Filippo Ganna’s Pinarello Dogma F: Ineos Grenadiers pro bike

Italian transformed into a sprinter at the Vuelta a España atop an aerodynamically built Pinarello Dogma

16:00, Thursday 21st September 2023

Filippo Ganna's Pinarello Dogma F

INEOS Grenadiers
- Nationality United Kingdom
- Founded 2010
- Team Principal Dave Brailsford
- UCI Code IGD
- Bike Sponsor Pinarello
Filippo Ganna
- Team INEOS Grenadiers
- Nationality Italy
- Age 27
- UCI Wins 32
- Height 1.93m
Vuelta a España
- Dates 26 Aug - 17 Sept
- Race Length 3,133 kms
- Race Category Elite Men
Pinarello
Pinarello is a bike manufacturer based in Treviso, Italy. It produces a range of high-end bikes for road, track, mountain and electric disciplines. The company takes pride in being the most decorated bike manufacturer in Tour de France history.
Shimano
Shimano is a bike component manufacturer based in Osaka, Japan. The company is one of the industry’s most popular manufacturers and it makes up around three-quarters of the bicycle component market by value.

It proved to be another fruitful Grand Tour outing for Filippo Ganna at the Vuelta a España where the Italian powered to a now customary individual time trial victory on stage 10. At this point his victory was no surprise, and more of an expectation, taking his tally of Grand Tour ITT victories to an impressive six.

Despite the normality of his time trial performance, the Vuelta was anything but ordinary for Ganna who transformed into an unexpected sprint star, narrowly missing out in bunch sprints on three occasions, finishing second on stages 5, 19 and 21 - twice behind green jersey winner Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck). While there’s no doubting the Italian’s incredible power, few would have predicted his sprint prowess ahead of the race.

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Ganna’s impressive sprint performances were delivered aboard the now familiar Pinarello Dogma, a bike we got our hands on ahead of stage 4, another sprint stage, although Ganna did not compete for the win on that occasion.

'Top Ganna' powered to a time trial victory, before surprising with his sprint prowess

Pinarello Dogma: aero and climbing bike

Having linked up with Ineos Grenadiers, formerly Team Sky, for each of its seven Tour de France victories, this bike is one of the most recognisable in the pro peloton. It’s undergone some changes since first being used by the team in 2010, but the distinctive tube shapes have remained. So far, Pinarello has avoided the tube tinkering route taken by many other brands, instead sticking to its more traditional tried-and-tested formula.

The Pinarello Dogma has retained its familiar shape over the years

The F version ridden by Ganna and his teammates at the Vuelta is the latest version of the bike released in 2021, taking over from the Dogma F12 as the top-level bike and ditching the numerical suffix from the name. Unlike other brands, Pinarello doesn’t have separate climbing and aero bikes, and the Dogma is one bike for all terrains. It’s an approach since adopted by many other brands, like Specialized with its Tarmac range, but Pinarello was one of the first to take it.

Upon release, Pinarello said that the disc-brake version of the F was 4.8% more aerodynamic than its F12 predecessor, and the frameset was 265g lighter. As an added bonus, the disc brake version has lower drag than the rim brake equivalent for the first time, perhaps explaining why the team has firmly shifted to using disc brakes, having been one of the last to make the transition.

Large gearing and aerodynamic set-up

For his set-up, Ganna had Shimano’s Dura-Ace groupset, by far the most popular option in the pro peloton. That included a monster 56/44t chainset, one of the biggest we saw at the race, with the majority of riders using a 54/40t. Many riders are now taking advantage of the more generous gearing options too, but Ganna stuck to an 11-30t cassette. This was for a flat stage, but there were some easier climbs hidden within, and Ganna must have been spinning a leg-burning gear.

A monster 56/44t chainset

Hidden behind the chainset, Ganna also used a K-Edge chain catcher. These prevent the chain from dropping off the inside of the chainrings and many teams use them - every one we saw at the Vuelta was a K-Edge variety.

K-Edge chain catchers are used by many teams

Shimano also provided the C60 wheels, a rarer sight at the Vuelta with the shallower C50 the most popular option, a decision undoubtedly taken for their added aerodynamic benefits. These were paired with the popular Continental Grand Prix 5000 TT tyres.

Shimano Dura-Ace C60 wheels were selected for their deeper profiles

Further attempts to make the bike as aerodynamic as possible can be seen in the cockpit, with the shifters on the Most integrated bar and stem angled inwards, a very modern trend which not everyone is a fan of.