This article was produced in association with Wilier and featured in Rouleur Issue 137.
For all the talk of team tactics, controlling the peloton and director sportives ruling with an iron fist, there’s a group of individuals at the heart of a bike race. While most buy into group-think and play the role of a subservient domestique in service of a general classification hope or ferrying their sprint star to within a whisker of a finish line, it only takes the impulsive action of one to light a spark and change a race’s outcome – even on the biggest stage.
An attack off the front while the group is caught napping; a surprise swell from behind on a gruelling mountain pass; a fearless descent into the depths below. Each explosive jump can cause a cascading reaction, sending ripples through the chasing pack; if left unchecked, a seemingly benign surge the difference between a winner and an also-ran.
It’s this trigger point – and the tension, intention and primal emotion behind it – that Wilier Triestina have encapsulated in Groupama-FDJ’s 2025 Tour de France special edition livery of the Filante SLR.
The historic Italian brand are renowned for their bikes’ eye-catching paint jobs, and even has its own signature colourway – the copper Ramato finish its trademark since the 1940s. They’re not ones to shy away from broad colour schemes either, and has turned heads at previous Tours de France with custom creations for the likes of Mark Cavendish – the Manx Missile piloted his special edition Wilier to his record-breaking 35th Tour de France stage win in Saint Vulbas in last year’s edition.
To mark their second season supporting Groupama-FDJ, Wilier Triestina have pulled out all the stops for the French team’s home Grand Tour. The Veneto-based brand have once again turned to the trusted artisan local paint shop that has crafted the manufacturer’s iconic hues for decades, and collaborated to explore new processes and colours. The result is a first for the 2025 Tour de France.
The painting starts with a silver base coat – the bike’s core a symbol of purity and perfection; an unblemished reflection untouched by the cut-and-thrust nature of a Grand Tour stage.
But as the action gets underway and the peloton starts to simmer, the first fractures are never far behind. Each attack is unique, led by an individual who has chosen that exact moment – either predetermined, impulsively or somewhere in-between – to launch their bid for glory. While many breaks fizzle out and fade like the afterglow of a firework, some will stick, propelling the rider to instant glory. As the race continues to evolve, the protagonists might become more predictable, but each charge has its own distinct pattern – never seen before and never repeatable.
To illustrate this manifesto in motion, Wilier Triestina has applied a crystallising agent to the silver base that triggers micro-fractures in the paint. Each crack, crevice and cusp is unique – no two lines, let alone designs, are the same.
Once the crystallisation is complete, an iridescent ‘Azzurro Italia’ layer that shifts between blue and violet de- pending on the light, and references Wilier Triestina’s proud Italian heritage, is added. The layer creates a shimmering effect that gives a subtlety to the quartz-like flourish at its core. The final layer is a top coat that protects and further enhances the iridescent reflections.
The paint job doesn’t end at the frameset, and is extended to the bike’s Wilier Triestina F bar integrated cockpit. The silver motif of the base coat meanwhile is referenced in the spokes and decals of the Miche Kleos RD wheelset – itself a collaboration between Groupama FDJ and Italian brand Miche.
The model is sold by Wilier Triestina with a range of groupset and finishing kit specifications, and all configurations are available at www.wilier.com. The Groupama FDJ Wilier Triestina Filante SLR is more than a tribute to speed – but a tool that, in the right hands, will propel its rider in any attack.
