Alpecin-Desseuninck has unveiled a special "dark denim" kit for the Tour de France.

The Dutchman will replace his rainbow band with the new kit only for the time trial on stages 7 and 21.

While not as different from the usual trade colors as Visma-Lease a Bike's special Tour kit, the dark double denim look is intended to highlight the media campaign of one of the title sponsors, the shampoo brand Alpecin.

The ad, released in conjunction with the kit, depicts van der Pol racing against the clock, with team co-directors Philippe and Christoph Rudhoeft "battling one of the most prominent signs of aging: gray hair."

The jersey's unveiling came a day after the Belgian team announced its eight-player roster on Monday night.

Van der Pol will ride his eighth race day of the season in the first stage of the Tour de France after being confirmed as one of the "absolute leaders" of Alpecin-Desseuninck, along with Milan-San Remo winner Philipsen.

His last race was Liège-Bastogne-Liège, where he finished third, and he closed out his classic campaign with wins in Paris-Roubaix, Tour de Flanders, and the E3 Saxo Classic.

Alpecin-Desseuninck's two stars will be joined by Gianni Vermeersch, Sylvain Dillier, Rob Giss, Seren Cragg Andersen, Jonas Ricard, and under-23 road world champion Axel Laurens.

Philipsen won four stages and the green jersey at the last Tour.

He and Van der Pol are part of the Ludovic brothers team for a long time, at least until 2028.

Van der Pol will also participate in the Tour as a world champion wearing the rainbow band, and his time at the Tour will be used primarily as a final tune-up for the Paris Olympics road race.

He also announced in early June that he would not be participating in the originally scheduled MTB event, but would focus solely on the road race in Paris on August 3.

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