EF Education First Pro Cycling kick off the season in style.
The 2019 World Tour season got underway at the Tour Down Under this weekend and one team took all the attention ahead of the race. Back in October 2018 EF Education First Pro Cycling announced they’d be kitted out in Rapha clothing for the upcoming season, marking a new, unconventional chapter in professional cycling. The last World Tour team to unveil their kit, they were holding back something special. The new kit, along with the team edition Cannondale SystemSix bikes, is designed to disrupt the status quo of the professional peloton.
The Cannondale World Tour team has been through a number of guises since its inception, from the green argyle days up to the bright and bold kit of last season. Team manager Jonathan Vaughters has been there from the beginning and will be overseeing the squad take on an alternative 2019 calendar. Riders will tackle the iconic races of the World Tour as well as participating in some more unconventional events such as the Leadville 100, the Three Peaks Cyclocross race and the Taiwan KOM challenge.
The team is stacked with an array of talent, with GC contenders Rigoberto Uran and Michael Woods hunting for grand tour success while maverick riders like Lachlan Morton and Taylor Phinney take things off the beaten path and explore new avenues.
The riders will be racing on the all-new Cannondale SystemSix in a distinctive team edition colourway at the Tour Down Under, a bike that will be available for sale in the near future. Cannondale’s first real aero bike was launched last year around the Tour de France and at the time EF Education Drapac rider Alex Howes described the SystemSix as the fastest bike he’s ever ridden – “In races I feel like I’m cheating. It’s an absolute weapon. The stiffness while sprinting is next level yet it handles just as well as the SuperSix Evo. Cannondale nailed it.”
