Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) arrives at the Giro d'Italia this weekend as one of the bookmakers' favourites for what would be the Italian's third career maglia rosa.
For the third season in a row, Nibali will race the Giro on a Merida Scultura after racing with a special, more aero-focused Merida Reacto at the 2018 Tour de France.
As one of an elite club of just seven riders in history to win all three Grand Tours, Nibali – whose nickname is the ‘Shark of Messina' – has special stickers on his stem featuring the yellow, pink and red colours of the leaders' jerseys at the three races. Nibali has the same shark design on a pair of custom Sidi Shot shoes.
ADVERTISEMENT
Paired with the Merida Reacto frameset, Bahrain-Merida run Shimano Dura-Ace R9150 groupsets in conjunction with SRM Origin power meter cranks. Fulcrum provides the team with 40T Speed wheels, which are paired with Continental Competition tubular tyres.
Bahrain-Merida head mechanic Filip Tisma revealed to Cyclingnews that the bike weighs in at 6.81kg when it is fitted with the Velon data-collecting device under the saddle, and so just over the UCI minimum weight limit. Nibali will have three identical Sculturas for the Giro d'Italia. A hollow bottom bracket axle saves 260g, with other minor details helping to save the grams.
Nibali was also supplied a disc-brake bike at the start of the season but has opted to use caliper brakes for performance reasons. A slow wheel change can perhaps be accepted in a one-day Classic race but Nibali prefers to avoid any risks that could perhaps cost him overall victory in a Grand Tour.
Vincenzo Nibali's Merida Scultura full bike specifications
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/vincenzo-nibalis-2019-merida-scultura-gallery
No comments:
Post a Comment