Following back-to-back mountain stages in the high Pyrenees, the unyielding Tadej Pogačar now sits over three minutes ahead of his closest rival Jonas Vingegaard in the Tour de France.
Many superlatives have been used to describe the Slovenians’ indomitable spirit, and they could also be used to describe his bike. However, we’ll simply settle for ‘bling’. No other bike in the pro peloton quite matches Pogačar’s Colnago V4RS for Gucci parts and flashy trinkets.
The Italian brand hardly needs introduction, and where once it was best known for its C68 frame, Pogačar has done his best to elevate the Colnago V4RS to iconic status in its own right. Introduced in 2022, the V4RS was designed as a bike for UAE Team Emirates to win races on and as such it bears all the hallmarks of a bike befitting pro peloton.
A sculpted head tube with flowing lines to the down tube facilitates smoother airflow, as do its boxy tube shapes. Their diminutive size also helps reduce weight while the bike’s dropped seatstays both improve comfort and aerodynamics. However, none of these shapes are particularly radical in the peloton.
What’s more interesting is the minute detail to which the bike has been finished. The most obvious of which is the great yellow Enve adorned wheels. These are the SES 4.5 wheels, with 50mm depth on the front and a 56mm depth on the rear. According to Enve, they’re tubeless specific and optimised around high volume tyres, with Pogačar running Continental GP5000 S TR tyres in a 30mm width – potentially some of the widest in the whole peloton.
Pogačar runs a one-piece Enve SES Pro Team One-Piece handlebar with a 130mm stem and 36mm width.
Photographed before his victorious stage 15 ride, Pogačar has the stage profile and details for quick reference.
It also features the slightly unglamorous sticking of the Richard Mille name - a watch sponsor of UAE - on the side of the stem and an aero cover for his Wahoo computer.
Fun finishing details include the FramesandGear direct derailleur mount for sharper shifting and lower weight, and the Carbon-Ti chainrings Pogačar runs with his Shimano Dura-Ace groupset.
He’s running a 55/40 combo with an 11-34 cassette. While that is an unfathomable climbing combo for mere mortals, Pogačar could be seen putting time into Vingegaard on Sunday’s high mountain stage in his biggest ring.
So, how does a man as fast as Pogačar slow himself down? By using Carbon-Ti brake rotors - measuring 160mm on the front and 140mm on the rear - and AbsoluteBlack Graphenpads. With a compound that includes graphene for better heat management, their large cooling fins can be seen poking out the back of the photograph.
As Tadej Pogačar has consistently dropped his closest rivals on descents, perhaps added bling really does translate into improved performance?
