Bike manufacturer Trek have presented Trek-Segafredo duo Peter Stetina and Kiel Reijnen with custom-painted Trek Checkpoint SL gravel-specific framesets for this weekend's Dirty Kanza 200-mile/320-kilometre gravel race.
Like the riders' Trek framesets used on the road in the WorldTour, both riders' bikes are equipped with SRAM RED eTap AXS groupsets in a 1X setup and Bontrager Aeolus wheels.
WorldTour professionals Taylor Phinney, Lachlan Morton and Alex Howes (EF Education First) will also be taking part in the amateur event.
The time-cut for the event is 20 hours, with the 2018 edition won by former professional Ted King in 10 hours and 44 minutes.
Reijnen's Trek Checkpoint design is a tribute to the Cowlitz Indian tribe, of which he is a member, and Bainbridge Island, Washington, where he is from.
The design features the tribe's symbol of a salmon and colour inspiration from nature and art seen in the region.
Stetina's frameset design features Tibetan Prayer Flags, which the American says have always had a special place in his life. Each of the prayer flags features a different design, including the flag of Colorado, the flag of California, an outline of Lake Tahoe, a hop flower and a Phoenix.
In a press release from Trek, Reijnen said: "Gravel riding and racing seems to be capturing a new generation of cyclists who are looking for adventure and experiences rather than measure performances. This attitude has drawn in a different crowd of relaxed, unique individuals to the sport and it makes for a very different vibe on race day.
"A race like Dirty Kanza isn’t just a race against other cyclists, it is a 10-hour race against yourself. I expect during those 10 hours I will feel excited, sore, fast, hungry, powerful, weak, lost and when I finish, a sense of accomplishment."
Stetina added: "The coolest thing is the equipment choice as the options are endless. Everyone has something different; there will bee points during the day where everyone has an advantage or disadvantage over others. It brings a new element to racing."
According to reports in VeloNews, both Stetina and Reijnen will complete the race with clip-on aero handlebars – a trend that is popular in ultra-endurance races. As an amateur event, the Dirty Kanza is not a UCI-sanctioned event and so the clip-on aero bars are permitted unlike in regular road racing where the bars are banned due to safety issues in a crash scenario.
Last year's Dirty Kanza winner, former professional Ted King, raised his concerns about the use of aero bars on Twitter, asking the Trek-Segafredo duo to not use the equipment.
