There are moments in cycling that stay with you forever. A rider crossing the finish line after three weeks of suffering. A champion pulling on the yellow jersey. A crowd spilling onto a mountain road, united by the simple magic of a bike race.

And then there are the stories behind those moments. The people, the ideas, the setbacks and the dreams that make cycling what it is. For Castelli, the Tour de France has always been part of that story.

Between 1989 and 1994, Castelli had the privilege of producing the Tour’s classification jerseys, becoming part of an extraordinary chapter in cycling history. Greg LeMond claimed his second and third Tour victories during this period, while Miguel Induráin began his remarkable run of five consecutive wins, securing the first four between 1991 and 1994.

But this era was about more than victories alone. It was shaped by champions and characters who gave cycling its soul. Laurent Fignon, Pedro Delgado, Gianni Bugno, Claudio Chiappucci and Sean Kelly each brought their own personality, courage and style to the peloton. From fierce rivalries at the top of the general classification to fearless attacks in the mountains and explosive sprints, these were years when cycling seemed to exist somewhere between athletic excellence and pure theatre.

Under the leadership of Maurizio Castelli, the brand was at the top of its game. Maurizio was a larger-than-life character, driven by an instinctive understanding of cycling and an ambition to push its boundaries. He believed technical clothing could be more than something a rider wore. It could become part of the performance, the identity and the emotion of the sport.

That spirit found expression in the jerseys themselves. Castelli even brought the world of contemporary art to the Tour, with designs created by renowned Italian artist Mario Schifano. At a time when cycling clothing was becoming an increasingly important part of the sport’s identity, Castelli dared to do things differently.

For Maurizio, performance and design were never separate ideas. They belonged together. Those years left a mark on Castelli and on the history of the Tour de France. But no one could have known how difficult the road ahead would become.

In 1995, just one year after Castelli and the Tour parted ways, Maurizio Castelli died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 47. His loss was devastating. For the company, it marked the beginning of a difficult period, one that would eventually lead to Castelli’s bankruptcy in 2003.

For a brand that had helped shape the future of cycling clothing, the distance between where it had been and where it found itself was immense. Yet some stories are defined not by the moments when everything goes right, but by what happens when everything goes wrong.

In 2003, the Cremonese family and MVC Group acquired Castelli, beginning a new chapter in its history. What followed was not an overnight comeback. There were no shortcuts, no easy victories and no single moment that changed everything.

There was simply work to be done. One product at a time. One season at a time. One step at a time.

Rebuilding Castelli meant returning to the things that had always made the brand special: performance, innovation, emotion and design.

It meant remembering who Castelli was while continuing to challenge what cycling clothing could become.

We approached the task as cyclists approach a difficult race. We built a team of riders, with captains and domestiques, and surrounded them with the people and expertise needed to support them. We set ambitious goals, learned from setbacks and kept moving forward. We knew where we wanted to go. We also understood that getting there would take time.

The Tour de France was always part of that dream. Not simply because it offers a global audience or because it is the most prestigious race in the world, but because it represents so much of what we love about cycling.

It is the ultimate test of performance and endurance. Three weeks of extraordinary human stories, played out on roads that bring together champions and ordinary people, mountain villages and great cities, families watching from their doorsteps and millions following from every corner of the world.

To conquer the Tour, you cannot rely on one great day. You have to be ready for every stage, every climb, every change in the weather and every unexpected challenge. Above all, you have to keep showing up.

Castelli understands something about that. Returning to the Tour was never simply about going back to where we had been. It was about earning the right to be there again, bringing everything we had learned along the way.

When conversations with Amaury Sport Organisation began, something quickly became clear: this was about more than a commercial partnership.

From the first discussions, we met people who shared our profound love of cycling. That passion was evident in the conversations, the ideas and the ambition to make the sport even more compelling for the people who follow it.

It felt like a natural meeting of minds. Both Castelli and A.S.O. understand that cycling is about more than results. It is about the people who make the race, the communities that welcome it and the emotions that remain long after the peloton has passed.

It is about the child standing at the roadside for the first time, watching the riders flash by and wondering what it would feel like to be one of them.

It is about the lifelong fan who knows every climb, every rivalry and every twist in the road.

And it is about the cyclist who pulls on a jersey before heading out for a ride, inspired by the champions who race at the highest level.

These connections give cycling its extraordinary power. They are also what make this partnership so meaningful to us.

In 2027, Castelli will return as the Official Partner of the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, alongside A.S.O.’s wider portfolio of cycling races and challenges.

The six-year partnership will see Castelli design and produce the classification jerseys for 27 races and challenges, bringing the brand back to the centre of some of the most important moments in international cycling.

From the Maillot Jaune to the jerseys celebrating the leaders of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, these garments carry a significance that goes far beyond their fabric, construction or fit.

They represent achievement. They embody ambition. They tell the world who is leading, who is fighting and who has earned the right to stand apart.

Producing the yellow jersey of the Tour de France is an extraordinary honour for any cycling brand. For Castelli, it means something more personal.

It is a return to a story that began decades ago. A connection to the champions and unforgettable racing moments of the late 1980s and early 1990s. A tribute to the people who built this brand, to those who kept it alive through difficult times and to everyone who has worked to bring the scorpion back to the biggest stage in cycling.

But this is not simply a return to the past. It is an opportunity to shape what comes next. We want to bring fresh ideas, technical expertise and innovative storytelling to the Tour and its extraordinary global community. We want to celebrate the riders who make the race unforgettable and the fans who make it unlike anything else in sport.

And we want to inspire the next generation of cyclists. The next child who discovers the Tour on a summer afternoon. The next young rider who dreams of wearing the yellow jersey. The next person who falls in love with cycling without quite knowing why, only that something about it feels different.

If we can help create those moments, this partnership will mean far more than brand visibility. It will mean becoming part of the future of the sport we love.

In 1989, Castelli began its first chapter with the Tour de France. Between 1989 and 1994, our jerseys became part of an era shaped by extraordinary champions, unforgettable rivalries and a sport that captured the imagination of millions.

Then came years of uncertainty, a devastating loss and a long journey to rebuild.

Now, more than three decades later, Castelli returns with a new generation of ideas, a renewed sense of purpose and the same belief that performance, innovation, emotion and design belong at the heart of cycling. The road between then and now has not always been easy. Perhaps that is what makes this return so special.

We know what it means to build something. We know what it takes to find your way back. And we know that the greatest achievements rarely come from a single moment. They are the result of years of work, shared belief and the determination to keep moving forward.

From 2027, we will have six years to write the next chapter of this story with A.S.O. Six years to honour the heritage that brought us here. Six years to push the boundaries of what cycling clothing can do. Six years to help create the moments that will become tomorrow’s memories. And six years to remind the world why we do what we do.

Because some things never change. The thrill of a great race. The beauty of a mountain pass. The courage of a rider who refuses to give up. The feeling of pulling on a jersey and becoming part of something bigger than yourself. And the love of cycling that brought Castelli to the Tour in the first place.