Tadej Pogačar kept one of these new bikes in the dark for most of last season – introducing the new special edition Colnago Y1RS and V5RS in stripped carbon finish

Colnago today launched a 'Dark' version of the V5RS and Y1RS. The bikes are the very same models available to be used by Tadej Pogačar of UAE Team Emirates-XRG who has already opened its 2026 account with some early success, on board Colnago bikes.

We love both V5RS and Y1RS here at Cycling Weekly, with Rook, our North American Editor, testing the V5RS recently and commending it for its excellent ride characteristics, but we can't help but giggle at the photography provided to show off this latest pairing of bare-carbon finished bikes. I rode a V5RS myself for most of the summer, and absolutely loved it too, but these new photos are quite something.

Here, the strictly limited edition 'Dark' editions, have hands or legs obscuring the images, and the beauty shots we might usually share, showing both bikes in all their glory, are almost comedic in the context of a set of launch photos. You just can't see the bikes.

But that's perhaps the point. Tadej Pogačar dispensed with the paint on his bikes, not caring what they looked like either, ordering the team to shed every gram so he could bring the Y1RS into service at every stage of last year's Tour De France. They take things so seriously at that level that perhaps it doesn’t matter if you can’t see them.

You could argue that the V5RS is used to not being seen however, having been left in the truck like a two-wheeled Cinderella, for almost every competition last season. Perhaps as a result, it is now intriguingly being billed as being "the perfect tool for amateurs who want to feel fast on climbs," which I feel somewhat understates its broader capability as an excellent professional-level race bike, even if Tadej seems to prefer the slipperier one.

It's not all dark, however. Chrome-plated decals in a "titanium tone" pick out both the Ace of Clubs emblem on the head tube and the Colnago logo on the down tube. You can just about pick that out in some of the photos.

While lights were used sparingly in the studio, so has the necessary protective lacquer to keep the new limited-edition bikes looking on point for their new owners—both models have been coated in the minimum amount of protective coating, just like Tadej's were.

There was no information in the press release pertaining to how much weight the new finish saves, if any, but if you miss out on the bare carbon one, you could always buy the existing black version, painted in the usual way.

We jest of course. The bike's will look superb in the flesh we're sure, but if you want to buy one, or the pair if you've just got to have both, be quick as just 300 of each will be available worldwide, via your friendly local Colnago dealer. If you can spot them.

Pricing is the same as the painted versions and they're on sale now.

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