Welcome back! We’ve already covered half the 2024 team bikes of the men’s WorldTour, and here we cover the other half. Before the photos begin, let’s talk about some major themes seen in the top tier of men’s road racing.
While not a new trend, there are continuing signs of dominance in particular product categories. For example, Vittoria and Continental each supply seven of the 18 WorldTour teams, leaving the remaining teams on Specialized (two teams), and Pirelli and Michelin with one team each. For power meters, 12 teams are using the Shimano Dura-Ace R9200P, with four on SRAM/Quarq, and SRM and Power2Max splitting the remaining two spots – and yes, those are all crank- or spider-based systems; no men’s team is using power-measuring pedals. As for groupsets, that’s now a two-horse trot with a staggering 14 teams using Dura-Ace Di2 shifting and brakes, with the remaining four on SRAM.
Shimano is equally dominant with 11 teams using its pedals; only three are on Look, while Wahoo’s Speedplay and Time (as part of SRAM sponsorships) are represented by two teams each. As for saddles, the title there now goes to Prologo with six teams, while the once-dominant Fizik is down to three teams alongside Selle Italia. Meanwhile, the underrated game of holding bottles belongs to Elite with 11 teams, while four teams represent Tacx cages, and Trek (Bontrager), Specialized, and Giant get one team each.
Then there are the broader trends irrespective of sponsors. We didn’t see a single men’s team using a chainring smaller than 54T (almost always combined with a 10-33T or 11-34T cassette). Tubeless tires have taken over, with 15 teams settled on the tech. Not a single team is using an aftermarket brand of seatpost, proving that within performance road, proprietary is now expected and round posts are no longer. And similarly sad for lovers of classic bikes, no team is racing with brake hoses external of the headset (insert tearful emoji).
Finally, the days of #slamthatstem are beginning to fade from the pro peloton. We’re seeing more and more riders with spacers beneath the stem, and with that, a glimmer of hope that maybe stack heights on these consumer-sold products will increase (just daydreaming over here). Many riders are also now sitting more forward and over the bottom bracket, with short-nose saddles helping to toe the line of the related UCI rule (saddle nose must be a minimum of 50 mm behind the bottom bracket centre).
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UAE Team Emirates
The whole UAE Team Emirates team is riding the (relatively) understated Colnago V4Rs, the Italian company’s all-rounder monocoque carbon frameset (and the lightest model it offers). While most teams typically use an integrated cockpit matched in brand to the frame, the Emirati-registered team has drawn in its sponsor Enve to provide such a component. First seen in 2023, the Enve one-piece handlebar/stem found here looks slightly different to the SES AR In-Route, Enve’s existing one-piece bar/stem, which is newly available for aftermarket purchase at the premium price of US $1,200.
With logos matching the frame, the Enve SES 4.5 tubeless wheels (with Enve’s new InnerDrive hub) are used with 28 mm Continental GP5000 S TR tyres that plump up to an actual 31 mm measured width. Shimano officially sponsors six men’s WorldTour teams, but UAE Team Emirates isn’t one of them. As a result, you’ll notice the team running lighter disc brake rotors from Carbon-Ti, but the previously-used weight-weenie Carbon-Ti chainrings were missing in action with the team back on stock Dura-Ace rings.
Other details, as seen on the bike of New Zealand’s Finn Fisher-Black, include Elite carbon bottle cages and saddles from Prologo.
Bora-Hansgrohe
The new year has seen some big changes within the German outfit of Bora-Hansgrohe. They now have multiple Grand Tour hopefuls, RedBull has bought a majority stake of the team, and they’ve switched to SRAM.
Beyond all that, the relatively new Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL8 remains the team’s sole road bike option. And with obvious exceptions of the paint and SRAM groupsets, these team bikes remain almost identical to what Soudal-Quick Step races with. The Roval Rapide CLX (sometimes Alpinist) wheels, as do the Specialized Turbo Cotton clincher tyres with latex inner tubes, remain the same. And in the event of a damp day of racing, Escape Collective was told the team also has Specialized’s prototype “Wet” tubeless tyres.
