Which men's WorldTour team has the best kit for 2021? A considered ranking

As we edge ever closer to the 2021 WorldTour season, many riders and teams remain the same, albeit with a few having changed teams in the off-season, but this season will still bring drama and new storylines to add to the racing that has come before.

Another thing you will notice is the big change in peloton colours with new names to get used to along with radically new looks for some teams that have kept the same styling for decades.

>>> Seven bold predictions for the 2021 racing season

New sponsors bring new designs and colours, but the signing of a big name can also lead to improvements in the new team kit. For 2021, not all of the WorldTour kits have been released yet but we will update accordingly when they are. Here is a closer look at the WorldTour jerseys for 2021, along with ratings for each.

Ag2r-Citroën - 3/5

When a team has been one design and colour scene for decades, it is very surprising when they completely change their look.

Ag2r-Citroën, formally Ag2r La Mondiale, have ditched the classic brown, blue and white jersey and replaced it with a plain white jersey with rather edgy, lop-sided, sponsors on the front and back in brown and red.

We were all relieved, of course, to see that the brown shorts had survived the change, giving the whole kit a rather odd, yet interesting look.

Fans will be keen to see their new solid spring Classics squad, including Olympic champion, Greg Van Avermaet on the road in 2021.

Bahrain Victorious - 4/5

With both McLaren and Rod Ellingworth leaving the team from Bahrain, they have given their jazzy orange kit a bit of an update, replacing the McLaren orange with a cherry red along with dashes of orange and black, keeping the blue sleeve cuffs.

British kit brand Le Col has been replaced by Italian brand Nalini, making it a quad of big British names leaving the team as Mark Cavendish departed at the end of 2020 as well.

All-in-all, it is a smart design and will stand out from the other teams in the peloton yet again as most teams seem to be moving away from red as the predominant colour in 2021.

Bora-Hansgrohe - 4.5/5

Changing from black to white is the only real alteration for Bora-Hansgrohe in 2021, making the kit they wore at the 2020 Tour de France their main kit for the whole season this year.

The black fading into the jersey and then going through a few shades of green before making it to white is a very 2018-peloton style, but it still looks crisp and stylish.

Bora-Hansgrohe will be hoping to have yet another successful season, especially in the Classics now that Peter Sagan has a new lieutenant in the form of Nils Politt, who signed from Israel Start-Up Nation.

Deceuninck - Quick-Step - 5/5

Deceuninck - Quick-Step have changed the white top half of their jersey from white to royal blue and it looks great. Added lighter blue lines on the shoulders and top part of the chest are meant to replicate fur of wolves, echoing the team's nickname 'The Wolfpack'.

The team once again came on top of the list for most wins in a season in 2020 and will be hoping to be up there again with the likes of Sam Bennett and world champion Julian Alaphilippe.

Mark Cavendish has also rejoined the Belgian squad for one year as he looks to get somewhere near where he was before his battle with the Epstein-Barr virus.

Movistar - 3/5

There's barely any change to the Spanish WorldTour team's outfit for 2021, but they have brought in some big names to fill the shoes of riders who left in 2019 after a poor 2020 without a star GC man.

The kit has seen an addition of dark blue dots all over the Ale made jersey, a design that still is a nice kit, but may need a redesign come 2022.

Miguel Ángel López has joined Movistar from Astana along with talented Spanish Classics man Iván García Cortina who has signed from Bahrain-McLaren. Annemiek van Vleuten has also added significant strength to the women's squad.

Ineos Grenadiers - 3.5/5

No change to the kit that Team Ineos changed to for the second half of the 2020 season, much like in 2019 when they changed from Team Sky to Team Ineos.

The simple design still has the large red A on the chest and the stripe down the back but it has some different riders wearing it in 2021.

