Tadej Pogačar rides stunning custom Colnago to celebrate his imminent Giro d’Italia victory
Subtle artwork and details make this more than the usual generic repaint
Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) has excelled at the Giro d’Italia by any measure, leading the race by 7:42, and so it’s no wonder that he is set to ride a commemorative victory bike one stage ahead of the final procession into Rome.
Repainted bikes have become a convention for any Grand Tour winner, usually used as a tool to market their flagship offering (sometimes one not ridden predominantly by that athlete in the race) and typically ridden on the final stage of a Grand Tour.
Colnago will have been thrilled to put together an unusually intricate custom design V4RS for Pogačar, as the brand has seen its own gravity-defying Pogačar premium as the Italian bike builder posted exceptional annual results against a context of many bike brands seeing their revenue plummet.
Pogačar's V4RS has been preserved in all its race-ready glory, fully equipped for the savage Monte Grappa double of stage 20.
Keen tech heads will immediately spot all the unique flourishes of Pogačar's bike build. His unique Carbon-Ti 55 x 40 chainring, equipped with eyebrow-raising 165mm cranks, has already stood out as a unique technical choice for his Grand Tour campaign, and is being employed in this custom build.
His Enve Richard Mille-emblazoned stem has been delicately rebranded, but it's the wheelset and saddle where the real love has been invested in this custom design.
Look closely and you’ll see that Pogačar's Prologo Nago R4 has been etched with his race wins throughout his career - confidently already showcasing the Giro d’Italia amongst his palmares.
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The Enve SES 4.5 wheelset has seen the logo recoloured but also illustrated with highlights from the 2024 Giro d’Italia.
Indeed the sole component left untouched has been the groupset, his Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 group complete with satellite sprint shifters remains in stock colours.
All together the build represents an unusually intricate and well-thought-out tribute to Pogačar's Giro campaign, but with the Slovenian having seized the malai rosa on stage 2 with no sign of challenge since then, the brands admittedly had time to plan.
Peter Stuart has been the editor of Cyclingnews since March 2022, overseeing editorial output across all of Cyclingnews' digital touchpoints.
Before joining Cyclingnews, Peter was the digital editor of Rouleur magazine. Starting life as a freelance feature writer, with bylines in The Times and The Telegraph, he first entered cycling journalism in 2012, joining Cyclist magazine as staff writer. Peter has a background as an international rower, representing Great Britain at Under-23 level and at the Junior Rowing World Championships.