Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) has had his fair share of custom-painted bikes over the years but this will be the Spaniard’s last, with Trek presenting Contador with a one-off Emonda SLR for the 2017 Vuelta a Espana.
The Vuelta is Contador’s final race as a professional cyclist, bringing the curtain down on a 15-year career which has included seven Grand Tour victories. In fact, Contador’s custom Emonda SLR pays tribute to the 34-year-old’s wins in the Giro d’Italia (2008, 2015), Tour de France (2007, 2009) and Vuelta a Espana (2008, 2012, 2014), with graphics of each country featuring on the seattube, as well as graphics of each race’s trophy on the otherside.
The second-generation Emonda SLR, which was updated ahead of the 2017 Tour de France to drop the claimed frame weight to 640g, also references Contador’s other major victories, including Paris-Nice, the Tour of the Basque Country and Tirreno-Adriatico, and features El Pistolero’s personal slogan, ‘Querer es poder’ (‘Where there’s a will, there’s a way’) on the downtube.
“The details that have been put into it, commemorating the most important moments of my palmarès and some of the symbols and ideas that reflect my way of being and that characterise me as a rider, make this bike really special,” said Contador.
“It highlights my victories in the Tour, the Giro, and the Vuelta, of course, but also the other big important races. The trophies of the three grand tours are on it and other things like my personal slogan that I always keep in mind, and other subtle references to my way of riding, like the sentence ‘attack until the end’.
“I believe its a bike that reflects me and my career completely, and I think it’s one the fans will also embrace.”