Richie Porte rejoins the team from Trek-Segafredo, Adam Yates leaves his brother behind at Mitchelton-Scott to join along with other big names including 2020 Critérium du Dauphiné winner Daniel Martínez, Laurens De Plus and Tom Pidcock. Plus, no Chris Froome.

Israel Start-Up Nation - 4.5/5

Israel Start-Up Nation have used their star signing Chris Froome to show off their hugely improved kit for the 2021. Gone is the dull light blue and white with shorts that looked like they belonged with a different kit.

The classy dark blue and white with a light blue line splitting the two is minimalist but in the best possible way. Paired with matching dark blue shorts, this classy outfit is definitely one of the more stylish kits in the 2021 peloton.

Froome will be hoping that his new team and his legs match the new kit and perform well in the upcoming season as he still seeks that fifth Tour title.

Team DSM - 5/5

First things first; yes, it is the same colours as the old Team Sky kit. Right, let's move on. This is a superb kit and very different to others in the WorldTour. Most teams are going from darker colours to light but DSM, formally Sunweb, have done the opposite.

This smart kit still has the 'Keep Challenging' stripes down the middle of the jersey and is also peppered with little sponsors and yet doesn't look cluttered. Teamed with a sparkly Scott bike, this is a great new kit.

With riders like Romain Bardet leaving the safety of Ag2r, will this new look add to a potential regeneration of the French climber?

Trek-Segafredo - 2/5

From what we can tell, there is absolutely no change at all to the men's Trek-Segafredo kit from 2020. Other team's have done the same, but this design needs a refresh.

Israel Start-Up Nation got the minimalism right with their 2021 kit, whereas Trek-Segafredo haven't, it has dropped on the side of a bit disinteresting. The women's kit has somehow improved on an already great kit.

The American team are continuing to back Vincenzo Nibali in his aims but will also be looking at new targets too.

Team BikeExchange - 3.5/5

New colours, new name and new bikes in a completely changed team. Formally Mitchelton-Scott, now Team BikeExchange, the kit has gone from black and yellow to a mostly white jersey with the Bianchi celeste colours appearing on the kit as well as the bike.

A kit that will most likely grow on people, on first look is that it's a little bit on the dull side and the celeste colours at the bottom of the jersey look like someone has pulled the riders underwear over their trousers.

Simon Yates will be their main man in GC as he embarks on his first WorldTour season without his brother in the same team as him. Michael Matthews makes his return to the Aussie outfit as he hopes to have more chances at races like the Tour.

Groupama-FDJ - 2.5/5

The only change to the French team's kit from the 2020 season is that the colours on the edges of the jersey have gone from lines to merging right-angle triangles, which, granted, is a bit of an improvement, but still not amazing.

They do still hold the title for best national champions jersey though with Arnaud Démare and Kévin Geniets, somehow improving it with black shorts for them.

Démare will be hoping that he can continue where he left off after taking the most wins out of anyone in the WorldTour last season.

Team Jumbo-Visma - 4/5

Not a huge change to the Jumbo-Visma outfit aside from a slight movement of the black arms and shoulders with a small Cervélo logo.

The only yellow kit in the WorldTour so far this year, the so-called 'Wasps' have also started up a team in the women's side of the sport with Marianne Vos and Jip van den Bos being two of the signings.

The men's team will be looking to continue their dominance in stage races and the Classics with Wout van Aert and Primož Roglič being the main focuses.

UAE Team Emirates - 4/5

Who'd have thought that just a couple of yellow lines and some red fade on the sleeves could improve a jersey massively? Well, that is exactly what has happened with UAE Team Emirates' 2021 kit.

The yellow lines between the Emirates logo and the UAE flag on the chest as well as on the sleeve have possibly been added to celebrate Tadej Pogačar's Tour de France victory.

Pogačar will be aiming for another Grand Tour and new signings such as Matteo Trentin who will be aiming to resurrect his career after a tough year at CCC Team.

