Colnago claps back at Tom Boonen’s criticisms about Tadej Pogačar’s bike
Italian brand invited former world champion for a ride and chat
Colnago has fired back at recent criticisms of its bikes levelled on the Wielerclub Wattage podcast, after former pros Dirk De Wolf and Tom Boonen dissed its product. “If Tadej Pogačar gets on a bicycle from Jumbo-Visma, Ineos Grenadiers or Soudal-Quick Step tomorrow, the rest will have no chance,” De Wolf said. “On those bikes, he will pedal another 2 km/h faster.” The 1990 worlds silver medallist backpedalled a little later in the pod.
“They undoubtedly have a good product there, but it is like a Ferrari and a Porsche: there is still a difference between the brands,” he said. Boonen chimed in on the topic as well.
Colnagos are “old-school”
“Colnago did indeed have a dip a while ago. It remains a bit of an old-school bike now and they haven’t quite mastered the aero thing yet although they are now catching up,” the four-time Paris-Roubaix winner said.
On Thursday, Colnago jumped into the fray. In a statement, the company responded to Boonen’s “off-the-cuff comments.” The company then invited the Belgian and his colleagues to ride and test the V4Rs bikes used by Colnago’s sponsored teams around the company’s Italian headquarters. The ride would be followed by a public conversation about the podcast’s data that allowed them to identify the 2 km/h difference in performances with other brands as reported by the podcast in comparison with the data provided by Colnago. That information, the statement read, has been available since its launch on the Colnago website’s homepage.
Ride before Milan-San Remo
The ride and the public conversation would happen in the days leading up to Milano-San Remo on March 18.
“The performances of UAE Team Emirates are a highest level priority of Colnago. Consequently, we have invested millions of euros and a lot of time in developing their bikes,” Colnago CEO Nicola Rosin said. “We work hand in hand with UAE Team Emirates and UAE Team ADQ, first to understand the demands they have for our bikes and then to ensure that what we are delivering is the absolute best available. We are; of course; in contact with the teams on a daily basis, and we have not heard a single complaint about the competitiveness of our bikes. In fact, they are ecstatic about the equipment we have provided thus far.”
No word yet if Boonen is headed to Italy.
