Like team leader Danilo Di Luca and his other team-mates, Paolini is riding the FG Lite, Bianchi's featherweight aluminium answer to the superlight carbon fiber bikes being offered by so many manufacturers. Team manager Dario Mariuzzo tells us that the 29-year-old Italian trained and raced on this bike right through the week-long Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under. Although it's the 2005 model, Paolini is happy with both the weight and the stiffness the frame has to offer, and appreciates the qualities offered by the alloy frame as opposed to a carbon machine.

Weighing in at 7.5kg, Paolini's FG Lite is no slouch in the weight stakes either. With Paolini getting closer to the 70kg mark the weight/rigidity balance of this Bianchi suits his strong style of riding, seen throughout the week in South Australia.

Paolini had been using his Campagnolo Boras on training rides all week during the Tour Down Under - he's a big fan of the rigidity offered by Campag's premium carbon hoops. On most occasions these wheels are saved specially for racing, but not Paolini - the Italian sprinter likes his kit to look good too, and that's something Boras have always had going for them.

As well as the Italian wheels, much of the rest of Paolini's bike is Italian. Campagnolo supplies the rest of the running gear, with its Record group. There's almost nothing to say about Record that hasn't been said a dozen times before. It's light, and it works.