Passione, Guiliano Ragazzi, said: “As many people already know, I have been passionate about cycling since I was a child. Therefore, I am extremely proud to announce that this agreement has been finalised.
"After this period of continuous growth that our company has enjoyed in recent years, we felt that the time had come to start a new chapter for La Passione by entering the professional sports world as a partner of an important WorldTour team. We chose the team with the longest tradition.”
Movistar has been part of the peloton since 1980, previously racing under the names Caisse d’Epargne and before that Banesto.
In 2011, Spanish telecoms company Movistar signed up as headline sponsor and have stuck with the team run by Eusebio Unzué ever since.
Team manager Unzué said: “For us, two main goals have always been tried to achieve when we chose who to join forces with when it comes to any sort of equipment: boosting our performance, and aiming at those pieces to look great. In that sense, I feel like we’re going to reach an optimum level in both respects with La Passione. It is a strong new brand with a very defined personality, as the Movistar Team is. These are two appealing brands working together to offer to the fans the most stylish cycling clothes.”
La Passione says it plans to create a minimalist style for Movistar’s 2022 kit, while will be unveiled in the near future.
Movistar currently wear kit provided by Alé, after signing a two year deal starting during the 2020 season.
>>> Sonny Colbrelli's Merida Reacto: the most 'normal' bike ever to have won Paris-Roubaix?
They have previously ridden in Scottish kit brand Endura, but Endura decided to step away from the WorldTour in 2019 after saying that it felt innovation was being hampered by the UCI, instead deciding to focus on advancing aerodynamic technology in triathlon.
