Pro bike: Ion Izagirre's Merida Scultura

Here we have the Merida Scultura of Ion Izagirre - pro rider for Bahrain-Merida - which he used at Paris-Nice.

The Scultura is Merida's lightweight climbing bike, but also at his disposal would have been the Merida Reacto, the brand's aero bike. He'll have been able to choose between the two depending on the stage profile.

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It's a bit of a franken-bike drivechain-wise, with Bahrain-Merida running a mish-mash of Shimano components. It has paired new Dura-Ace Di2 front and rear mechs with old Dura-Ace chainrings. We've seen a couple of teams doing this, and it's down to power meter compatibility – SRM don't currently have a built in power meter.

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Instead, Bahrain-Merida are running a SRM crank with a speed sensor on the front fork. All of the stats will be relayed to an SRM head unit as shown in the video.

As with many bikes, the Di2 junction box is snug underneath the bars and stem while their are sprint shifters on the drops, giving him easy access if it came down to a sprint.

Elsewhere, Ion Izagirre is using Fulcrum's 40T wheels, giving a speed and aero advantage thanks to their moderately deep sections. The tyres are Continental's Competition Pro Ltd, a staple of the pro peloton.

The bars and stem are made up of FSA's finishing kit, as is the seat post. He's using a Prologo Nago Evo saddle which comes with grippy bits to help stick him in his riding position.

There are so neat little details, too. For example, his name is on both the seat tubes and stuck on his top tube are a list of feed stations and important climbs.