As the international attention of the Olympics comes but once every four years, many bike brands jumped at the opportunity to do special paint jobs for athletes competing in Japan.
Country-flag themes abound on riders’ bikes, as do Japan-themed paint schemes, like the anime artwork on Alejandro Valverde’s Canyon Aeroad.
Trek and Specialized took the opportunity to launch new available-for-consumers paint jobs, with the First Light and Speed of Light collections, respectively.
Even CeramicSpeed got in on the fun with country-flag paint on its Oversized Pulley Wheel System.
Check out the gallery below.
Alejandro Valverde’s anime Canyon.
Specialized’s Speed of Light is black with a metallic red treatment.
Trek’s First Light is for sale now on a few different bikes.
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot’s BMC.
Nic Dlamini’s South African-themed BMC.
Benoît Cosnefroy gets his flag and his name.
Golden Greg Van Avermaet raced variations of a golden bike for five years after winning the 2016 Olympic road race.
On Saturday, Van Avermaet did a lot of work for the Belgian team.
Michael Schaer’s Swiss flag flows from top tube onto the integrated bar and stem.
Pinarello donned its Dogmas with the Japanese flag and the riders’ country flags.
And it was the Ecuadorian flag that flew across the finish line first.
Kevin Geniets of Team Luxembourg enjoyed a special Lapierre paint scheme.
Alejandro Valverde had hoped for an Olympic win, but it was not to be.
Gorka Izagirre of Spain raced with his country’s flag on the CeramicSpeed OSPW.
The Olympics pose a mechanical challenge for national teams, as riders race on their trade-team bikes with a mix of components, wheels, tires, and other gear.
Richie Porte of Team Australia on his customized Pinarello.
Luxembourg’s team car exemplifies the mix of bikes each country competes with.