This page focuses on Alessandro Covi’s bike size.
The Italian pro cyclist is racing for the UAE Team Emirates on the Colnago V4Rs.
Italian Great Rider
The young rider was on my radar since 2021 when he finished third on the Giro di Sicilia behind Vincenzo Nibali and Alejandro Valverde.
I am super excited to have gleaned enough information about Alessandro Covi to be able to write this post.
To put things in perspective, Covi is born in 1998, which means he is a GenZ.
At the age of 24 years old, he already raced two Gito d’Italia and probably will race the 2023 edition.
Covi also has experience with the Italian classics with three participation on the Milan-San Remo and two on the Il Lombardia.
The UAE Team Emirates spotted Alessandro Covi as a super-talented young rider and offered him to join the team in 2018.
Being a team-mate of Tadej Pogacar and Joao Almeida makes Covi’s great racing performances less noticed.
But whenever Alessandro is allowed to race for himself instead of serving Domestic “De Luxe”, he often ends the race on the podium.
Many of the UAE Team Emirates riders are amazing riders who have been spotted. They are hired early in their career to serve the team leaders on the Grand Tours and Classics.
Will Alessandro Covi ever become a team leader? The UAE has so many riders able to become team leaders. The future will tell us.
Covi’s Bike Size
Alessandro Covi is 1m80 and rides the Colnago V4Rs size 48.5cm.
At approximately 66kg, Covi is considered a climber type of rider. Most of his victories and podiums are on mountain stages.
The Colnago size 485 refers to the length of the seat tube measured from the center of the bottom bracket to the top of the seat post.
The V4Rs is a sloping frame design, which means the seat tube is short. The “s” in V4Rs indicates the Sloping frame design.
In reality, the 485 corresponds to a frame size of 54cm.
I am very impressed with UAE Team Emirates’ skill of finding fantastic riders early in their racing career, and the ability to assemble teams with riders riding the same frame size as their leader.
Alessandro Covi rides the same frame size as Tadej Pogacar and Joao Almeida.
This is very important for the times when the leader needs a quick bike change due to a mechanical problem and the team car is not near.
As you know, every second is important on a stage race.
Do you remember the three bike changes within 70 seconds on stage 5 of the Tour de France 2022 when Jonas Vingegaard had a bike too big to ride?
See the reminder linked here to Le Tour 2022 Highlights specific moment.
The Colnago V4Rs size 48.5 has a 535mm top tube length.
Covi uses a 120mm ENVE Aero stem in length, and the ENVE SES Aero Bar is 400mm in width.
UAE Team Emirates Colnago V4Rs
Note the Richard Mille sticker on the stem is purely for marketing. The logo on the stem point to the watch is wearing Alessandro Covi and the rest of the team.
The UAE Team Emirates and a handful of other pro riders wear the Richard Mille RM 67-02 watch as described on Richard Mille’s homepage linked here.
The Shimano Dura-Ace cranks’ arm’s length is 172.5mm in length, and the Shimano Dura-Ace pedals are the regular axle length models.
I did not ask Alessandro about the height of his Prologo saddle as I wanted to obtain the other critical information first, especially the frame size. The saddle height is so personal, it does not help anybody else than the rider himself.
The UAE Team Emirates races with Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 12-speed groupset.
The gear combination used on most races is the Shimano new standard of 54/40 Teeth at the front and the 11-30 Teeth cassette.
The cassette configuration might be different depending on the race’s profile.
Marginal Gains
The bottom bracket and headset bearings are the CeramicSpeed Ceramic models with read-color cups.
Unlike some other pro climbers from other teams using Shimano disc brakes in 140mm front and back, Covi uses a 160mm on the front and a 140mm rear disc rotor diameter.
Alessandro Covi races the 2023 UCI World Tour season with four models of ENVE wheels.
The models are the ENVE SES 2.3, 3.4, 4.5, and the deeper 6.7.
From 2023, the tire supplier of the UAE team is Continental.
Depending on the race profile and the ground surface, Covi rides with three types of tires which are tubeless, tubular, and clinchers.
Whichever tire type has the best properties for the day’s race will be selected.
The data from the Shimano Dura-Ace power meter and Wahoo cardio belt are displayed on Covi’s Wahoo Elemnt Roam.
Covi’s Cycling Wear
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Alessandro Covi wears a Met Trenta 3K and Met Manta helmet in silver/grey colors, Scicon sunglasses, a Pissei cycling jersey, bib-shorts, gloves, and socks.
And yes, being a GenZ, Covi rides without gloves whenever the weather permits it.
Covi has a personal contract with Fizik for his cycling shoes. He wears the Fizik Vento Infinito Carbon 2 with Shimano Blue cleats featuring 2 degrees of float. (SM-SH12)
A trademark of Alessandro is to ride with one shoe in white color and the other in black.
In conclusion, I think Alessandro Covi is a fantastic rider, and he looks very well fitted on his Colnago V4Rs size 485.
I look forward to seeing him on big races with more freedom instead of a domestic for another leader.
What do you think about Covi on his Colnago V4Rs bike? You can see how well-fitted he is in the linked photo from Corvos at the Vuelta Ciclista a Murcia 2023.
Message me on my Instagram if you have any comments regarding Alessandro Covi’s bike size 2023.
