One of the many switch-out designs of this year's Tour de France
(Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Israel-Premier Tech have revealed a custom bike design for the Tour de France to match their 'Field of Dreams' kit.
The Factor Ostro VAM TDF Edition has been decked out with the same mixture of blues, purples and greens as the kit unveiled earlier this week, and will certainly make for a striking presence in the peloton when the race starts in Copenhagen tomorrow.
The English brand based in Norfolk has produced a limited run of the Ostro VAM TDF Edition available to buy with SRAM or Shimano groupsets, but says it will only be available to order until July 24.
Jacob Fulglsang and Michael Woods will lead this year's Tour de France bid for Israel-Premier Tech, which also boasts four-time champion Chris Froome in its line-up, and the team is raising money to build a bike centre in Rwanda.
Factor Bikes CEO Rob Gitelis said: "Having our bikes on the start line of any Tour is always exciting but this year there is an additional pleasure.
"We are proud to be a part of the Israel–Premier Tech Field of Dreams initiative, and thrilled that the bike design looks so distinctive. We have high hopes for the team’s performance and great respect for everything the team is doing for the Rwandan cycling community.”
We've grabbed a closer look at Israeli national time trial champion Omer Goldstein's bike. The colourway on the Factor Ostro VAM TDF Edition, like the kit, is inspired by the Rwandan art form known as Imigongo and the most significant detailing is seen on the fork and rear triangle.
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While the Black Inc Sixty wheelset – fitted with Maxxis tubeless tyres – Rotor Aldhu chainset, and Black Inc integrated cockpit handlebar and stem remain untouched, the newly released CeramicSpeed OSPW Aero over-sized pulley wheel system in the rear derailleur has not escaped customisation, throwing up an attention-grabbing flash of metallic blue.
CeramicSpeed is also planning tribute to the Grand Depart in Copenhagen by featuring a Danish Flag design on the OSPW Aero on Danish rider Fuglsang’s Ostro VAM, and the team’s Factor Hanzo bikes for the stage one time trial tomorrow.
CeramicSpeed also supply the bearings, headset and bottom bracket, and the bikes are equipped with a Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 11-speed groupset.
The fundraiser for the Field of Dreams bike centre in Rwanda is part of Israel-Premier Tech's Racing for Change project. Donations can be made at www.bit.ly/FODIPT
The jockey wheels on the CeramicSpeed OSPW rear derailleur cage have been given a striking flash of metallic blue (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
The chainstays are an area of the Factor frame where the geometric patterns inspired by the Rwandan Imigongo artwork can be clearly seen. It also include a 'Never. Status. Quo' slogan (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Factor have produced a limited run of the 'TDF' edition of the Factor Ostro VAM available to the public until the end of July (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Omer Goldstein's Rotor Aldhu chainset is set up with 54/39 chainrings (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
The Elite Fly bottles used by Israel-Premier Tech have also been given a 'Racing for Change' makeover and sit in Elite's Leggero Carbon cages that weigh just 17g each (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
The Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 11-speed groupset is integrated with Rotor and CeramicSpeed components (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
The Israel Premier-Tech team are using Maxxis tyres with a Black Inc Sixty wheelset (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
The bike is equipped with a Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupset (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Omer Goldstein is the reigning Israeli time trial champion and will support Israel-Premier Tech leaders Jakob Fuglsang and Michael Woods (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
The Black Inc integrated cockpit stem and handlebars remain in black, as does the bar tape (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Omer Goldstein is using Shimano Dura-Ace R9100 pedals at the Tour de France (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
The 1.74m-tall Omer Goldstein's Rotor Aldhu crank arms are 172.5mm (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
The Factor Ostro VAM is fitted with Shimano Dura-Ace R9170 disc brakes (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
The Israel Premier-Tech team will use Hammerhead Karoo 2 cycling computers, having signed a two-year renewal last November (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Omer Goldstein's 11-speed cassette goes up to 30T (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
An InSpider power meter is integrated in the Rotor Aldhu crankset (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
The Factor Ostro VAM is fitted with a lightweight Selle Italia SLR Boost saddle (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Ben has been a sports journalist for 16 years, covering everything from park football to the Olympic Games. As well as cycling, his passions include podcasts, tennis and speaking enough Italian to get by on his snowboarding trips to the Dolomites. A DIY rider who is almost as happy in the toolbox as he is in the saddle, he is still trying to emulate the feelings he experienced as a nine-year-old on his first Peugeot racer – he couldn’t fathom the down-tube friction shifters then and he’s still wrestling with groupsets now. When he isn’t making a beeline for the nearest Chiltern hill, he is probably tinkering or teaching his kids how to clean a bike properly. He rides a heavily modified 1980 Peugeot PVN10 Super Competition (steel is real) when the road is smooth and dry, and a BMC Alpenchallenge when it’s not.
