At Simpson, we’re always cheered by news of victory for the good guy, and a donation of £18,000 to the Dave Rayner Fund is a victory indeed. 

The donation has come from Prendas Ciclismo, the Dorset-based clothing specialist, who teamed up with Rocket Espresso Milano to produce a kit. £10 from the sale of every garment was allocated to the Rayner Fund.

The kit was made available to the public in February 2014, and sales have since raised £18,000. Prendas made their donation shortly before the Fund’s recent annual dinner in Leeds. 

Joscelin Ryan of the Dave Rayner Fund described the donation as “great news”.

“The Fund is very grateful to both Prendas Ciclismo and Rocket Espresso Milano for their continued support. These funds make a very real difference to young riders, allowing them to experience life abroad in their quest to become professional cyclists.”

Dave Rayner was one of the best British riders of his generation, and gained a place in professional cycling’s top tier when only a handful did so. He died from injuries caused by a doorman during an incident outside a Bradford nightclub in 1994. 

Rayner’s family set up a fund to honour the rider's memory and to support the ambitions of young British riders eager to race abroad.

Now Prendas has announced the imminent release of a replica of the Raleigh Banana kit in which Dave Rayner raced in 1988 and 1989, to be handmade in Italy by Santini, with permission from Raleigh. 

Prendas founder Mick Tarrant said: “We are very pleased to return this eye-catching jersey back to the marketplace. Given the fact that Dave Rayner rode for the team, we felt it was only right that the Dave Rayner Fund received a £10 donation for every garment sold.

“Along with sales of the existing Rocket Espresso Milano garments, we hope these two new garments will help us hit the £20,000 mark during the festive sales period.”

The Raleigh Banana kit is one of the most iconic to come from these shores. The team was prominent in the televised series of Kellogg’s-backed city centre crit races of the late 1980s, and included other homegrown talents such as Tim Harris, Chris Lillywhite, Adrian Timmis and Dave Mann.

The Dave Rayner Fund has helped a host of British riders break into the professional ranks by supporting their amateur campaigns abroad. 

David Millar was the first beneficiary, and riders including Adam Yates (Orica-Bike Exchange), Hannah Barnes (Canyon-SRAM) and 2017 neo pros James Shaw (Lotto-Soudal) and Tao Geoghan-Hart (Team Sky) have since reached professional cycling's top tier with DRF backing.

Raleigh Banana replica kit
Raleigh Banana retro jersey
Raleigh Banana retro bibshorts

Dave Rayner Fund
Prendas Ciclismo
Rocket Espresso