By Jack Evans

Published: Monday, 21 November 2022 at 12:00 am

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Tom Pidcock made his 2022/23 cyclocross season debut on a custom Pinarello Crossista F, which commemorates his World Championship victory in January.

The multi-discipline maestro finished seventh in the Superprestige Merksplas, his first cyclocross race since taking the world title in Fayetteville.

The special edition of Pinarello’s first cyclocross bike is sprayed white with rainbow stripes down the fork and seat tube.

The Team Ineos WorldTour rider’s Challenge Grifo tubular cyclocross tyres have a rainbow flag on their tan sidewalls.

Tom Pidcock’s Pinarello Crossista F

Despite the filthy conditions (which were worse the following day at Overijse, where he was runner-up), Pidcock wore the white, cyclocross world champion’s jersey.

The silhouette of Pinarello’s cyclocross frame could pass for the Pinarello Dogma F.

But during the design process, Pidcock requested a number of cyclocross-specific features, such as drainage holes in the frame, according to the brand.

The kinked top tube is supposed to make the bike easier to shoulder in order to carry it over cyclocross obstacles.

Luc Claessen / Getty Images

The Tour de France stage winner on Alpe d’Huez ran an 11-speed, double-chainring Shimano Dura-Ace R9170 Di2 drivetrain in the weekend’s Belgium double-header.

Before joining Team Ineos, who are sponsored by Shimano, Pidcock rode a Specialized S-Works Crux equipped with 1x SRAM Red eTap AXS groupset.

The brakes are also Shimano Dura-Ace, but we don’t know the rotor size on the R9120 hydraulic discs.

Shimano Dura-Ace C36 carbon tubular wheels were shod with Challenge Grifo 700 x 33mm tubular tyres. Their widely spaced, large lugs soon clogged with Flemish mud.

Luc Claessen/Getty Images

The Crossista uses Most Talon’s one-piece bar and stem, while Pidcock chose Shimano XTR pedals.

His Fizik Arione 00 saddle looks to be set forward to the limits of the rails. This could be to place Pidcock on top of the front wheel for better control when performing cyclocross skills, such as deft cornering.

Pidcock’s Ineos teammate Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, whose four off-road world titles this year include the inaugural Gravel World Championships, is also racing the Pinarello CX bike in her 2022/23 campaign.