Jens Voigt has been presented with a custom Trek Madone 6.9 SSL bearing cycling’s favourite hard man’s most popular catchphrase: “Shut up Legs”.
The words, a reminder of Voigt’s mind over matter philosophy, feature on the top tube of the bike, to be ridden by the Radioshack-Nissan-Trek veteran at this week’s Tour of California.
“I was thrilled when Trek said they wanted to do a bike for me,” said Voigt. “We went back and forth about the theme and I talked a lot about the way I approach racing and going for the attack and we came up with this really cool wolf theme. It’s pretty aggressive but I feel like it fits.”
Voigt is a familiar sight on the front of the peloton, driving a relentless pace in support of his team leader, and a weathered wolf’s head is emblazoned on the seat and head tubes in tribute to the 40-year-old’s ability to lead the pack. The bike also incorporates statistics from Voigt’s career, with the numbers hidden inside the fork legs and within the downtube logo.
Trek vice president Joe Vadeboncoeur added: “We wanted to incorporate some of the accomplishments of his huge career so we asked Jens to talk about his career and to list some interesting statistics from his years on a bike.
“He came back with the standard stuff, ‘64 pro wins, 15 years as a pro, 35 wins as an amateur’ but what was really unique – and this just speaks to who Jens is – was that he included things like ‘100 crashes, 11 broken bones, 25 screws or pins, 1300 kg of pasta eaten’. It was an amazing list that he had kept and we’ve incorporated all of it into the details of the bike.”
The bike is the latest in a line of rider-inspired paint schemes from Trek. Last year, during the Tour de France, Trek unveiled limited-edition paint schemes for Frank and Andy Schleck, as well as a Spartacus-themed bike for Fabian Cancellara.
