When Dan Martin won Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2013, he was memorably chased up the final drag towards the finish by a man dressed in a giant panda costume. Now, possibly to inspire a repeat victory, Specialized has given the Irishman a special edition “Emerald Panda” S-Works Tarmac to use in this year’s race.

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The means that the bike has a mainly white and black colour scheme, with black top tube, seatstays, and finishing kit, white down tube, seat tube, fork and chainstays, and a couple of small pandas painted lying down on either side of the top tube.

However, to give the Etixx-Quick Step rider a bit more luck than he got in the 2014 race, when he crashed on the final corner when on course to successfully defend his title, the bike is also decorated with shamrocks on the fork and around the rear dropouts, with Irish flags dotted about the place.

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The panda theme is also linked to Martin’s support for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). We are so excited to have Daniel on board and supporting Team Panda”, said the WWF’s Charlotte Bragg. “He is fantastic motivation for our incredible super supporters who go the extra mile to fundraise for WWF.”