Thibaut Pinot’s Custom Lapierre Xelius SL

The Frenchman’s bike features a list of race wins printed on its top tube.


Dan Roe |

Thibaut Pinot will soon need to scribble on his top tube. The Groupama—FDJ rider won Stage 14 of the 2019 Tour de France on Saturday, dropping the hammer as he summited the Col du Tourmalet, a Pyrenean climb with an average gradient of 7.4 percent over 19K. His bike is a brand new, yet-to-be-released Lapierre Xelius SL, with a custom paint job that features a list of Pinot’s victories on the top tube.

Nearest to the stem are the words Alpe d’Huez, another legendary climb that Pinot won during the 2015 Tour.

tour de france
Chris Auld

The 2019 Pinot bike looks similar to his 2018 Xelius SL pro model. But comparing shots of the two bikes shows that the new bike has aero tubing pulled from the company’s aero bike and a new seat post clamp. Currently, the top 2019 model is the Ultegra Di2 version, the Xelius SL 700, so we’ll have to wait for Pinot’s bike to go on sale later this year.

Lapierre Xelius SL
Lapierre has yet to release the 2019 Dura-Ace Xelius SL; the Ultegra Di2 version costs around R78,000.
Lapierre

We might not have a commercially available comparison available, but Pinot’s race bike is full-Shimano (a team sponsor), including a Dura-Ace Di2 drivetrain, Dura-Ace C50 carbon clinchers, and a PRO handlebar, seatpost, and stem. Notably, the Xelius SL is another pro bike without disc brakes.

Get on the Groupama—FDJ bandwagon with the rest of the French rider’s stage-winning gear.

READ MORE ON: bikes gear Lapierre Xelius SL THIBAUT PINOT Tour de France

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