Essential Etape Clothing

Choosing the right clothing is more than essential. We've already talked about what neccessary clothing you should be taking with you, but for now we'll take a look at the clothing I'll be wearing during the ride, provided it's sunny and hot...

From the top

Giro helmet - £125 Giro have just announced the new Ionos, although still at prototype level it'll mean the current range-topper, the Atmos, will be knocked from its perch. It's still a quality helmet though, weighing just 240g with 26 vents designed in a wind-tunnel. Beside being lightweight and styling, safety is paramount so Giro have developed the I.C.R (In-Mould Carbon Reinforcement) - essentially carbon inserts to improve the strength with little weight penalty. The Roc Loc 4 provides a great fit, and is adjustable vertically for different head shapes and sizes. Giro.com

Oakley Bottlecaps - £84.99 These don't feature the new Transition technology but if you know it'll be sunny, they're fine. The best thing about these is how light they are, you really forget you're wearing them after a while. The lenses feature the now-standard Oakley technology like XYZ for clarity and 100% UV filtering. We opted for the Polished Black frame with G30 lenses which enhance contrast nicely. Oakley

Body Clone jersey - £47.99 This short sleeve jersey not only looks good with subtle mesh detailing around the sleeves and under the arms, but performs well in action thanks to the MCK (Micron Carbon Knit) material. It boasts the usual high breathability you want in a jersey, but also manages to avoid smelling too bad after use, which is nice. Two pockets at the back, with a zipped pocket on top of the right-hand side pocket, and a three quarter length zip complete this reasonably priced jersey. Giordana

Coolmax Mesh Sleeveless Undervest - £21.99 It's always a good idea to wear something underneath your jersey to wick sweat away. This undervest does so excellently with Coolmax material, and the loose net style allows a high level of breathability. Giordana

Adidas Adistar Mitts - £19.99 180km is a liong time to be gripping the bars for, so a comfy pair of gloves is high up the list. I've picked out the Adistar Mitts as they've got a real Leather palm with two extra padded areas, so should be durable as well as comfy. They're also light, and the whole back is mesh so overheating shouldn't be a worry. There's a small Terry snot wiping area on the thumb. My fave feature is the elastic cuff which avoids the need for any velcro, getting them off is a faff though. Adidas

A413 Tenax bibshorts - £56.99 Giordana have been producing cycling apparel for 25 years, and this experience shows in their latest line of clothing we've just received. It's all manufactured in Italy, is very stylish and at reasonable prices. These good looking shorts, with stitching all over accentuating your legs, and available in four colours (even pimp white) feature a quality chamois, the most vital component of a pair of quality shorts. The 3D-O.F chamois is made from polyester microfibre and is one piece. The chamois is shaped and formed to provide a better fit down under, with varying thicknesses, and OmniForm technology avoids any sharp edges in the moulding. Giordana

Rapha socks - £15 I pretty much live in Rapha's Merino socks. They're simply one of the most comfortable I've worn, very light and do a great job keeping your feet at a nice temperature and wick sweat really well. Colour? Well black of course... Rapha

DMT shoes - £200 The recently previewed DMT Flash shoes are a good choice for long riders, as they're incredibly light. Over the past couple of weeks of bedding them in they've proved to be very comfortable, the one-piece upper gives them quite a unique feel, as though you're wearing a slipper (not that I have much experience of slipper wearing though).The carbon sole is the stiffest I've tested in a shoe, so should be good for power transfer on Alpe d'Huez, which could make all the difference... DMT

Are you riding the Etape? If so, let us know if you're going and what clothing recommendations you've got