Special yellow, green, and polka dot bikes on show on the final stage of the Tour
(Image credit: Trek / Cervelo / Canyon)
In past editions of the Tour de France, we’ve seen the leaders of the four jerseys often be presented with a special edition bike in a paint scheme that matches the jerseys even before the midway point of the race. This year it was only Jasper Philipsen we saw on a green Canyon Aeroad ahead of the final stage, but as night follows day we saw a commemorative polka dot Trek Madone wheeled out for Giulio Ciccone and a yellow Cervelo S5 for overall winner Jonas Vingegaard for the final stage into Paris. Personally, I feel giving the best climber a commemorative aero bike over the lightweight Emonda he’d been using all race was a bit odd, but given the Parcours, and the larger canvas that deep aero tubes afford, it’s understandable.
It’s not only just special paint that makes these winners' bikes one-offs. There’s usually a slew of commemorative components on show too. We’ve got tip-top galleries of each, though this year Tadej Pogacar again was left without an all-white Colnago.
All yellow Cervelo S5
We’ve been given access to both studio shots of Jonas’ yellow bike, and some from the stage itself, with some interesting differences between the two. The obvious commonality between the two is clearly that the frame and forks are all yellow, in contrast to the already custom team bike he was using for the rest of the race (when he wasn’t on the lighter R5, at least). In the studio, there are custom yellow wheel decals on his Reserve wheels, a gold Sram cassette and flat-top chain, and yellow Sram logos on his brake levers.
On the stage itself, he opted for a silver chain though, and cassette, with a 1x setup. This makes sense given the more or less flat profile of the stage. 1x is becoming more common, but as we picked out in our tech trends from the Tour piece, it’s yet to make an impact in terms of stage wins. His cranks, for the final stage, were decked out with yellow Sram logos too, to match the levers. The classic yellow bar tape was also rolled out for the final stage, though no yellow saddle to match (criminal!). Curiously, given the stage profile, he opted for a shallower set of wheels than those seen in the studio.
Let's play a game of spot the difference. Here is the studio shots of the bike, with 2x, gold chain, deep wheels, black tape, yellow lever logos and standard crank arms... (Image credit: Jumbo-Visma / Bram Berkien)
...and here is the bike Jonas actually used, with yellow tape and levers, yellow crank logos on a 1x setup, with a silver chain and cassette, and oddly shallow wheels for the stage profile. (Image credit: Jumbo-Visma / Bram Berkien)
No yellow saddle to match the tape, which to some is a crime, but personally I think looks better. If you look closely you can see the yellow Reserve logo are stuck on over the standard ones. (Image credit: Jumbo-Visma / Bram Berkien)
Here's a closer look at the wheel logos. Despite making a pink version for the Giro d'Italia I'm a bit pleased there aren't bright yellow sidewalls on the Vittoria Corsa Pro tyres (Image credit: Jumbo-Visma / Bram Berkien)
A simple but effective commemoration on the top tube. His race number, is 1, as defending champion in 2023, and his name is in bold so he knows what to make people chant when he goes home to the mega crowds in Copenhagen. (Image credit: Jumbo-Visma / Bram Berkien)
Yellow lever logos are a classy touch, but no bar tape here, and no custom Garmin skin either. Cant weigh the man down too much I suppose. (Image credit: Jumbo-Visma / Bram Berkien)
Even with custom paint, the rather diminutive Dane can easily hold his bike aloft in celebration (Image credit: Jumbo-Visma / Bram Berkien)
Spotty Trek Madone
Giulio Ciccone spent three weeks mopping up KOM points aboard his Trek Emonda, so naturally a polka-dot Madone was in order for Paris. As per Jonas’ Cervelo, it’s bold, but not overdone, with just a polka dot paint job for the frameset, and red logos for his Sram levers and crank arms. The fact that the dots have been arranged so they line up with the fork legs is a classy touch to be sure. No red tape for the bars, and a black saddle, and neither were red or spotty logos placed over the standard Bontrager logos on the deep Aeolus wheels. This is probably a wise move, as the dotty bikes can look very busy very fast.
