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Of the two cobbled Spring monuments, Roubaix usually has Flanders well beaten in the tech department. At first, it seemed like it was very much business as usual at the start of De Ronde in Antwerp on Sunday past. However, to my own surprise, hidden amongst a sea of seemingly standard setups were a host of golden tech nuggets.
Matt: “Busy day for tech, Ronan?”
Ronan: “Er, so so, not a whole lot.”
Or so I thought before sitting down to edit the photos I had taken roaming the team zones for both the women’s and men’s editions of the Tour of Flanders. A few minutes later, I realised there were 900+ photos to sift through, and actually, De Ronde had thrown up a busy day in tech.
From new tyres to new tyre and rim combinations, undercover handlebars, and some “progressive saddle positions“, here’s what we saw at the 2024 Tour of Flanders.
Goodyear has some new tyres that are seemingly some form of prototype or team-only tyre. The tyres do appear on the Goodyear bike website as the Vector LTD wet weather race tyres but are priced at a whopping $650 per pair with a 30-day lead time… a clear attempt at a workaround for the UCI’s so-called commercialisation rule. The tyres are designed for use with TSS (hookless) rims and TC (Tubless crotchet, aka hooked) clincher rims. The Vector LTD tread pattern is closely related, perhaps even identical, to that of the Vector Sport. It has a smooth central section, fish hook-like grooves, and a ridged shoulder, which are presumably all designed to improve wet-weather grip. The Goodyear website lists both 28 and 30-mm versions of the Vector LTD, Human Powered Health were using the 30-mm option. Lidl-Trek’s men’s and women’s teams raced on prototype Pirellis, as they have for much of the season so far. We don’t yet have any details on the new tyres, and team staff prohibited me from measuring them with calipers; they did feel grippy to touch, though. Thankfully, this sidewall stamp and Tipex pen on one of the men’s bikes gives a rough idea of the width.Lidl-Trek Women’s team also raced on the prototype tyres…But were seemingly opting for the 28 mm version of the new tyre. Mads Pedersen was the only Lidl-Trek rider racing tubular Pirelli tyres. On the other hand, most of the Liv AlUla Jayco team were racing Vittoria Corsa Control tubulars on the seemingly team-only Cadex Ultra 50 tubular rims.While SD Worx, Soudal-Quickstep, and Bora-Hansgrohe all raced on 28 mm clincher Turbo Cotton Hell of the North, presumably with latex inner tubes, as seen here on Lotte Kopeck’s Tarmac SL8. UAE Team Emirates broke out the seldom-seen “transparent” sidewall Continental GP 5000 S TR, possibly in a rush to get 30mm tyres following the UCI’s announcement on Thursday that teams should follow ISO standard-compliant combinations. Given that the Enve 4.5 rims feature a 25 mm inner rim width, that announcement will have required Team UAE riders to race on 30 mm tyres rather than the 28s they usually use. The Ineos-Grenadiers also lined up on 30 mm GP 5000 S TRs, but….Did have some 32s on site also, as seen on this spare bike on the a team car. Lotto-Dstny are switching to Orbea’s component brand Oquo’s wheels. As Escape Collective understands, it was always the plan. The team had been using Zipp wheels to start the season while awaiting the Oquo wheels. The team currently use a mix of wheels from both brands. The Lotto-Dstny riders still running 28 mm tyres were racing on the Zipp 454 NSW rims which feature a 23 mm inner rim width, and as such are compliant with the ISO standard. Movistar raced with the Zipp 303 Firecrest, a wheelset Zipp recently told us out of all its wheels is the option it recommends its team use for the cobbled classics as it’s made for harsher conditions. (including gravel) Visma-Lease a Bike raced with 30 mm Vittoria Corsa Pros setup tubeless. The team had raced with the 28 mm version of the same tyre last year, and while it is unclear if the recent decision by the UCI to enforce the ISO’s minimum 29 mm tyre on 24 and 25 mm inner rim widths was the reason for the shift up in tyre size, Reserve’s 40|44 wheel set does feature a 25.5mm inner rim width upfront and a 24mm at the rear.Tudor Pro Cycling reached for DT Swiss’ lesser spotted (in professional racing) ERC 45 rims for the cobbled classics. The ERC wheel range is described as the “fast gran fondo” wheels and said to be more stable in cross winds and forgiving on various surfacesCofidis are the only squad still racing entirely on tubulars. Most teams now use mini-compressors at the race starts; I can’t recall the last time I saw a track pump in use at a start village. An Astana mechanic had this Poggio Solutions R180 compressor, which is described on the Poggio Solutions website as a “real novelty in the world of cycling” given it is capable of inflating tyres up to 20 bar / 300 PSI… or roughly five times what the mechanic was inflating most tyres to. While another mechanic wanted to ensure no leaks in those valves.Team dsm-firmenich PostNL mechanics were using the trusty Fumpa pump. This tiny pump is capable of checking and topping up pressures for a team’s worth of bikes. Going back to Astana for a second, Michael Mørkøv seems to be using a Black Inc Aero Barstem hidden beneath that slick Team Astana Wilier paint job. Valentin Madouas opts for this long and low 0-Bar from the Zero SLR climbing bike on his Wilier Filante SLR. On the theme of handlebar setups, Magnus Sheffield is an outlier at the Ineos Grenadiers by running a traditional, non-aero profiled, two-piece handlebar and stem. Also note the handlebar tape that runs all the way to the stem faceplate. Lizzie Deignan opts to mount SRAM’s wireless blips right at the end of the handlebar drops rather than the more customary hooks or tops position for sprinting or climbing.
