Greg Van Avermaet's custom-painted Giant TCR(Image credit: Josh Evans)
"Unlike many of his peers, Greg Van Avermaet is sticking with rim brakes for the cobbled Classics"(Image credit: Josh Evans)
The iconic orange of the CCC Team colours feature on the team's bidons(Image credit: Josh Evans)
Giant provide CCC Team with the majority of the finishing kit and accessories for their team bikes(Image credit: Josh Evans)
Van Avermaet ran 26mm Vittoria Corsa tubulars for Omloop Het Nieuwsblad(Image credit: Josh Evans)
The Belgian's initials feature in gold decals at the top of the seat stays(Image credit: Josh Evans)
The brake cable ends also receive a golden touch(Image credit: Josh Evans)
Van Avermaet opts for an integrated carbon Giant Contact SLR cockpit(Image credit: Josh Evans)
"The down tube highlights Van Avermaet's victories at the Rio Olympics, Tirreno-Adriatico and Paris-Roubaix"(Image credit: Josh Evans)
"The frame features a gold to black fade on the top and down tubes, celebrating Van Avermaet's 2016 Olympic Gold"(Image credit: Josh Evans)
"Like Van Avermaet's BMC from last season, this year's bike is equipped with a full Shimano Dura-Ace R9150 groupset"(Image credit: Josh Evans)
Ever wondered what tyre pressures a Paris-Roubaix winner runs when racing on cobbles?(Image credit: Josh Evans)
Greg Van Avermaet (CCC Team) kicked off his Classics season at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday. The two-time winner was unable to join the club of riders with three victories at the race after a late attack from Decueninck-QuickStep’s Zdenek Stybar left Van Avermaet to battle for second place.
Racing on new bikes for 2019, CCC Team – formerly BMC Racing – switched to bikes from Giant as a number of WorldTour teams changed bike partners this season. Like last season’s BMC Teammachine SLR 01, Van Avermaet has been presented with a custom-painted frameset in an eye-catching gold design to celebrate the Belgian’s Olympic victory in 2016.
The down tube of the frame pays further tribute to the victory alongside other big wins from Van Avermaet’s palmares including the Tirreno-Adriatico overall and 2017’s Paris-Roubaix.
Like last season, Van Avermaet sticks with a Shimano Dura-Ace R9150 groupset. However, wheels, finishing kit and accessories are all provided by Giant instead of the Shimano, 3T, Fizik and Elite accessories used by BMC Racing last year.
Click through the gallery above for a closer look at Greg Van Avermaet’s custom-painted race bike.
Frameset: Giant TCR Advanced SL in custom colours for Olympic champion
