Long before millennials adopted a dusty variant of the tone, pink was the colour of choice for another section of society: cyclists. In the Venn diagram of age and interests, it is possible to fall into both camps, but if millennials are, often wrongly, dismissed as snowflakes who are too busy Instagramming their avocado on toast and flat whites to do any hard graft, the same cannot be said of cyclists. “Beyond pain, there is a whole universe of more pain,” former pro cyclist Mr Jens Voigt once said. Road cyclists, in particular, seem bent on inflicting a perverse level of suffering on themselves.

Pink adds a pop of colour to an outfit, and if you’re riding a bike, it could be the difference between a motorist spotting you or not, but it is woven into the history of cycling as a sport. It’s the colour of the leader’s jersey in the Giro d’Italia. The multiple-stage, three-week road race was set up in 1909 to promote Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, which is printed on pink paper, hence the colour found its way into the cyclist’s wardrobe.

Why pink and not yellow? The Tour de France’s maillot jaune also takes its cue from a (now defunct) newspaper, L’Auto, which was printed on yellow paper. But while you might be able to play football in the park sporting a Liverpool, Barcelona or Brazil shirt and no one will bat an eyelid, you have to be worthy of wearing a yellow jersey – as in, you have to win it. The Giro d’Italia has more of a cult following than its legendary French counterpart, so you can just about get away with riding in Giro pink (see also the world championships’ rainbow stripes). It says you have the chops, but only to those in the know.

This is why you will see flashes of pink, as well as rainbow stripes, throughout Paul Smith’s collections. Sir Paul Smith had ambitions to be a professional cyclist before an accident at the age of 16 derailed his career, although cycling’s loss turned out to be fashion’s gain. And it’s why cycling brand Rapha, new to MR PORTER as of today, is running – or rather riding – with an especially vibrant shade of the colour.

Sir Paul – who, as you would expect, has collaborated with Rapha before – could tell you a thing or two about the appeal of the brand. “When I was 14, I looked at Jacques Anquetil and decided that here was a man who defined cycling cool, thanks to his good looks and that red and white St Raphaël jersey,” Sir Paul told Cycling Weekly in 2016, referring to the first man to win the Tour de France five times. “I haven’t changed my mind.” St Raphaël, an iconic French aperitif, sponsored a championship-winning cycling team from 1954 to 1964 and inadvertently gave Rapha its name.

In its first decade, Rapha went from startup to sponsoring the all-conquering Team Sky cycling team. Still barely 15 years old, the brand has turned the market on its head, steering it away from often garish cycling gear towards refined, forward-looking luxury sportswear. It might be a relative newcomer, but the British label has tapped in to the heritage of continental cycling. It equips riders to equal or even better the legends. The styling across Rapha’s core range is decidedly retro and pared back, but employs advanced technical fabrics that point the way forwards rather than look back, which is always safer on a bike.

Suffering is still integral to the cycling experience, just as the trademark pink is to Rapha, and this quality sets riders apart from the rest of us. The cult 1970s novel The Rider by Mr Tim Krabbé, which explores cycling from the point of view of an entrant in one of the sport’s epic endurance events, has become something of a handbook for the brand. (Sample quote: “Non-racers. The emptiness of those lives shocks me.”) But when it comes down to it, even the most driven cyclist will happily ride wearing gear that ensures they suffer just that little bit less.