Gallery: Tour de France time trial tech – part one
The time trial stages of the Grand Tours are usually a hotbed for the latest tech and innovation, and this year’s Tour de France stage 5 did not disappoint. We brought you a full video on time trial bikes of the Tour in anticipation of the main event, and now we have two huge galleries of more tech I spotted walking the paddock before the start.
In this first part, we’ll look at some of the bikes and wheels. Part two will follow shortly and continue with more wheels and tyres, along with a look at handlebar setups, positions, and other interesting bits of tech.
Bikes
First up, let’s take a look at some TT bikes.
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Second place on the day, Stefan Küng has a custom-painted Lapierre Airstorm DRS. We have an in-depth look at this bike coming next week. ![]()
A standard team edition (i.e. not a European champ’s version) Lapierre Airstorm DRS. ![]()
While Bahrain Victorious’s Merida Time Warp TT frame is unchanged, the team has some new tech we will see later. ![]()
Sonny Colbrelli had a raw carbon Time Warp TT. ![]()
With three sponsored teams in the race, Canyon’s new Speedmax was everywhere. This is the SRAM- and Zipp-equipped Team Movistar variant. ![]()
Arkéa-Samsic had the new bike, and at least one previous generation Speedmax, most likely a spare. ![]()
Alpecin-Fenix had an entire fleet of outgoing Speedmaxes as spare bikes. ![]()
But just like Mathieu van der Poel, the team raced on the brand new Speedmax we reported on back in April. ![]()
DSM is on the latest iteration of the Scott Plasma, one of the bikes still featuring rim brakes. ![]()
Kasper Asgreen’s Specialized Shiv TT was one of very few with a waxed chain. ![]()
Ineos is on the Pinarello Bolide TT, a bike unchanged in years but that still looks fast. ![]()
The Team BikeExchnage Bianchi Aquila is another unchanged bike, but again still looks fast just sitting still. ![]()
Team mechanics making some last-minute adjustments. ![]()
Vision branding was almost everywhere in the paddock. Team B&B Hotels had its whole fleet of KTM TT machines kitted out with Metron wheels. More on these later. ![]()
We took a deep-dive look at the Jumbo-Visma Cervelo P5s in our time trial bike video. ![]()
We also spotted Tony Martin’s German champ’s bike.. ![]()
And a paint job for former Belgian champion Wout van Aert.
New bikes
Alongside all these bikes, we spotted some unreleased, “top secret” bikes on time trial day. We saw both the Cannondale and Trek at the recent Critérium du Dauphiné, but the De Rosa is a new one for us.
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EF Education-Nippo riders raced on the new Cannondale TT machine. ![]()
The entire team raced the new bike. ![]()
We’ll be covering this bike in this week’s upcoming Nerd Alert podcast episode. ![]()
Chris Froome and the Israel Start-Up Nation team all raced on the current Factor Slick … ![]()
… despite having the brand new Factor TT bike hanging in the truck. Perhaps we will get a closer look at this in the final time trial. ![]()
Trek-Segafredo showed up with the brand new, still unannounced, Trek Speed Cncpt. ![]()
It’s a bike we believe will be disc-brake only. ![]()
Another view of the new Trek we reported on in June. ![]()
Cofidis is on De Rosa bikes this year, with the TT-03 for time trial stages. ![]()
The team had a new disc-brake model – as yet unlisted on the De Rosa website – with Campagnolo 12-speed groupset. Other Campag-equipped teams were running 11-speed in the time trial. ![]()
The team used TRP Hy-Road callipers rather than the Campagnolo option, most likely due to availability of a Campagnolo base bar hydraulic brake lever
Wheels and tyres
Aerodynamics take centre stage on time trial day, but recently teams have come to understand the importance of reducing rolling resistance too. The wheels and tyres bring aerodynamics and rolling resistance together, and an optimal setup can result in huge gains.
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Bora-Hansgrohe and Deceuninck-QuickStep raced on Outride-stickered Roval 321 discs. Outride is a foundation dedicated to breaking down barriers, so all kids have access to bicycles . ![]()
Ineos had opted for Princeton CarbonWorks rear discs … ![]()
… and the Aerocoach Aeox Titan upfront … ![]()
… with the new UCI-legal hub end caps. ![]()
DSM ran Aerocoach Aeox disc wheels, set up tubeless … ![]()
… and the Pro tri-spoke upfront. ![]()
Trek-Segafredo was running Zipp discs. Most had Bontrager decals, but this one did not. ![]()
Alpecin-Fenix was one of many Shimano-equipped teams opting for Roval 321 disc-brake disc wheels. Shimano / Pro does not offer a disc-brake option. ![]()
Bahrain Victorious spare bikes had the Vision Metron tubular disc. The race bikes had a new wheel (see below) … ![]()
… and tubular Metron 81 SL. ![]()
Movistar riders had the previous-generation Canyon Speedmax for spare bikes. This one had the Zipp Super 9 disc with a Continental Grand Prix TT clincher. ![]()
Much was made of Mathieu van der Poel’s last-minute optimisation, with a few sponsor-incorrect selections … ![]()
… including a Princeton CarbonWorks disc … ![]()
… and Aerocoach Aeox Titan front wheel ![]()
Both wheels were set up tubeless. ![]()
The Vittoria Corsa Speed 2.0 tubeless tyre on Van der Poel’s front Aeox Titan wheel. ![]()
The Astana team rode traditional carbon discs, all except one rider. More on that next time.
Stay tuned for part two where we’ll continue our look at tyre choices, new wheels spotted, interesting cockpits, and much much more.
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