Fabian Cancellara is no stranger to the yellow jersey having won the opening stage of the Tour de France on five occassions; an individual time trial in 2009, and prologues in 2004, 2007, 2010 and 2012.
After Cancellara’s latest victory in Liege, Trek presented the Swiss powerhouse with a yellow Domane to match his maillot jaune.
The Domane is Trek’s endurance, or ‘comfort’ bike, and Cancellara played a significant role in its development, with the machine then launched ahead of the cobbled Classics. Cancellara had already given the Domane a race-winning debut at the Strade Bianche but the 31-year-old’s Classics campaign was then cut short by a crash at the Tour of Flanders in which he broke his collarbone.
But, rather than returning to the peloton aboard one of Trek’s recently-launched Madone 7-Series machines which the rest of the Radioshack-Nissan-Trek team are riding at the Tour de France, Cancellara remains loyal to the Domane. These pictures from the team’s photographer, Glenn Kasin, show the bike being built up ahead of Sunday’s opening road stage.
What makes the Domane unconventional is the mechanism it employs to isolate the saddle from rear wheel vibrations. The IsoSpeed mechanism connects the seat tube to the seatstay/top tube junction using a pair of cartridge bearings set into the outside of the stays, allowing the seat tube to move under impact, considerably smoothing the ride. You can read more about the Domane in our first ride report here.
The Domane was originally launched as a top-end 6-Series model only, but Trek are now rolling out carbon fibre 5-Series and 4-Series versions, as well as an aluminium 2-Series variant.
But back to Spartacus’ bike: Cancellara prefers mechanical shifting and uses Shimano’s Dura-Ace 7900 groupset, with SRM cranks, Schwalbe tyre, Speedplay Zero Nanogram pedals and Bontrager Aeolus 5 wheels, as well as a stem, saddle and handlebars from Trek’s in-house component brand.
Thanks to Radioshack-Nissan-Trek photographer Glenn Kasin for the pictures. See more here: http://on.fb.me/LjnWuj