All the bikes we’ve seen are using the new Roval Rapide one-piece cockpit. Most are equipped with Specialized’s 3D-printed Mirror saddles, and the team is issued with Specialized bottle cages. Pictured is the bike of Australian sprint sensation Sam Welsford, who impressively collected three stage wins at the Tour Down Under on debut with the team.
Decathlon-Ag2R La Mondiale
For 2024, it was the sporting goods megachain Decathlon that knocked BMC out of representation within the world. Now a headline sponsor of the French team, Decathlon has provided riders with new bikes, helmets, and other kit from its Van Rysel cycling brand. While more models are expected to be released, for now the team is riding Van Rysel’s RCR, a bike that is the most affordable of all raced in the WorldTour with a retail price tag of €8,500 (in a similar but not identical specification).
Another fresh name to the WorldTour is the aero-focussed wheel company SwissSide, a name that has long appeared on other big brand products (such as DT Swiss) and team optimisation. These hooked wheels are set up tubeless with 28 mm Continental GP5000 S TR tyres that don’t plump up quite as much as those used by UAE Team Emirates.
Italian brand Deda provides its one-piece cockpit, pedals are from Look, Elite carbon cages hold bottles, and Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 handles the rest. The bike pictured belongs to French rider Bastien Tronchon. See a full gallery and the nerdy details of the new Decathlon Ag2R La Mondiale Van Rysel RCR here.
DSM Firmenich-PostNL
The DSM Firmenich-PostNL squad may have a new accompanying headline sponsor and a kit to match, but the Scott Foil bikes are currently carry-overs from the past season. Like a handful of other teams still on bikes from 2023, we can expect something new to be revealed in time for a later major race.
Equipment-wise, there are no changes for the Dutch team. The bikes are largely completed by two brands, with Syncros (Scott’s own brand) providing the cockpit, bar tape, and saddles, while Shimano provides its Dura-Ace Di2 groupsets, pedals, and wheels. Vittoria Corsa Pro tubeless tyres (again, 28 mm) and Elite bottle cages round it out. Pictured is the bike of Scotland’s Sean Flynn.
Movistar
While the blue seems darker, it’s otherwise difficult to tell whether the Movistar Team is on fresh bikes or those carried over from 2023. The team will continue to race with a mix of Canyon’s Aeroad CFR (aero) and Ultimate CFR (all-round light option), depending on what the race/rider requires.
Movistar is the only men’s WorldTour team with full SRAM sponsorship that includes groupsets, power meters, Zipp wheels, and Time pedals. Pictured is the bike of Spain’s Gonzalo Serrano, who has SRAM Blip shifters bonded to the base of the Canyon CP0018 bar for use when climbing.
Just as we’ve seen on the bikes of Alpecin-Deceninck and Canyon-SRAM, Movistar also runs the Canyon handlebar with a longer titanium bolt that saves the mechanics from having to use a special threaded tool for headset preload adjustment. Lastly, the team rolls with Continental tubeless tyres, Fizik saddles, Lizard Skins bartape, and Tacx bottle cages.
Bahrain Victorious
The Taiwanese bicycle manufacturer Merida remains represented in the WorldTour through Bahrain Victorious. Most riders use the brand’s lightweight aero bike, the Reacto, but there are times when the lighter Scultura comes out to play. Pictured is the Reacto built into climbing guise (shallow wheels) for Australian Jack Haig.
If you buy a top-tier Merida road bike, it’ll come stock with an FSA one-piece cockpit. Given this, there’s no surprise to see FSA and sibling aero-brand Vision remain as sponsors of the team by providing cockpits and wheels.
Speaking of wheels, Cofidis isn’t the only team still on narrower tubulars, with photographed Bahrain Victorious bike rolling on 25 mm team-issue tubs from Continental. Proof of how quickly the tech pendulum can swing, it was approximately only three years ago that such a tyre was the top pick among many of the fastest teams, with most still scoffing at the idea of tubeless. In another shift of popularity (or sponsorship dollars), the Bahrain-registered team was one of the last in the men’s world to be on saddles from PRO Bike Gear (a component brand of Shimano), but recent years have seen them sponsored by Prologo.
Edit: We’ve since heard from a team rider who was surprised to see the photographed bike equipped with tubular tyres. We’re told the team only races on tubeless (Vision Metron SL 45 & 60 wheels with 28 mm Continental GP5000 S TR or GP5000 TT tyres, run at under 70 psi).
