A company headed by a Yorkshire-born graphic designer has been handed the job of producing jerseys for the Tour de Yorkshire.
Milltag, founded by Leeds-born Ed Cowburn and his business partner Pete Kelsey, has designed and manufactured the podium jerseys for the eagerly-awaited event, which comes to Huddersfield and Calderdale on May 3.
The jerseys – which will be awarded on the race podium and will be unveiled in the coming weeks – include one for the overall race leader, the King of the Mountain and the sprint/points jersey.
The company has also created the official event jersey, which will be on general sale and which has now been unveiled.
Milltag has been creating designer cycling kit for five years. The company has collaborated with a number of artists and teams, including Matrix Pro Cycling and the British professional women’s team, which counts Laura Trott among its riders.
Milltag developed technical race wear for Matrix in their 2014 and 2015 seasons and as a result, the company has taken on a series of innovations to develop their professional level men’s and women’s cycling kit.
The Tour de Yorkshire is being organised by tourism body Welcome to Yorkshire and sporting events specialist Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO).
Although his firm is based in London, Ed commented: “Being a proud Yorkshireman, it’s a dream come true that we have been able to work with ASO and Welcome to Yorkshire on these jerseys for the first ever Tour de Yorkshire.
“We are an ambitious company with a strong desire to change the perception of cycle wear as lacking in style and character, so when the opportunity came up we knew this was our chance to show exactly what we can do.
“We took inspiration from the rich heritage of Yorkshire’s textile industry and used Welcome to Yorkshire’s iconic ‘Y’ logo to create a series of individual patterns for each of the winner’s jerseys which appear on the shoulders and pockets - you could say that we’ve woven Yorkshire into every jersey.”
Stage one of the new Tour de Yorkshire, on Friday, May 1, will start in Bridlington and finish in Scarborough. Stage two, on Saturday, May 2, will start in Selby and finish in York. Stage three on Sunday, May 3, will start in Wakefield and see riders race through Denby Dale, Holmfirth, Upperthong, Meltham, Marsden and Scapegoat Hill before looping through Calderdale on their way to the finish in Leeds.
