Tour de France bikes: Vincenzo Nibali's custom-painted Merida Reacto — Gallery

This article first appeared on BikeRadar.

Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) is one of just seven riders in the history of cycling to have won all three Grand Tours during his career, with Chris Froome (Team Sky) the only other active rider to have also achieved the feat.

Nibali arrived at the Tour de France with his eyes set on winning a second yellow jersey, and will be racing aboard a custom-painted Merida Reacto for multiple stages of the race.

The frameset celebrates Nibali's Grand Tour victories with flashes of pink, yellow and red on the down tube of the frame, commemorating the Giro d'Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta a España, respectively.

As well as the iconic colours of the three Grand Tours, Nibali's famous nickname — the Shark of Messina — is also celebrated on the frameset, with shark fins lining the top tube in the form of glittery-grey decals.

A closer look at the shark fin finish

While aero framesets are traditionally heavier than their all-round counterparts, Nibali is said to be satisfied with the low weight of his current Reacto build and the frameset didn't hold the Sicilian back as he attacked on the Poggio to win Milan-San Remo earlier this season.

It is likely that alongside the three-coloured down tube and glitter-grey decals, the raw carbon finish on the rest of the frame is a concerted effort to reduce the overall bike weight.

Bahrain-Merida pairs Nibali's Reacto with a Shimano Dura-Ace R9150 groupset, while an SRM Origin crankset is combined with Shimano Dura-Ace R9100 53/39 chainrings.

A look at Nibali's front wheel

The 40t variants of Fulcrum Speed carbon wheels offer Nibali a further balance between lightweight and aerodynamic performance, while Nibali opts for a traditional cockpit from FSA rather than an aerodynamic, integrated setup.

Click or swipe through the gallery above for a closer look at the Nibali's custom-painted Merida Reacto.

Frameset: Merida Reacto in custom finish for Vincenzo Nibali
Front brake: Shimano Dura-Ace R9100
Rear brake: Shimano Dura-Ace R9100, bottom bracket mounted
Brake/shift levers: Shimano Dura-Ace R9150
Front derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace R9150
Rear derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace R9150
Cassette: Shimano Dura-Ace R9100, 11-30
Crankset: SRM Origin with Shimano Dura-Ace R9100 53/39 chainrings and 172.5mm cranks
Wheelset: Fulcrum Speed 40t
Tyres: Continental Competition ALX, 25mm tubulars
Handlebars: FSA K-Force Light, 400mm
Stem: FSA OS-99, 125mm
Tape/grips: Prologo
Pedals: Shimano Dura-Ace R9100
Seatpost: Merida Reacto
Bottle cages: Elite Leggero
Computer: SRM PC-8 (not photographed)
Other accessories: SRM Speed sensor

Critical measurements

Rider height: 1.81m
Seat height from bottom bracket (c-t): 755mm
Nose of saddle to handlebars (at stem): 600mm

Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*

Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets

After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59

Join now for unlimited access

Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1