Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida) arrived at the 2014 Tour de France in the rainbow jersey and with a new bike, the Merida Reacto KOM, hoping to add to his career tally of three stage wins – but the world champion has been forced to abandon the race with pneumonia ahead of today’s 16th stage.
Costa’s Merida Reacto KOM is so new that it is, in fact, one of only two in existence. The Portuguese rider started the season, having signed from Movistar to Lampre-Merida, aboard the Reacto Evo, but Merida developed a super-light version (and so dubbed KOM, or King of the Mountains) of the aero bike for Costa’s Tour challenge.
Costa was placed 13th overall after 15 stages before withdrawing from the race and will now return home to recover ahead of the second half of his season as world champion.
But that won’t stop us taking a look around the 27-year-old’s Tour bike.
