The region around Nice might be a road rider’s idyll but even the South of France isn’t immune to cold, grey days. Fortunately, the new winter collection from Café du Cycliste has arrived at exactly the right time. So if you aren’t willing to forsake la petite reine (‘the little king’, aka France’s wonderfully poetic term for a bike), then this collection of cold-weather riding gear from the Nice-based trendsetters is worth a glance.

Café or vélo? For most road riders, this isn’t really an either-or question – except when it comes to winter. Often the perfect bed partner, some are led to question the sense of a café stop in the depths of these chilly months. However, with their new autumn and winter collection, the French brand Café du Cycliste are on hand to rouse your from the winter slumber and take you outside, clad in understated French haute couture for the bike. In their words, it’s tailored-tech, designed with functional wind and rain protection and modest, sophisticated colours. Like every year, they’ve added a few key pieces to their range, with new collections to join their familiar jerseys and shorts.

Here’s a run-through of the new entrants:

Rainwear

Josette, Charlotte, Loulou and Jeanne aren’t just Monsieur Claude’s daughters, but also eponymous pieces in the brand’s rainwear, which offers full wet weather protection for those days that are short on sun but big on rain. Coming in three colours, there’s the ‘Josette’ jersey, ‘Charlotte’ rain jacket, ‘Jeanne’ leggings and ‘Loulou’ arm and leg warmers.

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Jacqueline Audax

The new long-distance line starts with the all-weather ‘Jacqueline’ vest to protect you from strong rain and biting winds. With a bold colourway to aid reflectivity in poor light conditions, it also packs down to fit your jersey pocket when not needed.

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Longsleeve Merino

Merino has become a staple for winter riding over the past few years thanks to its quick-drying nature and the fact that it doesn’t retain bad odours – plus, it’s warm enough to don when the mercury drops below freezing. The typically Breton white and blue, long-sleeved ‘Claudette’ jersey and ‘Yolande’ are both classics in the collection but have been refined for the coming season, making a welcome reappearance with some slight design tweaks.

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All Weather Jackets

The winter jackets from Café du Cycliste have been crafted to battle hail, snow and ice. There’s a range of jackets on offer, from ‘Heidi’ for dry and chilly days to wet-weather ‘Charlotte’ and ‘Regine’, the queen of jackets who could surely see you over Mont Blanc if you asked her. All three jackets are available in three colours.

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The online shop for Café du Cycliste can kit you out from top to toe with winter gear, so head over to: cafeducycliste.com

See you out there, au revoir!


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Words: Jonas Kaesler Photos: Café du Cycliste