Lidl-Trek have teased the arrival of a new bike in a social media post. However, whilst logic - and what we know of cycling's entrenched product cycles - would dictate that it's likely to be a new Trek Émonda, we're not quite so sure.
Sharing a video which featured close ups of a sponsor correct Trek bike, the team wrote: "Something new has arrived at the Giro d'Italia this morning".
Today's stage 17 parcours will see the peloton tackle five climbs in the high mountains, so with the team having access to the Madone aero bike and the lightweight Émonda climbing, the latter would seem a sensible choice.
The Madone was last redesigned in 2022, with the defining feature being the addition of an 'IsoFlow' hole, which replaced the compliance boosting Isospeed decoupler and aimed to provide compliance and aid aerodynamics.
The latest re-imagining of the Trek Emonda came in 2020, making the brand's climbing bike ripe for an update. But, well, there's a but.
Not the first glimpse
This isn't the first time that a new Trek has been wafted around by the team. In January, images surfaced - on the WeightWeenies forum - of Giulio Ciccone riding what appeared to be either a slimmed down Madone, or a more aero Émonda. The bike featured rounder, less aero looking tubes, alongside the IsoFlow currently showcased on the Madone.
In recent years, we've seen a convergence of aero and climbing bikes. Trek's competitor, Specialized, allowed its climbing bike - the Tarmac - to eclipse the aero 'Venge' back in 2020, with the arrival of the SL7.
With its Tarmac SL8, Specialized said it had surpassed the aero performance of its now discontinued Venge, by optimising the cockpit and elongating the head tube. We don't have enough images of the will-be new Trek to analyse these features, but, we can see that the IsoFlow is still there.
The constant march of engineering progress means that aero bikes no longer have to be heavy and uncompliant, and lightweight bikes no longer suffer a watt wasting penalty for their slender tubes.
We know that the Madone has been a successful bike for Trek; Lidl-Trek's Mads Pederson rode to victory at Gent-Wevelgem aboard the Madone SLR in March this year, proving that the chassis is more than capable of tackling steep, cobbled climbs like the Kemmelberg.
Not only are aero bikes now capable of hitting the UCI weight limit of 6.8kg, and compliant enough for all-day comfort, having just one flagship race bike sheds costs from a manufacturing point of view. With moulds one of the driving costs in carbon frame design, why have two when you can have one?
We won't have long to wait
It's almost certain that a new bike is on the way. With the Dauphine and the Tour de France looming in June and July respectively, I would wager that it will be soon.
And, I think we might be about to see the death of the Émonda. Or, rather, its reimagining, under the Madone name.
Does it really matter what the bike is called? Not really, it's just a name. But, if another major bike manufacturer moves away from the idea of specialist race bikes for different conditions, it certainly has far reaching implications for the rest of the road bike category.
Perhaps, the bigger question is, if the current generation Madone gets discontinued, what impact - if any - will that have Lidl-Trek riders' ability to win sprint stages? The Tour de France will probably hold the answer.
