 | |
| Rapha Performance Roadwear | |
| Industry | Sporting goods |
| Founded | 2004 |
| Founders | |
| Headquarters | , England |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Clothing, accessories, skin care, cafés, Books, Travel and experiences |
| Website | rapha |
Rapha Performance Roadwear is a cycling lifestyle brand focused on road bicycle racing and mountain biking clothing and accessories. Rapha has its headquarters in London and a United States office in Bentonville, Arkansas. [1] [2]
The company was started in London in early 2004 by Simon Mottram [3] and Luke Scheybeler. [4] Its first products were launched in July of the same year. The name Rapha was taken from the 1960s cycling team Rapha, itself named after the apéritif drink company Saint-Raphaël . [5]
In 2007, Rapha partnered with British designer Paul Smith to create a range of cycle clothing and accessories. [6] In 2016, it collaborated with bikepacking designer Apidura on a range of cycling luggage. [7]
In August 2017, RZC Investments, a company set up by Steuart Walton, announced that it would buy Rapha for £200m. [8] [9]
In February 2020, Rapha announced that it would move its North American headquarters from Portland, Oregon to Bentonville, Arkansas. [2]
In the same year, Rapha collaborated with Palace Skateboards on a cycling kit for professional cycling team EF Education–EasyPost at the 2020 Giro d'Italia. [10]
In 2021, Rapha entered the mountain bike market, launching its first range of mountain biking clothing in collaboration with Smith on a line of helmets. [11]
In 2015, Rapha developed an international cycling club called the Rapha Cycling Club (RCC), whose members get benefits with the company. Today, it has over 20,000 members. [12]
Rapha has about 21 international stores throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Oceania. They are called "clubhouses." [13] Each has a retail space, which sells Rapha-branded clothing and accessories, and a café area. The Rapha Cycling Club hosts community rides and events at the store's locations. The stores host a number of cycling-related events and art exhibitions throughout the year. In addition, Rapha operates mobile "clubhouses" through Europe and the UK; venues that will travel to certain events throughout the cycling season.[ citation needed ]
The Rapha Foundation was created in 2019 by Rapha co-founder Simon Mottram and shareholders Tom and Steuart Walton to fund various non-profit cycling organizations, and to introduce cycling to a wider audience. It provides $1.5 million a year in funding, and supports non-profits in the UK, United States, Germany, Australia and Japan. [14]
Rapha used to co-own the UK-based cycling team Rapha Condor–JLT with London bike brand Condor Cycles and the cyclocross team Rapha Focus.[ clarification needed ] At the end of 2014, Rapha announced it would end its sponsorship to focus on Team Sky and Team Wiggins Le Col.[ citation needed ]
In August 2012, Rapha announced that from 2013 it would be producing the clothing for the British cycling team, Team Sky. [15] On 3 November 2015 it announced that its Team Sky sponsorship would end after the 2016 season. [16]
In 2015, Rapha announced it would begin supplying clothing to the UCI Women's WorldTour team Canyon-SRAM. [17] However, in 2022, Canyon-SRAM said it would drop Rapha as its clothing outfitters. [18] EF Education First started wearing Rapha clothing in the 2019 race season, [19] alongside UCI Men's WorldTour team EF Education–EasyPost. [20]
In 2022, Rapha became a supporter of the UCI Women's WorldTour team EF Education–Tibco–SVB. [21] [22]
Rapha also sponsors UCI Continental cycling teams L39ION of Los Angeles [23] [24] and Roxsolt Liv SRAM, [25] [26] and professional cyclists Lael Wilcox, Maghalie Rochette, and Sarah Sturm. [27] [28]
EF Education–Tibco–SVB is a former women's professional cycling team based in the United States that competed in elite road bicycle racing. The team's main sponsors were EF Education First, TIBCO Software and Silicon Valley Bank. The owner was Linda Jackson, a former professional cyclist.
Omer Shapira is an Israeli former professional racing cyclist. She is an eight-time national road champion; winning the Israeli National Time Trial Championships in 2020 and 2022, and the Israeli National Road Race Championships for six consecutive years between 2017 and 2022.
Tanja Erath is a German physician and former professional racing cyclist,. During her professional cycling career, Erath rode for Canyon-SRAM and UCI Women's Continental Team EF Education–Tibco–SVB.
