This article was produced in association with Gobik and was published in Issue 138 of Rouleur.
The Tour de France is a key event in the road cycling calendar. But beyond the sporting aspect, it is also an extremely important event for brands, sponsors and the entire cycling industry. During the race, in both the men’s and women’s versions, it is common to see representatives from nutrition companies, bicycle manufacturers and other sectors talking to team staff and riders to address any needs or resolve technical issues. Among them, it is also common to find the managers of the clothing brands that dress the teams, attentive to every detail of the kits as they are used during the rigour of competition. If there is one race where the garments are pushed to the limit, that’s the Tour.
The final stages of the 2025 Tour de France Femmes were riveting viewing, and especially, the queen stage ending atop the Col de la Madeleine, was a very special moment. Among the visitors and guests present that weekend were representatives of the Gobik brand, which in the Women’s World-Tour, is the official supplier of the FDJ-Suez and Movistar Teams. Among those waiting at the finish line at Col de la Madeleine was Mariana Palao, from the Sports Marketing team at Gobik, who for the past nine years has been responsible for coordinating the needs of professional teams with the production and manufacturing structure of the clothing they will wear in competition.
“The Tour de France is an ideal time to gather information from the teams,” says Palao, who was very enthusiastic about living those last days of the French stage race. “This is my second time at the Tour de France Femmes and I’ve noticed that there are more people following the race, the streets are increasingly decorated in yellow and I think the fan base is multiplying. I have a feeling that the best is yet to come in the next few years.”
In addition, this race had a particularly significant component for the Murcia-based brand: Demi Vollering, one of the best riders in the world and a serious contender for the yellow jersey, signed for 2025 with one of the teams the brand has been working with for the longest time: the French team FDJ-Suez. And, to top it all off, just two weeks before the race they had unveiled a new kit designed specifically for the Tour de France Femmes, which will also be the kit worn by the team in the 2026 season. So it was mandatory to be in France and to check first-hand that everything was in place and the riders were happy with their garments.
For the Tour, FDJ-Suez unveiled a new look that they have named ‘Burning Core’. Dark in colour, it features a luminous halo around the heart in blue and red, symbolising that ‘all light is born from shadow’ and the persevering effort of the women’s team. The kit is designed to convey resilience and represent the invisible work that happens behind all achievement, both key parts of the narrative Vollering has embraced in recent years herself.
Work against the clock
“I remember Demi Vollering coming to Gobik in October last year, when her signing for the team had not yet been made public. She came to the factory to see the facilities and understand how we work,” recalls Palao, who can now freely talk about how the relationship with the Dutch star began. “From the very beginning, she has been a charming, approachable person, who is easy to talk to. She is someone who always gives you constructive and positive feedback on the clothing. She is very, very easy to work with.”
Palao extends this personal treatment to other riders, such as Juliette Labous. She explains that perhaps one of the best things about working with riders like Labous and Vollering is that they ask a lot of questions. “When they visit us, training is always provided by us, but they are very curious. They ask how to use it, how to combine the layers and garments we have... They are not satisfied with just anything. In other words, they want quality, and just like the men, they want the garments to fit them perfectly. They don’t beat around the bush; they know what they want and they trust you.” What’s more, FDJ-Suez has had Gobik as its textile supplier for at least four years, so both parties have developed a rapport that helps things move forward.
To create the Burning Core kit, both Gobik and the FDJ-Suez team were able to work months in advance, planning and working towards everything that this 2025 season means for the French team: a turning point. But professional cycling doesn’t always have such flexible schedules. Sometimes, the timing can be very tight, and that can create moments of friction. “The most complicated thing about being in contact with the teams, in the end, is that there are moments of great tension. A lot of tension to meet design confirmation deadlines in order to have all the riders’ measurements, last-minute changes in the races… The key is to offer a solution to every problem.”
At the moment, and thanks to almost a decade working with professional teams, Gobik has a team of more than 200 people ready to respond when deadlines are very tight, such as the week before the start of the men’s Tour de France. “Well, you can imagine: national championships the week before the Tour, four days before the photoshoots of the teams and riders who were added to the Tour list at the last minute… We have to work against the clock to get all the garments ready,” says Palao. That was the case with the new kit the Ineos Grenadiers had to wear for the Tour de France Hommes: new equipment with the addition of a new sponsor, the oil company Total Energies, which meant changing every rider’s clothing.
Palao explains that knowing how to navigate rough waters when the calendar is tight is important in this demanding industry. “In recent years, the most complicated part of my job has been finding the perfect balance between meeting all the needs and expectations of a team, with planning for garments, styles and deadlines for races, and ensuring that it is sustainable in terms of production and can be combined with the manufacture of customer orders without delaying either the cost or the collection.”
Investment in development
The Burning Core has been developed using Gobik’s most advanced technology, which aims to tailor its work to each team and thus respond to their most specific needs. This has led the Spanish brand to create its own R&D department in recent years in order to respond promptly to the needs of an increasingly technical sport and to be innovative in the industry. Gobik has a team of people who are responsible for aerodynamics, precisely to respond to the needs of teams in this increasingly decisive aspect of performance. This group is part of a strategy to make the most of the technological development opportunities provided by professional cycling. In other words, linking part of the sponsorship investment to research. “Indeed, the work has changed a lot in recent years. It has become more professionalised and at Gobik we have become real specialists in it. We carry out our own wind tunnel tests, we carry out our own fabric tests, and we combine this with the work we do hand in hand with the teams in the wind tunnel, with riders focused more on speed, others more on temperature. We work with each team on a different type of garment based on their requirements,” says Palao.
In the case of the Burning Core, work has been done on a pattern that increases aerodynamics without compromising comfort and freedom of movement. Specific technical fabrics have also been used, such as on the sleeves, which achieve better wind dispersion. It also stands out for its lightness, effective breathability and quick drying, allowing riders to perform at their best on the hottest or most intense days.
This commitment is undoubtedly the result of years of learning with various professional teams. Another member of Gobik who was also visiting the Tour de France was Alberto García, Co-CEO and head of product development. He still vividly remembers the impact it had on the brand when they entered the WorldTour in 2021 with the UAE Team. That season, Pogacar won his second Tour de France and placed Gobik at a level of performance never before experienced by the brand. He still remembers the tension and pressure of being at the level a yellow jersey demands. Although the brand had been working with other teams before, that was the beginning of a bigger adventure, with much to learn. That led them to become an official supplier brand for several WorldTour teams, allowing the company to advance in technical development. Currently, Gobik is the supplier brand for Ineos Grenadiers, Movistar Team (both men’s and women’s) and FDJ-Suez in World-Tour cycling.
But after the Tour de France, the work hasn’t stopped. The feedback gathered during the big event of the year will be used to improve and implement some changes for the 2026 season. “Before the summer, we usually already have a plan for all the new developments in the garments we have for each team,” Palao explains. “We talk to them, explain our idea, what garments are going to change, what fabrics to develop, what we want to focus on… And once the initial planning for all the garments has been decided, in September all those garments are finished so that in October we can do the fittings for the teams.” The relentless process of technology, represented by Gobik, is increasingly decisive in professional cycling today.
