This season, ASSOS has introduced four new jackets to its range to protect riders through the full gamut of wet and cold autumn and winter conditions. They’ve been designed to meet the needs of its sponsored EF Pro Cycling men’s and women’s teams, but that pro-level protection is also great for amateur riders.
The Equipe Thermobooster adds extra warmth in cool conditions, while its skin-tight fit ensures aerodynamics are maintained.
The Mille GTS Sturmprinz Rain Jacket is an insulated, packable waterproof shell, while the Equipe Thermo Rain Jacket S11 is designed, as its name suggests, for cold and wet conditions.
The Equipe R Women’s Rain Jacket is available exclusively for women riders and meets the need for a highly breathable racing jacket for wet conditions identified by the EF Education-Oatly women’s team.
We talked to Luca Zanasca, ASSOS’s senior manager of R&D and Innovation, who explained why ASSOS had launched its new jackets and how they each meet different needs of cyclists riding in a variety of winter conditions.
Engineered for different tempos
ASSOS took its cues for its new jackets from its pros and its wider community of users.
Early season races can be run in very poor conditions, Zanasca points out. At Paris-Nice this year, for example, the temperature on some stages was 6ºC, it was raining and the team was riding for four or five hours. For these conditions, a jacket must offer waterproofing, insulation and performance.
ASSOS talked with the EF Pro Cycling riders in November 2025 to brainstorm what they needed.
“If you’re riding with a rain jacket with a membrane, it’s always tricky to be aero and in an aero position the jacket doesn’t perform very well,” Zanasca points out.
“When you’re in the front of the bunch, pushing watts, with a high effort, your body keeps you warm, although overheating could be a problem. But when the rider is in the bunch and not pushing, the effort level is low.”
Some estimates put the output of a rider in the middle of the peloton at around 5% of that of a rider on the front or riding solo.
“Most of the time, the rider is cold, so they need additional insulation. The fit also needs to be comfortable and stable in a less aero position,” Zanasca continues.
He estimates that a typical rain jacket can lose a pro rider as much as 50 watts relative to an aero summer skinsuit.
It’s a deficiency that ASSOS has sought to reduce by using a variety of cutting-edge fabrics in its Fall/Winter 2026 jacket collection, designed for a wide range of autumn and winter conditions.
A lightweight extra layer
Zanasca points to the Thermobooster mid-layer jacket, launched earlier this year, as an example of a piece designed to meet an identified pro need.
ASSOS found its pros were wearing a Spring Fall jacket over their race jackets at the start of races and for podium presentations.
“It’s a jacket mainly engineered for training, not racing though,” Zanesca points out.
“It wasn’t so packable when they had to remove it. Imagine a rider with seven jackets [for the whole team] to bring to the car at the back. The volume is pretty high.
“So we started thinking about something different. Why don’t we use a textile without brushed fabric, but a more performant fabric? The result was the Equipe Thermobooster. It’s a jacket you can wear over your summer kit or speedsuit that’s super-packable, super-aero and super-light with a second-skin fit. The fabric is so elastic that it will fit non-pro riders comfortably as well.
“The sleeves are aero too. The Thermobooster’s aero features are important, as you invest in aero kit, but then lose any aero gains when you have to put your jacket on,” Zanasca continues.
“We reduced to the minimum the weight in the pocket area by using a kind of transparent mesh, which offers storage but avoids heat build-up.
“A Spring Fall jacket weighs around 220 to 250g, but the Thermobooster weighs just 180g, so it’s super-light, super-packable. If you’re riding alone or doing intervals, the Thermobooster is the best option,” he concludes.
A packable shell
The original Sturmprinz jacket was launched 16 years ago and was a game changer, Zanasca says, requested by pros from a number of teams and used by them logo-free. Now the Sturmprinz is back and part of the Mille GTS collection, designed for endurance rides.
At 400g, it’s around twice the weight of ASSOS’s lightest Schlosshund rain shell, which is targeted more at summer riding.
“In, say, March or October or November, if you’re riding long distances, you need something heavier with greater protection. The Sturmprinz is designed for these conditions,” Zanasca says.
The Sturmprinz has a mid-weight three-layer fabric that’s unique to ASSOS and engineered by its R&D department. It’s called Atlantis and used over the forward-facing areas that catch the rain.
