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As an early season opener, the UAE Tour isn't exactly the most exciting race of the year. That said, it does usually draw a star-studded field and 2025 is no different.
This year it sees many of the world's best sprinters battling it out for stage honours and many others battling it out for second place to Tadej Pogačar in the GC battle. But it's not the racing that has caught my eye this year, rather the tech.
Team Picnic-PostNL have switched away from Shimano wheels to Urus wheels for 2025, but come time trial day the team is using wheels from compatriots Scope. Enzo Leijnse is seen here racing with the Scope AEA-disc and R9 front wheel. 2025 also marks a bike switch for the team, from Scott to Lapierre.Some Specialized-equipped riders are running the new Roval aero wheel first spotted by Escape Collective at last year's Tour de France. The new wheel, seen on the left under Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe's Ryan Mullen, features a deeper rim, hidden nipples, and what seems to be a new hub compared to the existing Roval Rapide CLX II pictured right. Soudal Quick-Step's Tim Merlier provided the clearest look yet at the new S-Works road shoes. While details remain scarce, the fact that numerous Specialized-equipped riders are already using them suggests a retail launch is imminent, unlike the new S-Works shoes we spotted Remco Evenepoel wearing at last year's Tour de France.Another shot of those new shoes, but Merlier – being awfully kind – also gives us a glimpse of what appears to be new S-Works tyres (although not using the new Roval rims mentioned above) and a new race suit from Castelli. The new Castelli race suit has undergone a major overhaul, with nearly every panel redesigned. The main body fabric is now noticeably smoother and thinner than what Merlier and his teammates wore last year. More notably, Castelli has reverted to external aero rib structures on the sleeves, moving away from the smoother design previously intended to pair with an aero base layer. The sleeves now also feature a perforated, presumably more breathable trailing edge – an adjustment that makes sense given the renewed focus on thermoregulation in hot conditions. Finally, a close look at the shorts reveals a new textured side panel that wasn’t present in the previous design.Not everyone opts for a race suit, though. Pascal Eenkhorn wore a jersey that carries over many of the same design features. Note the rib structures on the short legs that are not on the new race suit, suggesting these are likely the existing Premio bibs.Soudal-Quick Step riders also have a new Castelli TT suit. It too ditches the dual-layer suit and aero base layer approach, adding the aero ribs to the exterior of the sleeves. Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe riders had these new Specialized-branded aero overshoes. Rumour has it they are actually a Specialized offering rather than a third-party marginal gain rebranded to be sponsor-correct. As first reported by Escape Collective, Specialized has come on as clothing supplier to the team for 2025 and is upping its performance offering to meet the UCI WorldTeam's demands. In contrast to the new Castelli suit, this Specialized-branded suit worn by new Red Bull signee Finn Fisher-Black sticks with the dual-layer approach and uses smooth sleeves and a ribbed aero base layer. Tadej Pogačar seems to have worked on his TT position over the winter. It could just be these shots, but it seems he has narrowed the gap between his face and forearms with new extensions. It seems his new position increases the height of his grips and potentially shortens the reach a little to reduce his frontal area and CdA.
There's plenty more tech to unpack in the rest of this gallery reserved for Escape Collective members.
