Lapierre has announced a special edition of its Xelius DRS aero road frameset to mark the brands 80th anniversary. Appropriately for the proudly French brand, the launch is on 14 July, the French national holiday.The 80th Anniversary Lapierre Xelius DRS will be sold in a limited run of only 100 framesets in a special Kinetic Dust colour.Lapierre says the 'dust' mottling is concentrated in areas of the frame under the highest stress: think bottom bracket, fork crown and seatstay/top tube junction. Lapierre says the mottling is concentrated around areas of the frame with high stress. Marijn Sourbron "When we were designing this frameset to celebrate the brands 80th anniversary, we wanted to embrace the philosophy of Lapierre, which is why we focused on the raw, emotional reality of cycling," says the company's global brand manager, Dorian Tabeau. Lapierre will sell only 100 of the 80th anniversary framesets. Marijn Sourbron According to Lapierre, the frame colour "illustrates the emotional residue of performance" no, were not sure what that means either.It goes on to state the dark blue "represents Lapierres DNA and legacy, while also symbolising the calm before intensity". Its combined with teal, which it claims "signifies the moment pain transforms into momentum" and champagne, which "conveys quiet satisfaction and a personal victory".Were not sure we buy the design-speak, but it does look nice.Ridden by Picnic-PostNL pro team Picnic-PostNL will ride the special-edition frame from stage 10 of the Tour de France. Marijn Sourbron The special-edition frameset will be rolled out under Lapierres sponsored Picnic-PostNL team at the Tour de France on stage 10 on Bastille Day. Lapierre points out the Xelius DRS raw frame weight of 740g and 3D Tubular design, where the seatstays join the front triangle at the top tube rather than the seat tube. The seatstays are connected to the top tube rather than the seat tube to add compliance. Marijn Sourbron Lapierre was founded by Gaston Lapierre, who set up shop in Dijon making steel bikes such as those used in the 1980s by the French postal service. Latterly, it branched out into full-suspension MTBs and electric mountain bikes, as well as carbon-framed road bikes from the early 2000s, and was closely associated with retired French star Thibaut Pinot, who rode Lapierre bikes throughout his professional career at FDJ.If you want to buy the Xelius DRS 80th anniversary frameset, its available in sizes S, M and L, and priced at 4,499.