Cycling NZ hits brakes on Bennett’s national black jersey design
An All Blacks-inspired jersey specially designed for newly-crowned national champion George Bennett has been rejected by Cycling New Zealand ahead of its unveiling at Paris-Nice next weekend.
Bennett earned the right to wear his national colours on the WorldTour after winning the men’s road race at the New Zealand championships in Cambridge this month.
But his Jumbo-Visma team is scrambling to get another jersey produced in time for Paris-Nice after the black design submitted to Cycling NZ was rejected by the national organisation because of an issue regarding its colour scheme.
Cycling NZ had registered a white jersey with a black fern to the UCI ahead of 2021 but the design Jumbo-Visma and apparel sponsor Agu came up with was mainly black with white sleeves and a white fern.
Had Bennett worn the black jersey, Jumbo-Visma would have risked being sanctioned by the sport’s governing body.
‘‘They said they wanted a white jersey with a black fern and this was a black jersey with a white fern,’’ Bennett said.
‘‘But when you think about New Zealand sport, you think of the black jersey. When you go to the Olympics they hand you the black singlet.
‘‘That’s the iconic New Zealand sporting thing that you think of and there’s a lot of people who have gone before me who have worn different jerseys.
‘‘But at the end of the day the national federation has to be happy with the jersey and they weren’t, and that’s it.’’
In a statement, Cycling NZ chief executive Jacques Landry said it was ‘‘simply not possible nor is it the correct process’’ to make fundamental changes to the jersey on the request of ‘‘one national champion’’.
‘‘We appreciate the work George and his team have done on a concept change for the New Zealand national championship jersey,’’ Landry said.
‘‘Our current national championship jersey, which is a black fern on a white shirt, is registered with the UCI for 2021, so in short it is not possible to change that registration with the year already under way.
‘‘We have national champions across all of our disciplines and events who wear the same shirt with the same registered design.
‘‘We also provide guideline specifications to national champions and their teams if they wish to reproduce the shirt with their own clothing manufacturer.’’
Although disappointed that he will not be able to wear the black jersey, Bennett said he was still proud to race in the national colours after winning the New Zealand championships for the first time in his career.
‘‘Of course it’s a shame. It was a beautiful jersey. But I don’t want to take anything away from wearing the national jersey,’’ Bennett said.
‘‘When you think about New Zealand sport, you think of the black jersey. When you go to the Olympics they hand you the black singlet.’’ George Bennett