Team Cofidis, Solutions Credits - 3/5

No change to Cofidis' kit for the 2021 season, but it is still a fresh design. Sticking with the same design will be the only thing they'll want to stick with from 2020 as big-name signing Elia Viviani failed to get a single win in his first year with the French team.

A fairly basic design but an interesting one with the choice to stick with red shorts for another year and avoiding the standard black shorts. It certainly seems to be a French team thing.

Guillaume Martin will be hoping he can continue his excellent performances now he has more support in the mountains too.

Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux - 3.5/5

Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux may have changed the name and added yet another sponsor to the kit but keeping to the same colour scheme as before just with a sightly more funky design.

The unusual choice to use neon yellow has meant that the score gets higher than the kit merits. The Belgian team took over the WorldTour licence of CCC Team for 2021 after the Polish team disbanded at the end of 2020 with sponsor problems.

With riders like Danny van Poppel and Andrea Pasqualon already in the team, along with the addition of Louis Meintjes and Jan Hirt among others, the team will be aiming for opportunities in their maiden WorldTour season.

Astana-Premier Tech - 3.7/5

At long last the Astana kit gets another update, this time with a fading blue on a series of diamonds up the jersey to just under the sponsors names. It is a refreshing change from the now joint Kazakhstani and Canadian team. The rating didn't deserve a four out of five but it is better than a three point five.

Astana-Premier Tech is the new name for 2021 after the team had to find a new title sponsor to go alongside the former name for Kazakhstan's capital city due to funding issues.

Those funding issues saw the team lose one of their star riders, Miguel Ángel López who has joined Movistar. But they still have Jakob Fuglsang and Aleksandr Vlasov to potentially go for Grand Tours and hilly Classics.

Team Qhubeka-Assos - 3/5

We've had to wait a bit longer for this kit and has it been worth the wait? Well, you can't miss what the sponsors are and the Qhubeka Charity logo of the hands is all over the kits jersey and helmets.

The mainly black and white kit has been given a touch of colour with some neon green lines dotted around the jersey and shorts.

Qhubeka-Assos has a very different look this year after several riders had moved on when it didn't look like the team would find a new sponsor.

Riders like Fabio Aru and Sergio Henao joined from UAE Team Emirates with young rising stars like Karel Vacek joining from the very successful American development team, Hagens Bermans-Axeon.

Harry Tanfield also joins the WorldTour for a third year even after joining British Continental team Ribble-Weldtite for a couple of weeks before announcing he would be joining Qhubeka-Assos.

Lotto-Soudal - 3/5

No change what at all from the Belgian squad with the look of the kit which means, even though I really like it, I have to cap it at three out of five.

The team has had a few little changes here and there with some riders leaving like Carl Fredrik Hagen joining Israel Start-Up Nation, but some young guns have joined the team for 2021, giving them an exciting new and promising group of riders.

Of course, the usual suspects will be the main men with Caleb Ewan targeting a stage in all three Grand Tours this year, Thomas De Gendt probably aiming for the same with Tim Wellens, Philippe Gilbert and John Degenkolb having a crack at the Classics.

EF Education-Nippo Pro Cycling - 4/5

We had to wait until the day before racing started in the 2021 season for the team before we saw newly named EF Education-Nippo's new kit made by Rapha, but that is usual with the team as they usually release start lists the day of the races they ride.

Was it worth the wait? Well, the blue and pink melted jersey look of last season has gone and block colours have very much come in with a bright pink jersey and dark blue shorts.

The idea is that it is basic and 'made to comply' after getting into trouble last season with their Giro d'Italia Ducks kit which divided opinion and saw them receive some pretty hefty fines.

Even then, they still find a way to be 'edgy' with the jersey having marks and lines all over it as if it was the plans for the jersey with various things scribbled out and random bits of hand written instructions.

EF Education-Nippo has got a very talented squad with a few young riders joining the team for the 2021 season with British rider Simon Carr being one, joining from newly named Team Delko.