Last Sunday marked the end of what was one of the toughest Giro d'Italia in recent years. After three weeks of brutal race conditions, epic stages and a final time trial showdown on stage 20, the sun shone down over the riders for the race's final processionary showdown through the eternal city streets of Rome.
Aside from Mark Cavendish taking a long awaited stage win, more attacks from Derick Gee and a heroic leadout from Geraint Thomas, we also got a chance to admire some of the beautiful custom colourways from the different classification winners of the Giro.
So here are the stunning jersey holder's bikes bikes from stage 21 of this year's Giro.
Primož Roglič's Pink Cervelo S5
Primož Roglič used a variety of different bike setups throughout the Giro d'Italia, which even included a slightly rogue gravel-esque setup for the final part of stage 19 and stage 20's mountain time trial, but after clinching the pink jersey from Geraint Thomas' shoulders by a mere 14 seconds, he turned up to Rome with a particularly pink special edition Cervélo S5. (Would it surprise you if we told you that the S5 did pretty well in our Race Bike of the Year test?)
The Slovenian's gorgeous one off colourway was draped in the usual top of the range kit, with SRAM providing its range topping eTap AXS groupset, which even featured pink accents, as well as a pro-spec 54t outer chainring for that fast finish.
The frame rolled on a set of Reserve deep section carbon rims and featured the newly released Vittoria Corsa Pro tyres too - these were even switched out for the special edition pink side wall tyres for the obligatory trophy shoot.
While the rest of Primož's Jumbo-Visma teammates opted for pink bar-tape, the winner's bike was ever so slightly more understated, with the frameset doing the real talking - although, Roglič was dressed nearly head to toe in nothing but pink attire!
Jonathan Milan's Purple Merida Reacto
This year's Giro d'Italia played host to some thrilling sprint finishes, some of which came down to less than a tyre width. But it was Jonathan Milan who was crowned king of the sprinters, winning the purple Maglia Ciclamino in Rome. The Italian sprinter won stage two, and subsequently racked up another four second place finishes throughout the grand tour.
Bahrain-Victorious went all in with the stunning special edition paint job of the Italian's Merida Reacto. Finishing kit sponsor Vision also weighed in with a metallic purple one-off of its 5D aero cockpit, and even provided Milan with a set of custom decal deep section wheels too. Rudy Project painted up a fresh set of purple lenses and a helmet to match, while the bike was clad in Shimano DuraAce Di2.
Although all that morale-boosting bling wasn't a match for the Mark Cavendish on the final stage, Milan certainly looked the part - a glamorous end to what has been a very successful Giro d'Italia for Bahrain Victorious.
Thibault Pinot's blue Lappiere Xelius SL
After announcing his retirement at the end of 2023, the French climbing legend Thibault Pinot fought admirably in the mountains in his final Italian grand tour, eventually clinching the blue Maglia Azzurra (mountains classification).
Although he couldn't quite pull off a stage win this year, the Groupama-FDJ rider certainly rode with passion, which at times even lead to the odd fiery exchange with breakaway companions.
Team sponsor Lapierre ensured that Pinot stood out on stage 21 of the Giro d'Italia, with a bright blue Xelius SL frameset to match his hard earned blue jersey. Alongside the usual compliments of Shimano DuraAce Di2 groupset, and DuraAce wheels, the Frenchman opted for matching blue bartape from Prologo.
On the clothing front, helmet sponsor Julbo gifted Pinot a blue edition of its Fast Lane lid for his last lap of Italy.
