Tadej Pogačar’s Colnago V4RS, new Continental tyres, aero tweaks and some tidbits of information.
The Tour is underway and the technology is heating up just as much as the temperature in Italy. A last-minute change of plans meant the first few stages were run on land, but the pleasant surprise was two-fold, with a lot of technology on display in Stage 1 alone.
Here’s a look at our walk around the start and finish area of the Grande Depart, with more details to come in part 2.
It’s best to start with Tadej Pogačar in the new yellow jersey. In fact, the Giro d’Italia winner and two-time Tour d’Italia winner’s bike was the first one we came across. And that was lucky, because as the crowds grew it became more and more difficult to get close to the big teams and riders. A quick glance at Poggi’s bike revealed all the usual setup tweaks, but it was interesting nonetheless: As expected, he’s still using the same Carbon-TI chainrings he’s had for over a year, this time in a 55:40 combination.Pogacar prefers a much more typical sprinter shifter position than that seen on Romain Bardet’s stage-winning bike. Pogacar’s bike also featured this direct mount derailleur hanger…… As seen on the spare bike, it’s an update from the standard V4R hanger, which requires a Shimano direct mount link.Pogacar’s teammate was using a similar direct mount hanger but in a less conspicuous black colour.Pogacar and his teammates also raced using carbon-titanium brake rotors as usual. UAE – Most, if not all, Team Emirates rode Stage 1 on Enve’s 4.5 SES wheels.But tyre choices varied: Pogačar opted for the 30mm Continental GP 5000 S TR;… When inflated it seemed closer to a 32 (we took a closer look at tyre widths measured during last year’s Tour) and, as expected, proved relatively tight on the team’s Colnago V4R frame. Meanwhile, Tim Wellens opted for 28mm Conti GP 5000 TT TR tyres, a combination that technically, like the Enve 4.5, violates the UCI-imposed ISO standard of fitting tyres with a minimum stamped width of 29mm on rims with an internal rim width of 25mm.It may sound like we’re repeating ourselves on these tire widths, but it’s important considering other teams have been forced to increase tire sizes compared to what they were using prior to the UCI’s reminder that all teams must adhere to ISO standards. Lotto Dstny was racing 28mm Vittoria Corsa Pro but has since switched to the 30mm seen here. Interestingly, the team also appears to be switching wheels from Zipp and Orbea’s house brand, Oquo.Visma-Lease a Bike is another team using wheels with a 25mm inner rim width. They started the season primarily with 28″ tires but are now using Vittoria Corsa Pro 622×29 tires which standardize on rims with a 25mm sidewall.And tire spec markings. Visma – Lease a Bike kicked off Stage 1 with some of their riders racing on the new Reserve 42 wheels. The wheels are a 42mm deep front and 49mm deep rear rim with a front inner rim width of 25.4mm, rear inner rim width of 24.8mm, outer rim width of 34.4mm front and 32.1mm rear outer rim width.Meanwhile, other teams using Vittoria tyres on narrower rims are sticking with the 28mm stamped tyre.Pirelli added the FSC logo to its new P-Zero Race TLR RS tires, which were launched a few weeks ago. FSC stands for Forest Stewardship Council, and the logo indicates that Pirelli tires are made with rubber from forests managed according to environmental, social and economic standards. We plan to find out more about this newly acquired certification, which Pirelli says is a first for cycling.Speaking of tires, Decathlon AG2R will soon be launching their highly anticipated new Continental Aero tires.However, the hotpatch is currently blacked out. Interestingly, Movistar also painted some parts of the GP 50000 S TR black, but not others. Flèche Wallonne winner Stevie Williams prefers a more traditional, tape-topped approach, a decision that JP Ballard estimated could have cost him a few watts on the “Aero Myths and Best Cost-Performance Hacks” episode of the Performance Process podcast, but Williams clearly prioritizes grip and comfort.Williams and his Israel Premier Tech teammates will race in a Factor Ostro VAM with special Tour livery.The Factor Ostro VAM is one of the lightest aero bikes around, but Guillaume Boivin, who’s not a famous climber, is looking to shave off a few more grams with an ultra-light seatpost from Spanish carbon component specialists Darimo.As we first covered in our in-depth look back at the Tour of Flanders earlier this year, the entire Uno-X team started out with the new Dare VA (Velocity Ace). Magnus Cort and many of his team use custom, extremely aero bars.Very thin and aero like top.While Enve wheels have been featured on many stages of TDF, the frames are making their Tour debut this year under TotalEnergies. The team is racing Enve Melee frames, primarily Enve 4.5 wheelsets, and SES AR integrated bar stems.The team will also give the Tour debut to Novaride, a French company that specializes in French-made, performance-driven components, such as this oversized pulley wheel system.Returning to the subject of tyres and wheels, what’s old is new again. The Ineos Grenadiers ran Stage 1 on Princeton Carbonworks Alta 3532 wheels, shod with a 25mm GP 5000 TT TR tyre on the front and a 28″ tyre on the rear. The 25″ on the front is likely the aero pick, while the 35mm depth on the rear and 32mm depth on the front, when combined with this stamped 25mm front tyre, provide a presumably 105-rule compliant 28.6mm external rim width.The team will be racing on a new Pinarello Dogma F, which has been given a few minor updates and one major update that may not get much attention. Among the updates is this new “aero keel” bottom bracket, which was touted as an aero upgrade, but our understanding from Pinarello is that the increased size at the front of the bottom bracket was also necessary to maintain stiffness lost by widening the area behind the bottom bracket, and to facilitate the increase in tire clearance from 28 on the previous Dogma F to a “comfortable 30” on the new bike.New handlebars and a deeper head tube are also notable features, and the new, lighter and narrower handlebar with flared drops was a major request from the team to Pinarello.Ineos deserves the award for most thoughtful transponder mount. The transponder mount is partially hidden behind the fork leg and inside the newly hidden dropout aero flaps. But of all the updates, it’s the one you can’t see here that I most welcomed when I briefly test rode the new Dogma on Friday: the new 47mm fork offset drastically reduces trail figure and results in much sharper handling than the previous Dogma F, a change I was looking for when I reviewed the previous Dogma at The Old Place.Ineos uses the same Elite Leggerocarbon bottle cages as Team DSM Firmenich-PostNL, but adds a small strip of griptape-like material to improve bottle retention.Always on the quest for the coolest possible ride, Ineos has this super-cool touring van equipped with an internal ice bath. Riders took turns jumping into the water in pairs for a moment of coolness to help bring their core temperature down after a stiflingly hot stage – bringing core temperature down again is key to aiding post-stage recovery.We conclude part one of our tech gallery with Geraint Thomas’ new Quoc M3 Air shoes. We got a sneak peek at the shoe at Eurobike 2023 and were impressed with how supple it was, so we’ve been eager to find out more.