Interestingly Ciccone has clearly asked his mechanics to swap the standard integrated bar and stem for a separate set-up so that, despite the aero trappings of the Madone, the contact points still feel familiar to his climbing bike. Also, as touch points go, a custom set of Time Xpro pedals is a very cool icing on the cake.
As with all the winning bikes this year, the brief seems to have been focus on the frame but don't overdo the details. A simple set of spots for Ciccone, but pleasantly aligned with the head tube and seat tube angles so a string of dots exists down the fork blades. (Image credit: Trek)
The dots fit less well on the stays, but a vaguely threatening red Sram logo for the Sram Red groupset does distract the eye somewhat. (Image credit: Trek)
Fitting sponsor logos in amongst the dots must have been a bit of a needle-threading exercise, but fortunately, it's not a bike awash with logos even in its normal red. (Image credit: Trek)
The aero tubes are deeper than those of the Emonda, meaning a little more room for the spots. Ordinarily, the name sticker would be a little further back, but given the stickers are primarily for the mechanics to be able to tell which bike belongs to which rider, it's more or less redundant anyway. (Image credit: Trek)
Time pedals in a special spotty motif are a classy touch, given very few people will see the underside of the pedals. What is a bit of an omission is that it seems Sram only elected to do red logos for the drive side, as this left crank arm has standard logos still. (Image credit: Trek)
If ever something said 'no, i'm a climber' it's be putting swapping the integrated Madone cockpit out for a two piece lightweight setup, still from Bontrager; aero be damned, weight is all that matters. (Image credit: Trek)
Lean green Aeroad machine
Finally, we get to the most familiar of the commemorative bikes: Jasper Philipsen’s green Canyon Aeroad. He’d been using this for the majority of the race, presumably after it became clear he’d be more or less untouchable in the fight for the green jersey, despite the best efforts of the breakaway to deny him adding a further two stage wins to his tally of four.
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Despite being the most used of the three bikes it’s the least adorned with green features. The team paint scheme for the bikes is simple as it is, so a block green colour for the frame and forks was all that was required. Personally, I think it’s a lovely green, much better than the green of the jersey itself, which caused a great deal of consternation amongst the fanbase, having changed this year from a more classic ‘green’ green.
The only real extra green detail is a green skin for his Wahoo bike computer, and green heat shrink on the fork leg to secure his race timing chip.
Much like Van der Poel's all-white Aeroad, Philipsen's green one is a simple paint scheme, but more classy for it in my eyes. (Image credit: Tino Pohlmann)
The only other green flash on the whole build is a green skin for Philipsen's Wahoo bike computer. Everything else is as it would be on his usual team bike. (Image credit: Tino Pohlmann)
Chainstay protectors, however stealth, are still needed even for the pros, especially on a cobbled circuit like the final stage. (Image credit: Tino Pohlmann)
The soon-to-be-replaced Aeroad has a seat clamp in the rear of the seat tube, as you can just see here, along with a heavily sculpted shape to mesh seamlessly with the rear wheels. (Image credit: Tino Pohlmann)
Although he wore an all-green skinsuit for each stage, here his separates have green details on the shorts and special green Zwift logos on the socks. (Image credit: Tino Pohlmann)
Will joined the Cyclingnews team as a reviews writer in 2022, having previously written for Cyclist, BikeRadar and Advntr. He’s tried his hand at most cycling disciplines, from the standard mix of road, gravel, and mountain bike, to the more unusual like bike polo and tracklocross. He’s made his own bike frames, covered tech news from the biggest races on the planet, and published countless premium galleries thanks to his excellent photographic eye. Also, given he doesn’t ever ride indoors he’s become a real expert on foul-weather riding gear. His collection of bikes is a real smorgasbord, with everything from vintage-style steel tourers through to superlight flat bar hill climb machines.
