Taking to the startline in Pavia, Julian Alaphilippe will begin Milan-San Remo, his biggest race so far while riding in the colours of Tudor Pro Cycling. It has been an underwhelming few years for the two-time world champion with glimmers of his former self poking through at last year's Giro d’Italia.
The move to Tudor was an interesting decision and marks the end of an 11-year tenure at Quick Step under all of its different guises over those years. Although not a WorldTour team, Tudor has a depth of talent that would have you thinking it was. Alongside Alaphilippe, Marc Hirschi and Matteo Trentin bolster the WorldTour experience within the team.
With the change in team for Alaphilippe came a change in equipment. After more than a decade aboard Specialized’s frames, wheels and finishing kit it has been all change for the Frenchman moving to Tudor. The team run by classics legend Fabian Cancellara is sponsored by BMC, a brand that has been absent from the WorldTour since 2023 when AG2R La Mondiale made the switch to Van Rysel when Decathlon joined as a co-title sponsor.
The team typically rides the TeamMachine R, although the TeamMachine SLR climbing bike is still available to them. This bike was developed with the help of the Red Bull Advanced Technologies (RBAT) to make an all-around versatile race bike. BMC is adamant that even with all the hallmarks of an out-and-out aero bike it isn't considered one. This is because the TeamMachine R does not compromise weight or handling, something that BMC thinks aero bikes historically have done.
The TeamMachine R takes inspiration from the brand's time trial bike and has a distinct front end with an angular wide-set fork that looks like a carbon copy of the one found on the SpeedMachine TT bike.
A Masterpiece for a master
The bike Alaphilippe is riding at this point in the season isn’t a standard team edition TeamMachine R. Even though that bike is already one of the priciest in the professional peloton at around €15,000, Alaphilippe and teammate Hirschi are on board the brand's Masterpiece (Mpc.) frame which goes above and beyond that of the 'regular' TeamMachine R 01.
The Masterpiece moniker is reserved for the brand's pinnacle frames. Each one is hand-built in BMC’s facility in Grenchen, Switzerland. Every frame is meticulously constructed with perfect carbon layups, minimal resin content, and no cosmetic fillers. The result is a frame around 130 grams lighter than the production R 01 frames.
Being handbuilt, the build process is far from efficient with the facility capable of producing three frames a week at full capacity. There is, however, no room for error at any point in the process; the Mpc. frameset foregoes any clear coat, paint or filler, meaning that any imperfections in the frame will result in the frame being scrapped.
As you can imagine, a frameset that goes through such a meticulous build process has a price to match. Each frameset is built to order and will set you back $9,000 / €9,000 – some $4,000 / €4,000 more than the regular TeamMachine R 01 frameset. This means that the Mpc. ridden by Alaphilippe and Hirschi could cost around €19,000, placing it firmly at the top of the price list inside the peloton. For context, this would buy two and a half Cube Litening Aero C68:X SLX used by Intermaché Wanty or two of the Decathlon team's Van Rysel RCR Pro bikes.
Getting hands-on with the bike, the untreated finish of the raw carbon frame immediately tells you that this is no ordinary pro bike. The seams in the carbon where it has been laid up tell a story of the build process. Tracing the length of the top tube is a faint seam that is the only part of the frame needing to be trimmed when it comes out of the mould.
Contrasting the deep grey of the frame, BMC decided to fit silver decals that compliment the frame perfectly, catching the light and drawing attention to the bike.
Alaphilippe has history at San Remo but will we see this bike ridden to a masterpiece win? Only time will tell.
Julian Alaphilippe’s BMC TeamMachine R Mpc. Specs
Frame: BMC TeamMachine R Mpc.
Wheels: DT Swiss Dicut 1100
Groupset: SRAM Red AXS
Chainset: SRAM Red AXS with power meter 54/41 chainrings 170 mm cranks
Chain: SRAM Red flattop
Cassette: SRAM Red 10-33
Brakes: SRAM Red
Tyres: Schwalbe Pro One 28 mm with inserts
Handlebars: BMC ICS Aero
Saddle: Selle Italia SLR Boost 3D Kit Carbonio Superflow
Pedals: Time X-Pro 12SL
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