Bradley Wiggins will ride his first time trial in the rainbow skinsuit of world time trial champion on a limited edition ‘Wiggo’ Pinarello F8.
The F8? For a time trial? That’s right. While Wiggins won the world title in Ponferrada, Spain, on the Pinarello Graal, race rules forbid the use of a TT bike for the Tour of Qatar’s 10.9km time trial on stage three.
Instead, Pinarello have presented Wiggins with this custom F8, which features the Team Sky rider’s face in gold – a dominant colour across the frame – on the top tube. The red, blue and white of the Union Jack is also splashed on the top tube, along with the rainbow bands.
The frame also features Wiggins’ adopted mod roundel in gold to denote his various career achievements, with Wiggins’ world, Olympic and Tour de France titles taking pride of place.
The frame will be dressed in a full Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupset, with 56-44t chainrings (as opposed to Wiggins’ standard 53-39t road setup) for the pan-flat course, according to Cycling Weekly. Wiggins will reportedly also use a narrower handlebar and lower stem to try and get as aero as possible on the F8.
Wiggins will leave Team Sky after Paris-Roubaix in April to join his own UK-based team in the build-up to the Rio 2016 Olympics, and so opportunities to ride in the rainbow bands will be limited for the 34-year-old.
Pinarello say the ‘Wiggo’ F8 will be available to buy in limited numbers but the price is yet to be confirmed.
UPDATE: Wiggins finished third in the 10.9km time trial, nine seconds behind stage winner Niki Terpstra (Etixx-QuickStep).
