The Giro d’Italia is the first men’s Grand Tour of the season and one of the most prestigious races on the calendar. With the Classic finished and dusted, all eyes are now on his three-week stage race through Italy.
The GC battle is already heating up with Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) in the pink jersey after two stages, but there’s a lot to talk about on the racing front, but there’s a lot of new and exciting things to talk about in the pro peloton as a whole. A lot of technology is also on display.
Ahead of this weekend’s race start in Turin, we sent Alex Payton to see what hot technology we could explore. From his new SRAM red to cool paint, here’s what he found.
EF Education-EasyPost fleet of vehicles
When you think of team vehicles, the big, bright team bus is probably the first thing that comes to mind, but in reality, the bus is just one part of the overall fleet that World Tour teams bring to the races. Mechanics have their own trucks, and team chefs likewise rely on vans and cars for tasks such as getting everything ready for the drivers and heading to feeding zones. A look at the team vehicles gives you an idea of the size of the operational team that will be faced to make the Grand Tour a success.
Since we are technology enthusiasts, the first thing we wanted to see was the mechanic’s truck. Alex was amazed not only by the number of bikes and wheels stored inside it, but also by its cleanliness and tidyness. To avoid confusion about which wheels are which, use a smart labeling system to identify whether a wheel is for a race bike or a spare wheel, which team car the spare should go on, and which mechanic truck. Indicates whether to save. This streamlines the process of getting everything ready for race day, and the increased efficiency is valuable at Grand Tours.
EF Education-EasyPost Team Bike
Following the American WorldTour team closely, Alex took a closer look at the Cannondale Super Six Evo Labo 71 bike that the team rides in every road stage of the race. The bike sports the typical bold, bright livery we have become accustomed to with the team, but there are some subtle changes to the team’s usual set-up ahead of the Giro.
Instead of the Momo integrated cockpit, the team chose to use Vision’s latest Metron 5D integrated bar and stem. One of the great things about this bar is that it comes in two different top depths, giving the rider a little more control over the feel of the bar in their hands.
New SRAM Red spotted at Visma-Lease a Bike
Although it’s a closely guarded secret, Alex has spotted what appears to be a new generation SRAM Red AXS groupset on some of Visma-Lease a Bike’s team bikes. For now, it’s pure speculation as to what’s new, but from what Alex has seen, the levers have been redesigned, the crank and brake calipers have been updated as well, and the derailleur appears to be new as well.
Now that the groupset is running in races, it won’t be long until an official release is issued regarding the new groupset. Be sure to check out his GCN Technology News section of the website for updates on this article.
Trek RSL Knit Shoes
Alex isn’t just focused on bikes and groupsets. He was also able to acquire the latest shoes used by Lidl-Trek. Trek RSL Knit shoes feature an exoskeleton design with a closure system attached independently of the upper material.
Trek calls this design METNET, and it’s meant to improve foot comfort when riding. Interestingly, the shoe does away with the common wire “laces” often used in BOA closure systems and instead uses fabric laces, again improving comfort and minimizing hot spots. It’s suppressed.
Giant TCR
Earlier this year, Giant released the latest version of their TCR road bike. At the time, the brand claimed the new bike was lighter, stiffer and faster than its predecessor, making it unsurprisingly the perfect bike for Giant’s sponsored team, Jayco Alura’s grueling Grand Tour. became. Although similar in design, the new bike has a slightly different paint finish than the Giant Propel aero bike also used by the team. The new bike has a chrome finish that gives the bike a lot of shine and is sure to catch the eye of people passing by in the sun.
That’s not the only new thing about this bike. It also features Cadex’s new integrated cockpit, which features a flared profile from hood to drop. The bars used on Filippo Zana’s bike measure 39cm at the bonnet and widen to 42cm at the drops, making it a little easier to control in a more aggressive riding position.
kadex max 40
Another notable technology offered by Cadex is the Max 40 wheel, which is also used by Team Jayco AlUla. From a distance, these look like any other deep section carbon wheels, but look closer and you’ll see they’re not so ordinary.
Spokes are attached to the rim in the traditional way using spoke nipples, but on hubs the spokes are glued to flanges rather than inserted into grooves or drilled holes. The purpose is to reduce the total weight of the wheel while increasing stiffness.
Bahrain Victorious Custom Number Holder
With the Bahrain Victorious team, Alex discovered a rather clever solution for attaching race numbers to the rear of the rider’s seatpost. Instead of using a clamp that wraps around the seatpost, the mechanics glued a small carbon fiber number holder to the back of the seatpost. In addition to saving a bit of weight, this solution is incredibly neat and helps make your bike look a little more “professional”.
What is your favorite Giro featured technology so far? Let us know in the comments section below. For more tech news, visit our dedicated tech section on the GCN website for all the latest news and features.
