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87th Giro d'Italia - Grand Tour

Italy, May 8-30, 2004

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Bikes at the Giro: The open road and the mountains

As the Giro hit its hilliest phase in the final week, Tim Maloney went for a snoop round the pits to see what gear riders were using to tackle the steep slopes and the rigors of the open road.

Fast Fred Rodriguez' Moser
Smooth welds and Campagnolo Hiddenset

Fred Rodriguez' Aqua Sapone-Caffe Mokambo Moser Limited edition

Here's the bike that Fast Fred Rodriguez rode to victory at the Carovigno stage of the Giro d'Italia to beat Alessandro Petacchi. In recognition of his pair of USPRO championships in 2001 and 2002, Moser has come upwith a stars and stripes paint job, and Freddy is hoping that this is the rig he can ride to victory at the USPRO Championships on Sunday in Philadelphia.

Of note is the typical sprinter's top gear of 53 x 11 - and also the sprinter's 'oh no it's the mountains' 39 x 25 low! As far as we know, Fast Freddy was the only rider in this year's Giro using Crank Bros Egg Beater pedals, a light weight design that's crossed over from the MTB world.

Specification

Frame: Moser Limited Edition Dedaccai aluminum main tubes with Dedaccai Black Box carbon fibre seat stays
Fork: Dedaccai Black Blades full carbon
Colour: Stars & Stripes
Cranks: Campagnolo Record 175mm / 53X39
Bottom bracket: Campagnolo Record
Chain: Campagnolo Record
Front derailleur: Campagnolo Record
Rear derailleur: Campagnolo Record
Brakes: Campagnolo Record
Levers: Campagnolo Record
Rear sprockets: Campagnolo Record 11-25
Wheels: Velomax Orion II
Tyres: Michelin
Stem: Dedaelementi Newton
Bars: Dedaelementi Newton
Headset: Campagnolo Record integrated
Pedals: Crank Bros Egg Beaters
Saddle: Selle Italia SLK

Brad McGee's Lapierre Ultimate
Long ITM Millennium stem

Brad McGee's FDJeux.com Lapierre Ultimate

Brad McGee's prologue victory and stint in the pink jersey of race leader was not a huge surprise at this year's Giro, but his subsequent solid, gutsy riding surprised even him and his eventual top ten finish was the best result by an Australian in a grand tour since the days of Phil Anderson. Not bad for a rider who came the the Giro intending to build form for the Tour de France.

Six-foot-tall (182cm) Brad runs 175mm cranks and a looong 140mm stem. That's not just a results of his being tall though -- as a rather useful track pursuit rider too, Brad is flexible enough to be comfortable on a long reach.

Specification

Frame: Lapierre Ultimate Scandium Multibutted + carbon fiber seatstays
Fork: Lapierre full carbon
Colour: FDJ.Com Team
Cranks: Shimano Dura-Ace 175mm
Bottom bracket: Shimano Dura-Ace
Chain: Shimano Dura-Ace
Front derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace
Rear derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace
Brakes: Shimano Dura-Ace
Levers: Shimano Dura-Ace
Rear sprockets: Shimano Dura-Ace
Wheels: Shimano Dura-Ace
Tyres: Michelin
Stem: ITM Millenium
Bars: ITM Millenium
Headset: Shimano Dura-Ace Integrated
Pedals: Shimano Dura-Ace
Seat post: Ritchey WCP
Saddle: Selle Italia Tri-Matic

Gilberto Simoni's Cannondale Six13 Saeco
Detail of Simoni's Cannondale Six13

Gilberto Simoni's Saeco Cannondale Six13

Although this bike resembles the prototype that Gibo rode to a stage win in last year's Tour De France, Cannondale assures us that this is indeed a production model Six13, but without paint to save weight. UCI Rule # 1.3.019: says "The weight of the bicycle cannot be less than 6.8 kilograms." and Simoni's conforms, but just barely.

Specification

Frame: Cannondale Six13 Cannondale Optimo aluminum alloy lugs & stays with Co-Molding carbon fibre main tubes with Mechanical Interlock
Fork: Cannondale Slice full carbon
Colour: Nude
Cranks: Coda 172.5mm
Bottom bracket: Coda
Chain: Campagnolo Record
Front derailleur: Campagnolo Record
Rear derailleur: Campagnolo Record
Brakes: Campagnolo Record
Levers: Campagnolo Record
Rear sprockets: Campagnolo Record
Wheels: Mavic Ksyrium SL
Tyres: Hutchinson
Integrated Bars & Stem: FSA Plasma Prototype
Headset: Campagnolo Record Integrated
Pedals: Time Impact
Seat post: Carbon fiber
Saddle: Fizik Airone

Yaroslav Popovych's Colnago C50
Popovych's Colnago Star fork

Yaroslav Popovych's Colnago-Landbouwkredeit Colnago C50

For the mountain stages at this year's Giro d'Italia, Ernesto Colnago told us, "I have made a special version of my C50 that is about 10% lighter that our production bike for Popovych." This proto is just one of many that Colnago tests during the season.

Specification

Frame: Colnago C50 lightweight prototype carbon fibre
Fork: Colnago Star full carbon
Colour: Colnago Team
Cranks: Campagnolo Record Carbon 172.5
Bottom bracket: Campagnolo Record
Chain: Campagnolo Record
Front derailleur: Campagnolo Record
Rear derailleur: Campagnolo Record
Brakes: Campagnolo Record
Levers: Campagnolo Record
Rear sprockets: Campagnolo Record 11-25
Wheels: Ambrosio rims / Campagnolo Record hubs / Sapim spokes
Tyres: Vittoria Tubulars
Bars & Stem: Cinelli
Headset: Campagnolo Record Integrated
Pedals: Look CX7
Seat post: Colnago carbon fibre
Saddle: Selle San Marco Concor

Giovanni Lombardi's Specialized Tarmac
FSA stem & headset

Giovanni Lombardi's Domina Vacanze Specialized Tarmac proto

We spied Giovanni Lombardi's Specialized Tarmac full carbon proto at the Giro d'Italia; still a prototype that Lombardi is running through its paces, this bike may also make it to the Tour De France.

Specification

Frame: Specialized Tarmac full carbon prototype
Fork: Specialized S-Works full carbon fibre
Colour: Red/Black
Cranks: Shimano Dura-Ace 172.5
Bottom bracket: Shimano Dura-Ace
Chain: Shimano Dura-Ace
Front derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace
Rear derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace
Brakes: Shimano Dura-Ace
Levers: Shimano Dura-Ace
Rear sprockets: Shimano Dura-Ace 11-27
Rim: n/a
Hubs: Shimano Dura-Ace 32h.
Tyres: Specialized
Stem: FSA
Bars: FSA
Headset: Shimano Dura-Ace integrated 1 1/8"
Pedals: Shimano Dura-Ace
Seat post: Specialized Zertz carbon fibre
Saddle: Specialized Body Geometry (San Marco Rolls)

Photography

Images by Tim Maloney/Cyclingnews

Bikes of the Giro part 1: Go-faster prologue specials