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Tour de France tech: One-of-a-kind graphics

published 26 July 2014

From cocaine-fueled gangster themes to tiny details on the hubs

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The Spartacus them on Fabian Cancellara's bike was not new for the Tour de France, but remains one of the most intricate(Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)

The pink winning bike of the Giro d'Italia? Perhaps it's just here at the Tour for good luck…(Image credit: Jason Sumner)

And go ahead and add 'gambler' to the gladiator and gangster themes(Image credit: Jason Sumner)

Gladiator? Cocaine-fueled gangster? When you're Cancellara, you get to decorate the bike however you want(Image credit: Jason Sumner)

Tony M? That would be Tony Montana from the movie Scarface(Image credit: Jason Sumner)

Cancellara's Domane Classics(Image credit: Jason Sumner)

Yukiya Arashiro's Colnago M10, painted for Japan(Image credit: Jason Sumner)

Okay, so a little sticker on a number plate is not a paint job. But what better decoration to a race bike than celebrating the number of Tour stage wins?(Image credit: Jason Sumner)

This green just so happens to match one of Cav's cars(Image credit: Jason Sumner)

Cav has a signature line of helmets, shoes and clothes with Specialized(Image credit: Jason Sumner)

Specialized created the sparkly paint in conjunction with McLaren(Image credit: Jason Sumner)

Mark Cavendish only got to race this for one stage(Image credit: Jason Sumner)

Sylvain Chavanel had a Swiss artist design his Scott Addict paint job(Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)

The Trek Domane Classics has an unusual fork. The idea is to extend the fork blades for a bit of suspension, but kick the dropouts back for a relatively tight wfront end(Image credit: Jason Sumner)

Andre Greipel has the Gorilla theme pretty much locked up in the Tour peloton(Image credit: Jason Sumner)

Each BMC rider has his nationality embalzoned on his top tube(Image credit: Jason Sumner)

Orica-GreenEdge has some sharp details for its bikes(Image credit: Jason Sumner)

Gerrans' bike isn't over the top, just clean and classy(Image credit: Jason Sumner)

Orica-GreenEdge had a classy white bike for Simon Gerrans(Image credit: Jason Sumner)

By stage 2, Giant-Shimano had Marcel Kittel dialed tip to tail in yellow(Image credit: Jason Sumner)

For those in the know, a simple rainbow-stripe motif speaks volumes(Image credit: Jason Sumner)

Team Cannondale gave each of its riders custom animal-based graphics(Image credit: Jason Sumner)

Although having the green jersey all but locked up, Cannondale's Peter Sagan has not yet won a stage. But he has his eyes on a win(Image credit: Jason Sumner)

Looks like Specialized didn't quite have a yelllow bike ready, so they went with this little sticker(Image credit: Jason Sumner)

Here is a Nibali shark bik stickered up for stage 3 after he won stage 2(Image credit: Jason Sumner)

Nibali has been on a few bikes at the Tour. This is his shark S-Works Tarmac(Image credit: Jason Sumner)

This article originally appeared on BikeRadar

For those who love to look at bicycles, there is no better place than the Tour de France. This year we have seen a variety of custom paint- and decal-modifications to frames, many accompanied by one-off saddles or at least complementary bar tape or a computer.

In the video below, we look at the top five custom bike designs of the 2014 Tour de France. In the gallery above, we show you those plus many more.

Sylvain Chavanel has a stunning Scott Addict painted by Swiss artist André Marty, designed by the team at Scott and Chava himself. Specialized partnered with McLaren for the sparkling green paint on Mark Cavendish's S-Works Venge, which just so happens to match the paint on one of Mr Cavendish's cars.

Vincenzo Nibali's shark theme gets a similar sparkle, but with a bit more teeth to the design. All nine Cannondale riders started the 2014 Tour de France above custom-painted SuperSix EVOs, each one painted with an animal theme of the rider's choice. While his teammates picked actual animals like a grizzly bear or a lion, Peter Sagan went with a comic book super hero – the Wolverine.

Finally, although not brand new, you have to love Fabian Cancellara's Spartacus design, while celebrates the gladiatorial theme tip to tail. Carrying over another theme from last year, Cancellara's top-tube name place says T Montana, short for Antonio (Tony) Raimundo Montana, the protagonist of the 1983 gangster movie Scarface, played by Al Pacino.

Which of these bikes is your favorite?