A MIDDLESBROUGH company specialising in sustainable teamwear made from plastic bottles and fishing nets has joined forces with a professional cycling team.

Presca Teamwear creates technical garments using yarns extruded from recycled materials.

The company has teamed up with the Vitus Pro Cycling Team, powered by Brother UK, to provide team kit for the 2019 season.

Established in 2018, the company was a winner of an FSB Ethical-Green Business of the Year award and was shortlisted for a BT Sport Industry Sustainability Award.

It will partner Cherie Pridham’s UCI Continental team, led by triple Olympic champion Ed Clancy.

The Northern Echo:

Peter Lillie, co-founder of Presca Teamwear, said: “We’re really excited about this partnership. We believe our commitment to creating the most ethically-sourced and sustainable sportswear makes the Vitus Pro Cycling Team, powered by Brother UK kit the most sustainable ever to be worn by a pro-cycling team.

“The feedback we have had from members of the Team has been extremely positive. The company has recently gone through a significant investment phase which has enabled us to produce our best ever kit."

All of Presca Teamwear’s technical clothing is manufactured in the UK, shortening supply chains and negating the environmental impact of transport from production facilities overseas, while supporting the UK’s regional and national economies.

As few as seven plastic bottles are used to create one cycling jersey. The recycled materials used in the bib shorts are said to consume 60 per cent less energy and 94 per cent less water than the alternative from virgin materials.

Pridham, team owner and manager of Vitus Pro Cycling Team, powered by Brother UK, said: “Presca Teamwear is an ideal partner for our values-based approach to professional cycling.

“By creating advanced apparel from sustainable materials, Presca exemplifies our own commitment to responsible racing, in every aspect.

"Presca’s use of recycled materials to create clothing of a standard fit for our elite athletes is also a clear demonstration of our shared belief in innovation.”

Vitus Pro Cycling Team, powered by Brother UK will compete at the highest level of the domestic sport in 2019, taking on other British teams in a select group to have attained UCI Continental status, and are likely also to face the heavyweight squads of the UCI World Tour, as they did at last year’s Tour de Yorkshire.