Richard Mille is excited to be launching a new partnership with one of the most anticipated teams to join the Pro Cycling peloton, Team Bahrain McLaren. The new partnership, together with Team Bahrain McLaren’s unique approach and identity will be revealed at a preview event on the 9th December at McLaren’s futuristic high-tech HQ just outside Woking, UK.
The Richard Mille brand has long since embodied the kind of technological innovation which comes from iconoclastic, often disruptive thinking. The 10 year partnership between Richard Mille and McLaren, launched in 2016, has already led to the RM 50-03, the lightest mechanical split seconds chronograph ever produced with its ground-breaking technology and the RM 11-03 McLaren inspired by McLaren’s range of luxury sports and super cars.
Bahrain World Tour Cycling Team and McLaren have joined forces to create a team that brings together the best of people and technology to inspire the sport, fans and partners - and to take the sport into an exciting new era. From four wheels down to two, the 28 strong rider line-up will aim to be the most athletically and technologically advanced team in Pro Cycling. Over the next year, RM 67-02 prototypes in the team’s colours will be tested by some of the team members in grueling real-world conditions present in this incredible discipline.
Team Bahrain McLaren’s rider line-up will include Mikel Landa, Wout Poels and one of the world’s most successful sprinters and winner of 30 stages of the Tour de France, Mark Cavendish. Among the most decorated British cyclists of all time, “Cav” has won four World Championship Cycling gold medals together with Olympic silver. Mark Cavendish, also a huge fan of watchmaking, had already built a strong link with Richard Mille over a number of years. "First, I realised Mark was a fan of the brand because he sent some glasses that he had worn during the Tour de France", he stated. "And we started corresponding like this, shares Richard Mille. And after that, we met for the first time at the Tour de France in 2016. He was in tears when I went to see him on the starting line and kept telling me ‘I can’t believe it’. For us, it’s important to find people with whom the connection is genuine, so the sincerity of our relationship increases every year, every time we meet".
Given Richard Mille’s long-standing passion for motorsport and cycling, there seems little doubt that the brand’s watches will, in 2020 and beyond, be keeping record-breaking time as Team Bahrain McLaren pushes cycling to the very edge.
"Working personally with Richard and his team since the beginning of the partnership with McLaren has been a privilege", commented John Allert, Joint Managing Director of Team Bahrain McLaren. "Team Bahrain McLaren is honoured to represent Richard Mille’s first formal involvement in cycling - particularly as this sport represents such a personal passion for Richard. Just like the stunning and unique models produced by Richard Mille, elite World Tour cycling is a perfect blend of passion and performance - and therefore the perfect environment to test such beautiful, highly technical time pieces. I can’t wait to see some RM 67-02 prototypes on the wrists of our riders as they battle it out in this romantic, gruelling and inspiring sport."