Clara Honsinger is an American professional cyclist who currently rides for UCI Women's Continental Team EF Education–Tibco–SVB in road racing, and Cannondale–Cyclocrossworld.com in cyclo-cross.
Jane Zoe Bäckstedt is a Welsh professional racing cyclist riding for UCI Women's World Tour Team Canyon–SRAM, competing across road, cyclo-cross and track racing disciplines.
The 2022 Strade Bianche Donne was an Italian road cycling one-day race that took place on 5 March 2022. It was the 8th edition of Strade Bianche Donne and the first event of the 2022 UCI Women's World Tour. The usual first race of the season, the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race in Australia was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was won by the Belgian national champion Lotte Kopecky.
The 2022 Ronde van Drenthe was a Dutch road cycling one-day race that took place on 12 March 2022. It was the 15th edition of Ronde van Drenthe and the 2nd event of the 2022 UCI Women's World Tour. It was won by Lorena Wiebes in a sprint finish.
The 2022Trofeo Alfredo Binda-Comune di Cittiglio was an Italian road cycling one-day race that took place on 20 March 2022. It was the 46th edition of Trofeo Alfredo Binda and the 3rd event of the 2022 UCI Women's World Tour. The race starts in Cocquio-Trevisago and finishes in Cittiglio, on the outskirts of Lago Maggiore in Northwest Italy. The race was won by the world champion Elisa Balsamo in a sprint finish.
The 2022 Exterioo Classic Brugge–De Panne was a Belgian road cycling one-day race that took place on 24 March 2022. It was the 5th edition of Classic Brugge–De Panne and the 4th event of the 2022 UCI Women's World Tour.
The eleventh edition of the Gent–Wevelgem's women's race was held on Sunday 27 March 2022. It was the fifth event of the 2022 UCI Women's World Tour.
The 2022 Paris–Roubaix Femmes was a French road cycling one-day race that took place on 16 April 2022. It was the 2nd edition of Paris–Roubaix Femmes and the 8th event of the 2022 UCI Women's World Tour. The race was won by the Italian champion Elisa Longo Borghini, after a solo break with around 30 kilometres remaining, the second win by a long solo break in succession, after Lizzie Deignan's inaugural edition triumph in 2021.
The 2022 RideLondon Classique was the eighth edition of the RideLondon Classique, part of the UCI Women's World Tour. The race was part of the RideLondon cycling festival. The race took place from 27 to 29 May 2022. It was won by Dutch rider Lorena Wiebes, who also won all three stages.
The 2022 Giro Donne was the 33rd edition of the Giro Donne women's road cycling stage race. The race started on 30 June 2022 and finished on 10 July 2022. As the longest and one of the most prestigious races on the women's calendar, the event included ten stages covering over 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) across northern Italy.
The 2022 Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta is a women's road cycling stage race that was held in Spain from 7 to 11 September 2022. It was the eighth edition of the Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta and was the twenty-second event on the 2022 UCI Women's World Tour calendar. As with previous editions, the final day of the race coincided with the final day of the men's race.
The 2022 Tour de Romandie Féminin is a women's road cycling stage race that was held in Switzerland from 7 to 9 October 2022. It was the first edition of the Tour de Romandie Féminin and was the twenty-third event on the 2022 UCI Women's World Tour calendar. The race was held as part of the celebrations of 75 years of the Tour de Romandie.
The 2023 Strade Bianche Donne was an Italian road cycling one-day race that took place on 4 March 2023. It was the ninth edition of Strade Bianche Donne and the fifth event of the 2023 UCI Women's World Tour.
The 2023 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad was a road cycling one-day race that took place on 25 February 2023 in Belgium, starting in Gent and finishing in Ninove. It was the 19th edition of the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad for Women and the fourth event of the 2023 UCI Women's World Tour.
The 2023 Paris–Roubaix Femmes was a French road cycling one-day race that took place on 8 April 2023. It was the 3rd edition of Paris–Roubaix Femmes and the 11th event of the 2023 UCI Women's World Tour.
The 2023 Amstel Gold Race Ladies Edition was a Dutch road cycling one-day race held on 16 April 2023. It was the 9th edition of the Amstel Gold Race for women, and the 12th event of the 2023 UCI Women's World Tour.
The 2023 Classic Lorient Agglomération–Trophée CERATIZIT was the 22nd edition of the Classic Lorient Agglomération, previously known as the GP de Plouay.
