Biniam Girmay has had a 2022 season to remember. The 22-year-old Eritrean won Gent-Wevelgem in March before truly arriving on the WorldTour scene when he outsprinted Mathieu van der Poel on Stage 10 of the Giro d’Italia.
For the 2022 World Championships road race the Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert man – who was an impressive second in the U23 race last year – will be riding a custom Cube Litening Air C:68X painted in metallic paint in Eritrean national colours, with 'Veni, Vidi, Bini' written on the front of the top tube.
The Litening Air C:68X is Cube’s top aero race bike and with its big logos is one of the most distinctive WorldTour bikes. Cube says that this latest version, released last month, has been made a lot lighter, with a claimed weight for a medium sized frame of 799g and full builds starting at a claimed 6.6kg.
As usual with modern race bikes, there’s fully internal hose routing through the one-piece integrated cockpit. Another nice feature is a double bolted seatpost clamp, which helps to spread the clamping forces and prevent the seatpost from slipping.
Equipment-wise, Girmay’s bike is kitted out with wheels from Cube’s Newmen component brand. They’re Newmen Advanced SL R.65 Streem carbon hooked clinchers with a claimed weight of 1,574g. With a list price of €1,580, they’re surprisingly inexpensive for a pro-level wheelset.
Girmay’s wheels are shod with Continental Grand Prix 5000 S TR tubeless tyres in 25mm width, highlighting the trend for pro teams to finally forsake tubular tyres in favour of tubeless clinchers.
Girmay is running a Shimano Dura-Ace R9200 12-speed groupset, with its larger 54/40 chainrings and an 11-30 cassette.
The team has swapped out the standard jockey wheels for CeramicSpeed’s OSPW system.
Girmay was a pre-launch user of the new OSPW Aero system, claimed to save 2.5 seconds over 25km when riding at 50kmh, although this bike wasn’t fitted with the extra-fast option when these shots were taken ahead of the Grand Prix de Wallonie on 14th September.
The bike is finished off with a Prologo saddle, Look Kéo Blade Carbon Ceramic pedals, Elite Custom Race Plus bottle cages and a Bryton computer.
Keep scrolling for the full spec of Biniam Girmay's Cube Litening Air C:68X.
Biniam Girmay’s Cube Litening Air C:68X spec
| Frameset | Cube Litening Air C:68X |
| Headset | Acros |
| Levers | Shimano Dura-Ace R9200 |
| Brakes | Shimano Dura-Ace R9200 |
| Rear derailleur | Shimano Dura-Ace R9200, CeramicSpeed OSPW jockey wheels |
| Front derailleur | Shimano Dura-Ace R9200 |
| Crankset | Shimano Dura-Ace R9200, 54/40 |
| Cassette | Shimano Dura-Ace R9200, 11-30 |
| Chain | Shimano Dura-Ace R9200 |
| Wheels | Newmen Advanced SL R.65 Streem |
| Tyres | Continental Grand Prix 5000 S TR |
| Bar + stem | ICR one-piece |
| Seatpost | Litening C:68X Aero, Comfort Flex |
| Saddle | Prologo |
| Pedals | Look Kéo Blade Carbon Ceramic |
| Accessories | Elite Custom Race Plus bottle cages, Bryton computer |
Photos: Alessandro Volders / @cyclingmedia_agency