If asked to write a list of new bikes expected to be released in 2024, it would almost certainly be Trek's new Emonda. It has been four years since this bike was last updated, and given Trek's product cycle, the time for a refresh is fast approaching.

Luckily for Emonda fans, it seems their imaginations were correct. Because before the New Year even begins, we have important clues that suggest not only the arrival of a new version, but also what it will look like when it arrives.

Thanks to the WeightWeenies forum, especially its member 'Ritxis', we have a photo of Giulio Ciccone riding what can only be described as a slimmed-down Madone with a hole in the seat tube.

Now, note: of course, we don't know for sure if this bike is really an Emonda or, ironically, a Trek. As is often the case with prototypes, the bike has no brand or model name (other than an illegible white mark on the top tube).

Nevertheless, the various clues in the images lead us to our conclusion with some degree of certainty.

One of them is the fact that Giulio Ciccone is on board. Giulio Ciccone is sponsored by the Lidl Trek team of Trek bikes, and has been for over a decade; second, he wears Bontrager wheels, a component subsidiary born of the Trek brand. Third, and perhaps most strongly, the frame design is also Trek-like. The cutout in the seat tube, which a forum participant deftly circled, is extremely similar to the hole in the IsoFlow seat tube that was talked about/gained notoriety (delete as appropriate) when the Madone was launched in the summer of 2022.

Indeed, at first glance, one could be forgiven for wondering if this is indeed a Madone, but a closer look, although there is only one photo, confirms that this is not it, as the frame tubes are rounder and slimmer than the Madone. Given the timing and use, it is also unlikely that this is a Domane, and this is indeed a new Emonda.

Of course, we can't rule out the possibility that Trek will add another road bike to its lineup, although it seems unlikely, and with Emonda, Domane, and Madone all existing as anagrams of each other, there are not many options left: ...... Maybe we can channel the supernatural with Daemon" More seriously, given that the convergence of aero and lightweight bikes is getting closer and closer, with aero bikes getting lighter and lightweight bikes getting faster, Trek's separate Madone and Emonda Given the commitment to them as platforms, there will be little room for a third bike in the middle.

Of the two platforms, it makes sense for the Lidl-Trek team to have the new Emonda, which is faster and ideally maintains the ability to meet the 6.8 kg UCI limit, and the heavier but faster existing Madone.

Now, what can we infer from this image: ..... Not much, except for the presence of holes in the .IsoFlow seat tube. The seatstays and chainstays look slender, but not much thinner than the existing Emonda. The head tube has a small cutout for the headset top cover, which sits flush with the top of the top tube.

Notably, the bikes on display use a two-piece bar and stem rather than an integrated one, but this may be purely due to component availability and ease of setup.

Additionally, the bike may be equipped with a seatpost rather than a seatmast topper and appears to have a SRAM UDH, neither of which can be confirmed from this single image.

As for a release date, your guess is correct at this stage. Trek has a history of "leaking" bikes to the public at the Criterium du Dauphiné before a full launch to coincide with the Tour de France, and one would assume that Trek will take a similar approach, as did Madone in 2022, but only time will We'll never know.