A water vapour permeability value of around 20,000 g/m2/24h is usually considered highly breathable, but the Sturmprinz’s waterproof, windproof fabric is more than twice as breathable and has one of the highest breathability quotients available.
“The Atlantis fabric is quite rigid though,” Zanasca says. “So to ensure a good fit in the riding position, we used Core Light on the back and underarms.”
The Core Light softshell fabric helps avoid perspiration build-up as well as ensuring a close fit. ASSOS has also engineered two air vents on the back. Zanasca explains how they function.
“When you’re riding in a more aero position, you don’t need so much ventilation, but when you’re in the bunch or, for a solo rider, have just finished an interval set, to avoid overheating the vents open a little, without letting water in,” he says.
The Sturmprinz also features a two-way zipper and has highly elastic, water-resistant cuffs and hem and externally taped seams, helping to keep out the rain and cold. With its wide usable temperature range from -8 to 20°C, dependent on layering, it’s a favourite of the EF Pro Cycling teams.
Waterproof and warm
The Equipe RS Thermo Rain Jacket S11 is designed for colder winter conditions, with a 4ºC to +11°C temperature range. It’s very light for a waterproof, windproof three-layer jacket with a membrane that's still insulating, Zanasca explains, and made with ASSOS’s new four-way stretch Nimbus fabric.
It complements the Equipe R Thermo Rain Jersey, launched last year, but adds sleeves and was designed in response to EF Pro Cycling’s requirements.
“It’s a jacket that can be worn during winter,” Zanasca says. “It’s super-light for a full membrane jacket, and super-stretchy for a skin-tight fit. It’s a good weight for protection and insulation and is quite breathable and, of course, waterproof. It protects against cold and even heavy rain, but is still more aero than a normal rain jacket.”
It’s another jacket where ASSOS has deployed a different fabric on the forearms and collar, in this case using its brushed RX Evo Plus for increased breathability and insulation without sacrificing water resistance. It also makes the jacket easier to remove. There’s a two-way zip for thermal regulation, three pockets, and reflectives front and back to increase your road presence.
A women-only jacket designed for the pros
When ASSOS talked to the EF Education-Oatly women’s team in November 2025, the riders identified a need for a highly breathable, packable waterproof jacket designed specifically to fit women riders, which avoids moisture build-up from sweat.
The result was the Equipe R Hydra Women’s Rain Jacket.
“The brief was to have something packable, with mid-level insulation. Hydra fabric was the best option for breathability,” says Zanasca.
Hydra is a three-layer softshell, which is ASSOS’s most breathable three-layer fabric with a breathability level of over 50,000 g/m2/24h, and is also lightweight and very elastic.
“It’s engineered to stay comfy when more upright, but is also still aero. The fit is also engineered for women riders. A bonded hem doesn’t work well for female riders,” Zanasca says.
“We’ve avoided any bonding at the hem and the wrist. The wrist is made of Avantguard textile. It’s fully waterproof and we’ve engineered the jacket so that it’s easier to add a shell over it for descents.”
It’s quite packable and still has taped seams to prevent rain ingress.
ASSOS winter jacket specs
There’s an ASSOS winter jacket designed for any conditions you’re likely to encounter from early autumn right through winter and into spring.
While winter jackets are typically bulky and looser-fitting, the input from the EF Pro Cycling pros ensures ASSOS’s winter range is close-fitting and aerodynamic, while still keeping you comfortable. ASSOS has sweated the details, so non-pro riders, too, can benefit from pro-level protection for their winter riding.
Equipe Thermobooster P1 Jacket
- Recommended temperature range: 12º / >+21°C
- Sizes: XS-3XL
- Colour: Kosimo Granite
- RRP: £175 / $235 / €200
Mille GTS Sturmprinz Rain Jacket S11
- Recommended temperature range: -8ºC / +20°C
- Sizes: XS-3XL
- Colour: Fanatic Silver
- RRP: £410 / $585 / €490
Equipe RS Thermo Rain Jacket S11
- Recommended temperature range: +4°C / +11°C
- Sizes: 2XS-3XL
- Colour: Black Series
- RRP: £345 / $470 / €400
Equipe R Hydra Women’s Rain Jacket
- Recommended temperature range: +4°C / >+21°C
- Sizes: XS-2XL
- Colour: Kosimo Granite
- RRP: £280 / $370 / €330
