Oliver Naesen rode a custom steel framed Eddy Merckx bike on stage 21 of the Tour de France

Oliver Naesen was riding the new Eddy Merckx Corsa Road Rim steel bike for the final Tour de France stage into Paris. He swapped the usual carbon Stockeu69 ridden by AG2R La Mondiale for the Corsa to mark the launch by Eddy Merckx Cycles of its new high end steel MyCorsa range.

Naesen’s Corsa Road Rim bike is made of a mix of Columbus Spirit HSS lightweight steel and Columbus XCR stainless steel tubing. The rest of Naesen’s thoroughly modern spec consisted of a Shimano Dura-Ace mechanical groupset, with a Rotor 2inPower crank power meter, Look Kéo Blade Carbon pedals and a KMC chain.

Naesen rolled on Mavic Cosmic Pro Carbon wheels with Vredestein Fortezza Senso T tubular tyres. His cockpit was Deda Superzero and he used a Fizik Antares R1 saddle with a Deda Zero100 seatpost.

Three standard and bespoke frameset options

The new Eddy Merckx MyCorsa range is welded from Columbus Spirit XCR steel tubing. Eddy Merckx Cycles says that its steel frames are almost as light and stiff as a carbon frame, but offer more comfort.

There are three off-the-peg steel options in the MyCorsa range. The Strada, priced from €2499 is a rim brake road bike and available with either Campagnolo Potenza or Shimano Ultegra shifting, in sizes from XS to XL, while the similarly priced Hageland is a disc brake gravel bike. This comes with either SRAM Rival 1 or Shimano Ultegra and in the same size range. Finally, the Criterium is a hybrid rim brake model with Shimano Claris shifting and is priced at €899.

There’s the option of a fully custom geometry and paint scheme, configured for either road or gravel use, with 42 colours to choose from, as well as the standard models. Eddy Merckx quotes prices starting at €3299 for a custom frame and fork.