EF Education's Giro d'Italia Cannondales are decorated with leftover paint - and look brilliant

The US-based team will use handpainted bikes that use excess paint to limit waste. And yes, we'd hang them on our wall!

Cannondale LAB71 SuperSix EVO handpainted for the EF Education-EasyPost team ahead of the Giro d'Italia 2023
(Image credit: EF Education Pro Cycling)

Think of the hallmarks that define the Giro d'Italia and you'll likely imagine the crazed tifosi lining roads three deep, Il Garibaldi, the route book, and of course Italy itself, Bel Paese.

But in recent years there's been an additional staple added to both the men's and women's races: the EF Education pro cycling teams ‘switch out’ kit and bike.

With the sport’s governing body insisting they give up their regular pink jersey out of respect to the race’s maglia rosa, the US-based team has used the mandate to create one-off designs that have, to date, turned heads and divided opinion. 

EF Education rider aboard a handpainted Cannondale SuperSix bike created for the Giro d'Italia 2023

(Image credit: Jared (@jeredgruber) and Ashley (@ashleygruber) Gruber )

This year they’ve opted for an approach that we can all get behind. Teaming up with clothing sponsor Rapha they’ve created a livery using upcycled materials. They’ll race in Italy with a kit that’s made up of 72% recycled fabric and yarn that would have otherwise been sent to landfill. 

But the sustainable approach doesn’t stop there. Instead of manufacturing a quiver of new bikes for the Giro, the team has instead repurposed a few Cannondale LAB71 SuperSix EVO framesets using excess paint to reflect the kit design. Handpainted, it means that each rider’s bike is unique. While we often refer to bikes as ‘works of art’, the Giro-ready SuperSixs are just that. 

A handpainted Cannondale LAB71 SuperSix EVO frameset that willbe ridden in the 2023 Giro by a menber of the EF Education cycling team

(Image credit: EF Education Pro Cycling / Tim Wikey (@wimtilkey)

EF Education-EasyPost’s eight-man team that will line up at the grande partenza in Abruzzo on Saturday includes the GC hopeful Rigoberto Uran, the in-form Irishman Ben Healy, climber extraordinaire Hugh Carthy, stage hunter Magnus Cort, South African rouleur Stefan de Bod and home favourite Alberto Bettoil.

Alongside their individually painted Cannondale frames, the team will use Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupsets, Vision wheels and cockpits, Vittoria tires, Prologo saddles and pedals and computers from Wahoo.

Man preparing a handpainted Cannondale SuperSix EVO frameset to be used in the 2023 Giro by the EF Education pro cycling team

(Image credit: Tim Wikey (@wimtilkey)

“We have to approach this Giro with humility and a bold attitude,” says sports director Matti Breschel. “This is one of the strongest teams that we have ever brought to the Giro. Hugh is really strong and Rigo is really on it. We have tons of experience. It is going to be a very honest race. We will have to fight every day to achieve something. You never really know what is going to happen. It is a super, super tough course, but it is tough for everybody. I like that challenge.”

Whatever the outcome for the team, spotting them in both the peloton and breakaway groups shouldn’t be too difficult.

Rider aboard a hand painted EF Education team issue Cannondale SuperSix Evo road bike

(Image credit: Jared (@jeredgruber) and Ashley (@ashleygruber) Gruber)

For more information visit efprocycling.com

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Freelance writer

Luke Friend has worked as a writer, editor and copywriter for twenty five years. Across books, magazines and websites, he's covered a broad range of topics for a range of clients including Major League Baseball, the National Trust and the NHS. He has an MA in Professional Writing from Falmouth University and is a qualified bicycle mechanic. He has been a cycling enthusiast from an early age, partly due to watching the Tour de France on TV. He's a keen follower of bike racing to this day as well as a regular road and gravel rider.