[Best read in your best French accent]
Bonjour et bonsoir tout le monde. And is not eet a lovely even-ing we are ‘aving this even-ing. The sun is sleeping behind the montains, du vin is going nicely with the cheese, and eet ‘as been a lovely day sur le velo. All eez good. N’est ce pas?
Well, OK. We can imagine it from where we’re sitting, although our evening is less likely to be spent on the terrace watching the setting sun slip behind the mountains while we sip wine and nibble local cheese, and more a case of pie and chips on our knees in front of the TV. But it’s good to dream.
French brand Cafe Du Cycliste, based in Nice, is possibly better known for its Breton stripes and simple and stylish colour block jerseys, but we’ve had a couple of press releases through of late that have caught our eye. It seems the designers there are on a mission to liven things up a bit. To add un peu du va va voom, peut être?
First up, we spotted these bib shorts with built in baselayer tops.
Coming in both men’s and women’s options, we rather like this idea of having a built in top and wider straps. The catalogue promises that these are breathable wicking tops, so you shouldn’t get too sweaty – and if you are lucky enough to be somewhere lovely and warm like la Sud de France then you can unzip your jersey without fear of exposing more flesh than you might like. Nice. (Geddit?). These cost £182.
If you are liking the zig zag baselayer/bibs, there’s also this Ultralite jersey called the Micheline at £114, although malheuresement this zig zag pattern is only available pour les hommes.
For the truly adventurous (or possibly from the Chipps Chippendale school of fashion) we have the Bou Bou range.
Available for both les hommes et les femmes, these Zahira jerseys take inspiration from African wax designs.
Made from lightweight mesh for breathability and temperature control in warm weather these are also £114.
Mmm. We’re really having to resist a spot of le shopping here. Maybe a nice holiday somewhere warm too, so we can justify all those lightweight warm weather jerseys…