Trek-Segafredo's sprinter can shift from virtually any hand position
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John Degenkolb's Trek Madone SLR for the 2017 Tour de France (Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
Degenkolb likely won't use gearing this big for the mountains. But for flat stages, the German is a tooth up on most sprinters(Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
Trek-Segafredo is using the older 9000 Shimano SRM because there is not a 9100 SRM(Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
The rear brake cable exits the frame at the seat tube (Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
Trek has its own aero brakes on the Madone that - unlike some aero calipers - actually work pretty well (Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
The IsoSpeed Decoupler is the special sauce in the Madone, allowing the seatmast and seat tube to flex slightly (Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
Bontrager's Blendr mount has adaptors for SRM (shown here) as well as Garmin and GoPro (Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
Wrapping around sprint shifters requires a bit of finesse... and a sharp knife (Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
Degenkolb also has the buttons on the tops of the hoods programmed for shifting (Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
Degenkolb has sprint shifters on the drops and then here underneath the tops near the stem (Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
The Madone bar/stem hides shift and brake lines from the eyes and the wind (Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
Bontrager originally conceived the Montrose as a mountain bike saddle. But if the shoe fits(Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
In this sprints of this year's Tour de France, Trek-Segafredo's John Degenkolb will have his head down and his hands in the drops, shifting with sprint shifters on the hooks of his bars. But at other times in the race, he can shift with sprint shifters glued to the underside of his Madone bar/stem, with the programmed buttons on the tops of his hoods, or even the old-fashioned way, at the shift levers.
All told, Degenkolb has 10 buttons on his cockpit that he can press.
Degenkolb hasn't yet found success at this year's Tour. He's been close enough to the front to get taken out by that Peter Sagan / Mark Cavendish collision, but not close enough to make the podium.
Degenkolb is perhaps best known for his 2015 Paris-Roubaix victory (aboard a 2014 Giant Defy).
Trek recently rolled out new Race Shop Limited edition version of the Domane SLR, which has a lower, racier geometry and comes in a Degenkolb-inspired graphics package, among other styles.
Check out the gallery above for a closer look at Degenkolb's Trek Madone.
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