Colnago has revealed the one-off Y1Rs that Brandon McNulty will race as world champion, and the paint is not for sale. The glitter-black aero bike, striped in rainbow blocks, was announced on Friday, October 2, 2026.
McNulty is a 28-year-old Arizonan who rides for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, Bicycling reports. He won the elite men’s road race at the world championships in Montréal on Sunday, September 27, 2026. Bicycling saw the bikes in person at a service course in Bologna. Colnago’s own release, which Bicisport published in Italian, covers the design.
The win behind the paint
McNulty went solo roughly 20 miles from the finish and stayed clear. Michael Matthews and Mathieu van der Poel trailed him by 13 seconds, TOUR Magazin reports. Outlets differ on where the attack began. TOUR Magazin says about 32 km. TodoMountainBike and Brujula Bike both say 33 km (20.5 miles).
No American man had taken the title since 1993. The jersey also stays at UAE Team Emirates-XRG for a third straight year after Tadej Pogačar’s wins in 2024 and 2025. Colnago has now supplied the men’s champion’s bike three years running.
Colnago CEO Nicola Rosin said the win adds another world title to the company’s record. He called working with the UAE Team Emirates-XRG and UAE Team L’Imad riders an honour.
Paint and hidden details
Colnago’s release describes a black carbon base with fine glitter. The sparkle is Colnago’s nod to the stars on the US flag, arranged like a constellation. On top, the UCI rainbow colours appear as sharp blocks of blue, red, yellow and green.
Where the stripes land depends on the outlet. Cyclingnews says the fork is fully striped, along with much of the rear triangle. TodoMountainBike lists the fork, seatstays and ENVE wheels. Bicycling adds the seat tube.
Colnago says the down-tube logo has a holographic finish that shifts colour with the light. Bicycling, looking at the bikes in person, describes chrome logos under a dark glitter clearcoat over raw carbon. The reports don’t reconcile those two descriptions. The head tube gets a retro Colnago logo with rainbow bands running through it.
The best detail hides behind the bayonet-style fork. Turn the bars and you see a maple leaf for Montréal, an ace of clubs and the date, 27.09.2026. Outlets place it on the headset cover, the top cap or the head tube. One BikeRadar caption says ace of spades, but Colnago’s release and BikeRadar’s own text both say clubs.
Why black instead of white
Black isn’t new on world champions’ bikes. Cyclingnews says Peter Sagan, Mark Cavendish and, at times, Julian Alaphilippe rode black ones. White took over with Mathieu van der Poel, Remco Evenepoel and Lotte Kopecky.
Pogačar began his two-year reign on a white Colnago. Around the middle of last season he moved to a black one, Cyclingnews says. McNulty’s bike keeps that direction. Velo/Outside says Colnago went further than a repeat of Pogačar’s design. It also notes this is the first custom champion’s bike Colnago has built for McNulty, where Pogačar had several.
Velo/Outside sets the bike beside Demi Vollering’s Specialized Tarmac SL9. That bike stays mostly white, with rainbow accents on the seat-tube “win fin”, the top tube and the inner fork blades.
Weight is part of the reason for black. Cyclingnews says white paint typically relies on titanium-based pigments, which weigh more, so black trims grams. The same piece lists lighter bottle cages, time-trial tyres, an aftermarket derailleur hanger and a thru axle among the upgrades. It reads that focus on weight as a sign McNulty will race the bike after sign-on instead of swapping to his usual matte black one.
If you wonder why pro frames are carbon, our bike frame materials guide covers how carbon compares with other options.
What’s on the bike
Bicycling published a spec list. McNulty has three size-large Y1Rs frames: a race bike and two spares. Cyclingnews adds that the Enve wheels have silver spokes and hubs.
| Part | Spec |
|---|---|
| Frameset | Colnago Y1Rs, size L |
| Wheels | Enve SES 4.5 Pro |
| Tyres | Continental GP5000 TT, 700x28c |
| Groupset | Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 R9170, 2×12-speed |
| Cranks | Dura-Ace with power meter, 170 mm |
| Chainrings | 54/40T (Carbon-Ti on race bike, Dura-Ace on spares) |
| Cassette | Dura-Ace 12-speed, 11-34T |
| Pedals | Shimano Dura-Ace R9100 |
| Cockpit | Colnago one-piece, 145 mm extension, 377/400 mm width |
| Saddle | Fizik Antares R1 |
| Bottle cages | Elite Lightweight Carbon |
Bicycling’s takeaway is that the bike sits close to a Y1Rs you can buy in a shop. It carries no prototype Shimano parts, and the pedals are R9100 instead of the newly announced R9300. The only special parts it singles out are a Bikone ceramic-bearing bottom bracket and a Carbon-Ti hanger made for UDH frames.
The gearing is big, with 54/40 rings. But the 11-34 cassette is wide-range, and the 170 mm cranks are a normal length, Bicycling points out.
Team sponsor Pissei revealed rainbow-striped speedsuits, jerseys and bib shorts at the same event. McNulty’s MET Manta aero helmets were chosen to go with the white champion’s kit.
Can you buy it, and how much does it weigh?
You can’t buy it. Colnago says the livery is exclusive to McNulty and will not be marketed, per its release. Brujula Bike and TOUR Magazin report the same.
Colnago’s release gives no price or weight, and no report we read does either. A weight and price figure from the Italian outlet Cyclonline didn’t match any other report, so we left both out.
If you want the same frame, Bicycling’s comparison points you to the stock Y1Rs sold through shops. Its US price and weight aren’t in our sources, so ask a Colnago dealer.
McNulty was due to debut the bike at the 109th Giro dell’Emilia on Saturday, October 3. The race covers 198 km (about 123 miles) from Ferrara to Bologna and finishes on the San Luca climb. Every report we read ran before the start, so none says how the day went.
We also couldn’t find a McNulty page on colnago.com when we looked, so Bicisport’s copy of the release is the closest we have to an official notice.
