Ernesto Colnago is 87 years old tomorrow (9 February) — happy birthday, Ernesto — and to mark the occasion the Colnago bicycle brand that he founded back in 1952 has unveiled the Colnago 87.
"The Colnago 87 is inspired by a bike donated by Ernesto Colnago to Pope John Paul II in August 1979," says Colnago.
"Based on the historical and famous Arabesque frame, the Colnago 87 is equipped with steel tubes with elaborate junctions and finished by hand."
The Colnago 87 was officially presented during Ernesto's birthday party held at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, London.
Incidentally, back in 2011 we spotted a bike identical to the one presented to Pope John Paul II; it was in a pharmacy window, of all places, in Castel San Giovanni when the Giro d'Italia came to town.
That's a 50th anniversary Campagnolo groupset on there, by the way.
If the weather where you are is anything like it is at road.cc HQ you'll need something to brighten up your day, so here's a whole gallery of pics...
Mat has in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. We send him off around the world to get all the news from launches and shows too. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now pushing 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.