“I've always wanted to ride such a beautiful bicycle and I have finally realized my dream.”
These are the opening words by Henok Mulubrhan in front of his new Filante SLR with a special color palette. A brand new livery unveiled on the eve of the start of the 107th edition of Giro d'Italia, painted in African continental colors: gold and two different shades of green. A tribute to its two consecutive victories at the 2022 and 2023 African Championships.
2024 turned out to be a year of significant changes for the young Eritrean class '99 : after moving to the WorldTour with the Astana team, he decided to raise the bar on his goals by participating for the second time in his career in the Italian stage competition par excellence.
“When I was a child, I had a huge passion for cycling, my family always supported me.”
Ever since he was a child, he nurtured the dream of becoming a professional cyclist, and, as he says, thanks to the support of his family, that dream has finally come true. After demonstrating skills in both uphill and flat sections, with an acceleration that can be decisive in sprints, experts in the field describe Henok as a bright promise in the world of cycling.
“Beautiful! I love it! The painting is awesome!”
His words convey his enthusiasm for his new Filante SLR, which turns out to be the ideal bike to make the most of his qualities: light and agile for the climb, stiff and aerodynamic for the final sprints. A multi-purpose bike for an athlete who fears neither the roughness of the mountains nor the adrenaline rush of the struggles in the fast sections.
The paint job on this frame differs from the classic Astana livery in the predominance of marble white combined with shades of light green, dark green and gold, evoking both semantically and visually the symbols and colors of Eritrea: the two shades of green to indicate the fertility of the soil and marine wealth; and gold, emblem of prosperity and peace.
This tribute not only celebrates an athlete, but also the entire African continent, which in recent years has seen an exponential growth in the number of talented cyclists emerging on the international scene. A development also favored by the expansion of infrastructure, such as velodromes, bike paths and an overall improvement of roads. High-profile events such as the Tour du Rwanda, the Tour du Faso and the Cape Epic in South Africa are increasingly gaining global prominence, attracting cyclists from all corners of the world and making Africa a welcoming land for bike lovers. Henok himself suggests that the Eritrean terrain is also ideal for training, pointing out that the climbs in Eritrea are extremely challenging and perfect for those who want to improve endurance at high altitude.