The fast guys get together in Italy
It's always an exciting time when the first Grand Tour of the year comes around. Things are about to really kick off with the fastest guys in the world getting together for a right royal knees-up around Italy.
The Giro d'Italia is one of the most prestigious races on the calendar, and the world's best riders will want nothing less than the world's best bikes in search of glory. This year's race will see Team Ineos (formerly Team Sky) nipping around on their Pinarello whips, Bora-Hansgrohe and Deceuninck-Quick Step mounting their Specialized machines and Trek-Segafredo putting their futureproof fleet of top-notch Trek bikes on the line, all chasing Grand Tour success.
In search of speed
This year's Giro d'Italia, the 102nd edition of this famous race, looks set to be one of the toughest courses in years and begins with a time trial in Bologna on Saturday 11 May. The Grande Partenza is always a special occasion, and the short 8.2km opener through the capital of the Emilia-Romagna region, finishing with a 2km climb up to San Luca with gradients reaching 16%, is sure be a fascinating start to the race. There are two further time trials in this edition where we'll see the peloton flying aboard their specially designed TT machines, bikes dialled with one goal in mind - to go fast, very fast.
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Sprint for glory
As is often the case, there are several sprint stages in this year's Giro for the fast men to get their teeth into. With local lad Elia Viviani looking to improve on last year's four stage wins (and the cyclamen jersey of the points classification leader to boot), along with Pascal Ackerman of Bora-Hansgrohe, we're likely to see the frighteningly fast Specialized Venge first across the line on more than one occasion. Meanwhile, Trek-Segafredo will be hoping that young up-and-comer Matteo Moschetti, on board the aerodynamic masterpiece that is the Madone, can replicate his searing sprint up to Hatta Dam earlier this year - only this time getting the better of Caleb Ewan, the only man to beat him at the UAE Tour.
Lightweight, aerodynamic, stiff and responsive, these bikes are the F1 cars of the peloton, dedicated to just one thing: speed. When the flag drops, these furious machines take all your power and put it to good use.
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Head to the hills
Grand Tours are often won and lost in the mountains, and once the road goes up the guys will be wheeling out their lightest and most efficient bikes. When the fire gets lit you need a machine that can respond immediately, not leave you floundering as the front of the race disappears up the road.
Team Ineos have stuck with their favoured Pinarello bikes ever since their Team Sky initiation. With good reason too - Chris Froome rode his Dogma F10 to success in last year's Giro and Pinarello have dominated Grand Tour racing since Sky first partnered with the Italian brand on their (at the time) hard-to-believe ambition of bringing the UK its first Grand Tour winner.
The latest model, the Dogma F12, looks set to take them to even greater glory, with the young Russian Pavel Sivakov - who grew up in Italy - and Londoner Tao Geoghegan Hart, winner and runner up at the recent Tour of the Alps. With frame technology borrowed from the Bolide TT bike that Sir Wiggo rode to World Championship gold in 2014 and the world hour record less than a year later, the F12 takes the famous and beloved handling of the Dogma F10 and makes it even faster.
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Trek-Segafredo GC hope Bauke Mollema is likely to spend much of his time aboard his Emonda lightweight climbing bike. Designed to give its rider the ultimate advantage in the fight against gravity, the Emonda will give Mollema every chance in the battle against Bora-Hansgrohe's Rafał Majka, likely to be making Italian alpine ascents appear remarkably easy aboard his S-Works Tarmac. The Tarmac offers aero advantages for the descents too, so this is a three-way head-to-head we're looking forward to.
Whether you're racing for Grand Tour glory or just to the café, we've got the road bike for you. Check out our range online or in store.
