AusCycling has revealed the team kit to be worn by the 29 Australian riders competing in the 2022 UCI Road World Championships, starting in Wollongong this weekend.
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Diversity and inclusion, and particularly the theme of reconciliation, are at the heart of the new kit.
The traditional green and gold strip is evident but the kit features a striking Indigenous pattern taken from an artwork commissioned by AusCycling to mark the beginning of its Reconciliation Action Plan.
The full artwork will be revealed by AusCycling when it launches that plan.
"AusCycling is committed to embedding the principles of diversity and inclusion within our organisation," AusCycling CEO Marne Fechner said.
"A key part of this is to strengthen connections between First Australians and cycling at all levels, starting with our first Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP). The first stage of this will be to set our vision for reconciliation.
"Hosting the Road World Championships in Australia for just the second time in over 100 years is an amazing opportunity to acknowledge the commencement of our RAP process, in a really tangible way.
"Now, every time our athletes compete on the world stage, they will be visibly highlighting our commitment to advancing reconciliation and inclusion."
The artwork was created by Chern'ee Sutton, a contemporary Indigenous artist from the Kalkadoon people.
Chern'ee explained that the artwork is her interpretation of AusCycling and its reconciliation journey.
"The green and gold community symbol in the bottom left of the artwork represents the Australian cycling team, proudly representing our nation.
"The travelling lines within symbolise the athletes travelling around the world to compete and the U symbols represent the men and women; the U's with coolamons and digging sticks are women and the U's with spears are men.
"The community symbol in the centre represents our home - Australia."
The team kit has been produced by Italian brand Santini, which has been producing the Australian Cycling Team kits since 2001.
The kit will make its first public appearance at the UCI Road World Championships in Wollongong on Sunday in the elite men's and women's time trials.
The fans' version of the Australian team kit will be available online from the Santini website, on site throughout the Road Worlds in Wollongong, and in selected cycling stores worldwide from September 18.
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