The eagle-eyed among you might have spotted that Mikel Landa wasn't riding the same Pinarello Bolide as his Team Sky teammates in stage nine of the Giro d'Italia, with the Spaniard on board an updated version of the time trial bike.
From afar, the new Pinarello Bolide looks similar to the old model, but get up close and there are a number of changes that have been made to create what Pinarello refers to as the "benchmark" of time trial bikes.
The cut out down tube is designed to reduce air turbulence around the water bottles
(Image credit: digitalmovie.it)
The down tube has received the biggest redesign, being cut out with a flattened rear section to allow the water bottles to sit closer to the frame. The top tube has also been overhauled, moving away from the dead straight tube of the old Bolide to be given a curved shape to smooth airflow.
Watch: Mikel Landa's (old) Pinarello Bolide
The new Pinarello Bolide retains the brake covers of the old model, but while the front brakes are very similar to the old ones, the rear brake cover is new, with a strange finned design that Pinarello says is derived from the aerospace industry. The final marginal gain comes from the aerodynamic front dropouts, which were previously used on the Pinarello Bolide HR that Bradley Wiggins rode to the Hour Record last year.
The rear brake covers have received a redesign
(Image credit: digitalmovie.it)
Interestingly, Pinarello has also managed to reduce the weight of the new Bolide, not typically a concern when designing time trial bikes, apparently chopping a massive 350g off the frame and fork compared to the old model.
Don't expect the new Bolide to be a budget option
The final thing you want to know is how much does it cost? Well, unfortunately UK pricing and availability is yet to be announced, but seeing as the old model was £9,300 (and that's just for the frameset) it's not going to be cheap.
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