Intermarché-Wanty
The Belgium squad of Intermarché-Wanty continues with Germany’s Cube bikes, a partnership that has stood since 2015. For 2024 the team continue to race with Cube’s Litening Air C:68X and Litening Aero C:68X bikes. Pictured is the Litening Aero C:68X belonging to sprinter Biniam Girmay (expect a full tech gallery on this one soon).
Once more, we see the stock one-piece handlebar/stem used with the brake hoses hidden within. While one of the more interesting tech details is through team sponsor Newmen Components, with the SL R-65 wheels featuring concealed Scrader vavles that require a special extended attachment for inflation. It’s a design that Escape Collective first covered at last year’s Tour de France – and one that we’ve since learned offers a very marginal aero benefit whereas hiding the nipples (of the wheels) would instead offer a far greater advantage.
The rest of the bike is finished with Shimano Dura-Ace Di2, Prologo saddle and bartape, Continental GP5000 S TR tubeless tyres, the new Look Keo Blade pedals, and Elite bottle cages.
Astana Qazaqstan
Once more Wilier is back with a paint design that can’t be accused of being boring. For 2024, the Kazakh team continues with Wilier’s 0 SLR (lighter all-rounder) and Filante SLR (aero all-rounder), both keeping with the team’s marbled paint theme introduced in 2023. Worthy of note, the painted-to-match handlebar/stem adds a further touch of polish to these bikes.
Otherwise the bikes are built up with a collection of familiar components. More Vision Metron SL tubeless wheels make an appearance, wrapped with Vittoria Corsa Pro TLR tyres (28 mm). Groupsets, power meters, and pedals are Shimano Dura-Ace. Prologo supplies bartapes and saddles, and Tacx handles the hydration.
Pictured is the bike of Italian racer Gianmarco Garofoli.
Lidl-Trek
It’s business as usual for the Lidl-Trek which continues to roll with bikes unchanged from the latter half of 2023. In some cases the team’s old coffee sponsor is hidden with red stickers, while other frames are simply painted with nothing more than the branding of Trek (well, TREK), SRAM, and Pirelli. Multiple rumours suggest we’ll see the team on new bikes later in the season. For now, riders have the choice to swap between Trek’s aero-focussed Madone or the lightweight Emonda.
The team-issue SRAM Red AXS groupsets (different logos to consumer product) remain unchanged, as does the use of Time pedals and Pirelli tyres. Trek’s own component brand Bontrager continues to supply all the touch points and wheels. As seen on many other team bikes, the peloton is divided on whether it’s better to use thru-axles with handles or more streamlined ones that require a tool – Lidl-Trek falls into the former camp and uses DT Swiss’ RWS thru-axles.
Pictured is the Trek Madone of current United States national champion Quinn Simmons. You’ll notice that Simmons doesn’t use Bontrager’s one-piece handlebar and stem, and rather adopts a more aggressive position with a -17 degree stem and a narrow handlebar with the hoods tilted up and set to the UCI’s maximum allowed 10-degree inward angle.
Bonus bike: Israel-Premier Tech
With a wildcard entry, Israel-Premier Tech was the sole ProTour team at the Tour Down Under. We planned only to include WorldTour bikes in our WorldTour bike galleries, but then Stephen Williams went ahead and won the race. So, with that, here’s a look at the winner’s bike, revealing what the team will be racing in 2024.
Beneath the new team paint colours sits the unreleased Factor Ostro VAM, something we first saw at the Australian National Championships and have since seen again with Ruth Edward’s new Human Powered Health team bike.
The team rolls with new (and also unreleased) carbon-spoked wheels from Factor’s component brand Black Inc, wrapped in Continental GP5000 S TR (28 mm) tubeless tyres. The drivetrain is mostly Shimano Dura-Ace Di2, but the cranksets are FSA/Vision with Power2Max powermeters. Shimano pedals, Selle Italia saddles, and Elite bottle cages complete the builds.
This was part two of our 2024 Bikes of the World Tour, find part one here. You can also see the 2024 bikes of the women’s WorldTour here (covering only the teams present at the Tour Down Under).
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