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Just two years on from a complete supplier overhaul, it's all change at AG2R once again as the team gives both Van Rysel bikes and SwissSide wheels their debut in the men's WorldTour as Decathlon comes on board as title sponsor for the team, now called Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale.
Van Rysel is the cycling brand of global French sporting goods retailer, Decathlon. The Flemish name translates as "From Lille," a nod to the location of Decathlon's company's HQ in Lille, France not far from the cobbles of Roubaix and Flanders. Or, in other words, bike racing heartland.
2024 isn't actually Decathlon's first entry into the WorldTour, though. The team had a long-standing partnership with AG2R in the mid-2000s and supplied the team bikes under both the Decathlon and B'Twin branding in the old ProTour, the origins of today's WorldTour.
I had an abnormal fascination with those old B'Twin carbon bikes equipped with Campagnolo Record 10-speed groupsets, as even back then, Decathlon demonstrated its bike brand wasn't simply a tick-box exercise using open-source moulds. Those bikes featured their fair share of weird shapes and design elements, not to mention an extended seat post design, which presumably delivered the opposite of improving ride comfort and compliance.
Fast forward to 2024 and while Decathlon has retained the same uniqueness to its racing bike model, this time its got a fair share of effective shapes and aero design elements. The bike looks every bit the modern all-rounder and features most of the design elements we'd find on frames from brands with a much longer history of producing WorldTour-worthy race bikes.
Better yet, the Van Rysel RCR has a claimed weight of 6.9 kg, making it lighter than most in this space. And, of course, it wouldn't be Decathlon if it didn't offer value for money, and the RCR does not disappoint with an RRP of €8,500 for a similar spec'd bike on the shop floor. (international pricing to follow).
Here's a closer look at AG2R's Shimano Dura-Ace and SwissSide-equipped Van Rysel RCR as raced at the Tour Down Under.
The Van Rysel RCR Pro as raced by Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale in 2024. The bike may be the newest entry into the WorldTour, but it ticks so many of the boxes that go into making a performance "all-rounder" race bike. The only thing the Van Rysel has me scratching my head over is entirely subjective, and that is the paint job. I literally can't decide if I like it or not and find myself switching back and forth.Bastien Tronchon is in his second full season in the WorldTour, his race bike gives us a closer look at the new name on the circuit. Those dropped stays are a thing of aero-beauty: horizontal interface, wide flare, thin, profiled tubing ... as a snapshot of the bike as a whole, it's everything you'd expect in a performance bike and not much that you wouldn't.Decathlon-AG2R will ride the RCR Pro for the initial phase of the season at least, but Escape Collective understands Van Rysel may have already turned its attention to producing a dedicated aero bike.There isn't much obvious that is visually lacking on the RCR. In fact, considering it is an "all-rounder" and not a dedicated aero bike, the only thing I could say could perhaps offer some room for improvement is the head tube width, as discussed earlier this week.The RCR is Van Rysel's take on the race all-rounder – shallow-profiled and truncated tubes balance aero gains with overall weight in a bike that targets the UCI minimum weight limit mark.The designers have bulked up the bottom bracket area with extra height – rising up to meet the seat tube – and width, running into the down tube and chain stays, presumably in a bid to increase stiffness and reduce drag by improving the flow over this area and onto the rear wheel.Truncated, Kammtail, or flat back, whatever you choose to call it, the seat tube and seat post feature the popular aero tube profile, presumably targeting some comfort-boosting compliance while handily offering a more effective aero and lighter solution than a traditional teardrop profile.The front end is as clean and aero-looking as expected from a 2024 WorldTour rig. Deda produces this RCR-specific integrated handlebar with obvious attention to aero detail from both brands, as evidenced by the horizontal stem which presumably saves a few grams of drag.The Deda integrated handlebar and stem fully integrates the brake hoses and features an aero profile up top, which tapers into a reduced circumference where the rider's thumb, palm, and fingers grip the tops.The Deda bars and integrated routing combine for a clean looking front end.AG2R riders are also back on Shimano for the first time since 2020. Dura-Ace ... if you hadn't guessed.SwissSide are making their World Tour debut in 2024 after building a solid reputation for aero expertise in triathlon and design consultation services for manufacturers over the past decade. AG2R will use the Swiss brand's Hadron 500 (50 mm deep rim) and 625 (62 mm) wheelsets.Those wheels are wrapped with Continental's popular Grand Prix 5000 S TR tyres.Fizik are on saddle duty and providing one of the only carryover items from the team's 2023 bikes.Look Keo pedals are the only similarity with the team's 2023 setups. No doubt the riders will be pretty happy about retaining two of the three contact points from their 2023 rigs.The team uses a small snippet of inner tube to keep the Di2 wire snug between frame exit port and derailleur mounting point.
