Gallery: Quinn Simmons' Trek Emonda SLR 9 eTap

Text by: Ben Delaney Photos by: James Startt and Getty Images

American Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo) won the green climber’s jersey at Tirreno-Adriatico aboard a Trek Emonda with a cockpit tuned to his liking.

Simmons had three notable things on the cockpit of his Emonda SLR 9 eTap: a separate aero bar instead of the stock integrated bar/stem, the Red shifters rotated inward, and wireless Blips mounted underneath the bar.

His gearing, too, is notable in that it’s a pro-only set-up, far bigger than the three chainring options that SRAM sells.

James Startt captured the images below of Simmons’ bike before the start of the final stage 7.

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At the Tour de France, the green jersey signifies the leader of the sprint points competition, but at Tirreno-Adriatico it’s for the best climber. The green jersey wasn’t Simmons’ goal coming in, but once he took it he battled to keep it until race’s end.

Simmons’ Trek Emonda SLR 9 is dressed in Red eTap and Trek’s Bontrager wheels, cockpit, and saddle.

Simmons has his levers rotated inward to keep his arms more aero, and for comfort. It’s a position we’re seeing more in the WorldTour peloton following the UCI’s ban on the so-called puppy paws position last April.

“Quinn has always raced with his levers turned inside,” Trek team support manager Koen De Kort told VeloNews. “He prefers this position. Part of it is certainly aerodynamics but also fit. Trek has done some studies on the position on the bike and aerodynamics, specifically on the position of the hands on the handlebar. We as a team want to mimic these wind tunnel tests with some riders but haven’t done so yet. We aren’t pushing riders to use a position like that, they are adapting that position on their own.”

Simmons is one of the first SRAM-sponsored athletes to use SRAM’s new disposable/recyclable Wireless Blips.

The front view of Simmons’ cockpit. The stock SLR 9 eTap setoup is a Bontrager Aeolus RSL integrated bar/stem, but Simmons opted for a separate bar and stem. The bar looks like the Bontrager XXX Aero, but with different graphics.

A negative-rise stem gets Simmons into his desired position. A zip tie keeps the cable routing tidy and snug underneath the stem.

Simmons kept a close eye on the intermediate points during stage 7 as he defended his green jersey.

The Emonda is Trek’s lightweight climbing bike, but the frame also has aero shaping.

While the Emonda doesn’t have an IsoSpeed pivot at this junction like the Domane endurance bike and Madone aero bike, Trek did build in a small bit of flex to the seatpost and seat mast.

While Shimano and Campagnolo have an 11-tooth cog as the smallest option on the cassette, SRAM goes down to a 10-tooth on its new 12-speed groups. This effectively makes for a larger top-end gear with the same sized chainrings. Therefore, stock sizes for SRAM Red chainrings are 46/33, 48/35, and 50/37. Simmons’ rings? Those would be 54/41. For context, a 53-11 gear is 127 inches, a 50-10 gear is 132 inches, and Simmons’ top 54-10 gear is 142 inches.