Brand new bikes, special paintings and new product introductions. The Tour de France is something special. Not only in terms of the race, but also in the bikes and components the riders use. In the days leading up to the biggest bike race of the year, we visited all our 8 sponsored teams to check the bikes of their top riders. Scroll down to take a look at the beauties we come across in Düsseldorf. They look ready!
One of this years’ big favorites for the overall win is the Australian Richie Porte. He will ride mainly on the bike BMC introduced earlier this year, the teammachine SLR01 with direct mount Dura-Ace brakes and C40 wheels. Also Olympic Champion and winner of this years Paris-Roubaix rides with the teammachine SLR01. However his bike can be easily spot with the golden decals.
Three time winner of Le Tour is of course Chris Froome. He rides with the in January introduced Pinarello F10 and the new R9150 Dura-Ace group set incl. the C40 wheels. Chris Froome also choses to ride with an integrated stem/handlebar combination. He opts for the PRO Stealth Evo.
Two time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador chooses out of Trek’s impressive bike line-up the Emonda. Since this year he decided to go all-in on electronic shifting. After his move to Trek – Segafredo end of last year Contador decided to only race with Di2. Also the Trek Emonda has Dura-Ace direct mount brakes. Trek was actually the first manufacturer to move into the direction of direct mount brakes to have a better and more consistent brake performance.
Big news from Specialized. They introduced at the Tour de France the new Specialized Tarmac. And World Champion Peter Sagan is one of the lucky ones to race this machine. Winner of the last 5 green jerseys is keen on bringing the new Tarmac his first victory at the Tour de France this year. The R9150 Dura-Ace Di2 rear derailleur has a Shadow RD technology, something we adopted from our mountainbike group sets. This means that the rear derailleur sits nicely below the cassette which provides smoother shifting and protects the derailleur from impacts at for instance crashes.
Both sprinter Dylan Groenewegen and contender for the overall victory Primoz Roglic race with the Italian beauty Bianchi Oltre XR4. That already shows the versatility of this bike. Dylan Groenewegen’s Oltre XR4 received a special paint job showing his Dutch pride. Besides that he races with sprint shifters to be able to shift while his hands are in the drops. He also races with the high Dura-Ace C60 wheels which are the best wheels for a sprinter as they are incredibly aerodynamic.
After winning the Giro d’Italia last month, the big goal for Team Sunweb in the Tour de France are stage victories. At the sprint and hilly stages it’s Michael Matthews who will try to add another stage win. To help him with that we gave him a set of C60 wheels… with discs! In some of the stages he might opt for the new super aero Giant Propel disc to launch him to victory. Besides the discs and C60 wheels, Michael Matthews also always races with sprint shifters
At Orica-Scott they have 2 ‘big’ contenders for the overall victory. Colombian Esteban Chaves and Brit Simon Yates. Both have to option to choose for the more aerodynamic Scott Foil or the super light Scott Addict. The Scott Foil has direct mount Dura-Ace brakes. Simon Yates races with our climbing switch so he’s able to shift gears while keeping his hands on the handlebar in climbing position.
Francaise des Jeux have French Champion Arnaud Demare who will join the sprinters party at the indicated stages and GC favorite Thibaut Pinot. Their partner Lapierre facilitates the team with the aerodynamic Aircode and the super light Xelius. Obviously Demare will likely chase victory with the Aircode while Pinot will challenge the other GC contenders on the Xelius. All riders at Lapierre race with PRO stems and handlebars. PRO offers all kinds of handlebars, from integrated stem/handlebar combinations to aero carbon and round aluminum bars.
