Chris Froome returns at Saitama Criterium with custom Pinarello F12 X-Light
Four-time Tour champ will ride a custom Pinarello F12 X-Light on his return to racing this weekend at Saitama Criterium
Pinarello has released a custom painted, limited-edition version of its Dogma F12 X-Light for Chris Froome's return to racing at the Saitama Criterium in Japan this weekend.
Just 14 weeks after Froome's horror crash at the Critérium du Dauphiné that left him in intensive care, the Kenyan-born Briton will once again pin on a number, and to commemorate, Pinarello has provided him with a shiny new bike with a personalised paint-job.
The headtube of the Dogma F12 X-Light is adorned by the trademark Froome rhino, a tribute to his Kenyan roots, along with his support for Unite for Wildlife - a charity that works to tackle illegal wildlife trade. His nickname 'Froomey' joins the rhino, along with a subtle nod to all of Froome’s grand tour victories. The letters are painted accordingly, with four yellow, remembering Froome's four Tour de France victories, two red, representing his Vuelta successes and the Y resplendent in Giro d'Italia Pink.
This special-edition Dogma F12 is the X-Light version, which is essentially a lighter version of the regular F12 thanks to the use of Torayca T1100G unidirectional carbon fibre, rather than the T1000 1K used in the regular bike. Pinarello has also upgraded the use of resin, and uses different frame moulds with greater focus on quality control. The result: a 60g weight saving, in a frame that weighs a claimed 720g.
Besides the extra-premium carbon, the remainder of the bike sees the traditional Dogma F12's asymmetric frame design, aero shaped tubing with the Pinarello 'Flatback' down tube, a tapered head tube, internal cable routing, threaded bottom bracket, and although Pinarello does make the F12 X-Light with disc brakes, Froome's bike will feature rim brakes.
There is no pricing or availability for this special-edition bike, and although Pinarello says it will be available in 11 different sizes, we'd be surprised to see any of these hit your local bike shop. However, you can view the Dogma F12 X-Light, along with the rest of the range in our Pinarello range overview.
Given the price of the standard F12 X-Light frameset is £6,000, you're going to need deep pockets for this one.
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As the Tech Editor here at Cyclingnews, Josh leads on content relating to all-things tech, including bikes, kit and components in order to cover product launches and curate our world-class buying guides, reviews and deals. Alongside this, his love for WorldTour racing and eagle eyes mean he's often breaking tech stories from the pro peloton too.
On the bike, 32-year-old Josh has been riding and racing since his early teens. He started out racing cross country when 26-inch wheels and triple chainsets were still mainstream, but he found favour in road racing in his early 20s and has never looked back. He's always training for the next big event and is keen to get his hands on the newest tech to help. He enjoys a good long ride on road or gravel, but he's most alive when he's elbow-to-elbow in a local criterium.