Tadej Pogačar is the most dominant stage racer of his generation. He has won four Tour de France titles, the Giro d'Italia, multiple world championships, and more Monument classics than most riders manage in a career. He does all of it on a Colnago.
If you follow WorldTour racing and have wondered exactly which Colnago he rides, and why the answer isn't always the same, here's the full breakdown.
The Short Answer: Two Bikes, Two Purposes
Pogačar races two distinct Colnago platforms depending on the stage profile. The V4Rs is his all-round race bike — the one that appears on mountain finishes, punchy classics, and mixed terrain. The Y1Rs is the aero variant, deployed on flat stages, crosswind-exposed roads, and any day where aerodynamics deliver more advantage than raw weight savings.
This two-bike approach is now standard across WorldTour teams. The days of a single frame covering every situation are effectively over at the highest level, and UAE Team Emirates-XRG reflects that with dedicated platforms for different racing contexts.
The Colnago V4Rs: All-Round Race Flagship
The V4Rs is the bike Pogačar has ridden to his most significant victories, including Tour de France stage wins on summit finishes and attacks on the steepest gradients in professional racing. It is Colnago's all-round race flagship — a frame designed to balance stiffness, weight, and aerodynamics across a wide range of conditions rather than optimising for any single one.
The tube profiles are shaped for aerodynamic efficiency without going to the deeper sections of a dedicated aero bike. The result is a frame that is competitive in the wind tunnel while remaining light enough to perform on long climbs. At Colnago's pro-team spec, the complete build sits close to the UCI minimum weight of 6.8 kg, often requiring ballast to reach the legal limit.
The V4Rs uses fully internal cable routing, a press-fit bottom bracket, and is disc-brake only at the team level. The integrated cockpit on Pogačar's race builds reduces aerodynamic drag at the front end and removes external cable clutter — a setup that is becoming standard across all flagship race platforms.
For riders considering the V4Rs, it is the more versatile of the two Colnago race bikes. If your riding mixes climbs with flat sections, the V4Rs is the platform that translates best across all terrain.
The Colnago Y1Rs: Dedicated Aero Platform
The Y1Rs was introduced by Colnago in 2025 as a purpose-built aero road bike, positioned to compete directly with the Cervélo S5, Canyon Aeroad, and Trek Madone Gen 8. Pogačar has raced it on flat and rolling stages where aerodynamics are the primary performance variable — sprint finishes, exposed valley roads, and any stage where the peloton spends most of its time above 45 km/h.
The Y1Rs uses deeper tube profiles than the V4Rs, a more aggressive front-end geometry, and a fully integrated bar and stem system optimised for the aero position. The frame is heavier than the V4Rs — as all dedicated aero bikes are — but the aerodynamic advantage on flat terrain more than offsets the weight penalty when gradients stay below 4 to 5 percent.
The Y1Rs is Colnago's answer to the increasingly bifurcated WorldTour approach: teams carry both a lightweight climber and a dedicated aero bike, and riders switch between them based on the day's demands.
Why Colnago? The Brand Behind the Wins
Colnago is one of the oldest and most decorated names in Italian cycling. Founded by Ernesto Colnago in 1954 and based in Cambiago, near Milan, the brand has supplied bikes to some of the greatest riders in the sport's history. The association with Pogačar has brought the brand back to the centre of WorldTour attention after a period when the major podiums were dominated by other manufacturers.
What Colnago offers at race level is Italian frame construction combined with serious engineering investment in aerodynamics and stiffness-to-weight performance. The brand is not a direct-to-consumer operation — Colnago frames are sold through authorised dealers and premium retailers, which keeps the price points high and availability selective.
For time trials, Pogačar and UAE Team Emirates-XRG use the Colnago TT1, a dedicated time trial platform with a fully integrated cockpit and aggressive geometry built around the pursuit position.
What Happens to These Bikes After the Race
After the Tour de France and major race programmes, some WorldTour-spec Colnago frames and complete builds reach the secondary market. These are not replicas or team-colourway production models — they are the actual machines ridden by professional riders, or team-edition builds configured to race specification.
Availability is limited. Colnago team bikes do not come to market regularly, and when they do they move quickly. Bikeroom verifies and lists WorldTour bikes — including Colnago — when they become available, with authentication documentation and full condition reporting.
