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The 2025 racing season has kicked off, and as has been the case for many years, the Tour Down Under offers an abundance of fresh tech to discover. Often hiding in the shade from the searing heat of Adelaide, there awaited emerging trends that the teams and riders were ready to reveal.
In this gallery of assorted random tech from the women’s and men’s Tour Down Under, we look at a few of these trends. There are also a few new items of note, some tips, and a few neat bikes. Basically, it’s just whatever caught my eye during a week of capturing pro bikes.
Keen for more tech from the Tour Down Under? Be sure to check out all the bikes of the Women’s WorldTour, and keep an eye out for the men’s bikes. We’ve had a few close looks at certain pro bikes, and there’s more on the way. Plus, I’ve got a few other galleries on the boil.
The use of mis-matched tyres front to rear isn’t a new idea, but 2025 seems to be the year of it being relatively common. Uno-X Mobility (women’s), Decathlon-AG2R la Mondiale, and Groupama-FDJ were all spotted using the Continental Aero 111 tyre, in a narrower size, on the front.Meanwhile Ineos-Grenadiers appear to be using the faster-rolling Continental GP5000 TT TR (25 mm width) tyre on the front wheel, while the more puncture-resistant GP5000 S TR (28 mm width) is used on the back.Many saddle brands now offer a saddle (or three) with a 3D-printed top. They’ve become quite the common sight in the peloton between the multiple pro team sponsorships of Specialized, Fizik, Selle Italia, and Prologo.New Zealand’s Ella Wyllie (Liv Alula Jayco) will soon have to fight to retain her National Champs jersey. For now, the 22-year-old can enjoy this classy paint. There’s a nice sparkle to the black. Out in the sun and waiting to race. The race start offers a great – albeit brief – chance to see all that’s new in one place.For the women, Picnic-PostNL was one of the only teams not to be on their new race bikes (they’ll get those upon return to Europe). Rather the riders were seen on their Lapierre training bikes, which beyond the different paint also feature a marginally cheaper Ultegra powermeter.The Lidl-Trek team are provided matching casual shoes. It sure stands out amongst the go-to of white sneakers.Almost every team had some kind of ice or cooling vest in use prior to the hot starts. This one was up to the conditions. The Bont Vaypor S of American star Chloe Dygert. The Australian cycling shoe brand had a few quiet years, but I spotted many riders in them this year. The Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto team have access to a few different one-piece handlebars to match the Aeroad frame. Not all of these are available for purchase, yet.The Tour Down Under provides cars and racks to the team. The women’s team cars are fitted with Thule consumer-type racks, meaning there typically isn’t enough space on the roof for every rider to have a spare bike. Canyon-SRAM cleverly work around this by fitting a few of the spare bikes with tape to mark seat heights for the one or two riders without a spare. Sponsored by Zipp and Schwalbe, the Canyon-SRAM team is rather progressive with just how low it runs its tyre pressures. Pictured is a 30 mm tyre on a 25 mm internal-width hookless rim. That 3.14 Bar equates to 45.5 psi. Meanwhile the Zipp 454 NSW sports a 23 mm internal rim width, which the team then matches to a 28 mm tyre. The pressure is marginally higher here, 3.5 Bar, or 50.7 psi. It appears Schwalbe is working on its own on-bike pressure sensors. Similar in concept to the Quarq TyreWiz or SKS AirSpy, these allow riders to get a live pressure reading. We spotted them on the spare bikes of Canyon-SRAM, and mechanic Boris Del Cid confirmed the team uses the tech on training bikes so that the riders use consistent pressures between races and training at home.Meanwhile the men’s teams typically get a car fitted with a more race-specific rack. Pictured here is the random assortment of spare bikes belonging to the ARA Australian Cycling team (a unique composite team of non-WorldTour athletes who get to race the Tour Down Under each year).XDS-Astana have a number of national champions in its squad, including Alberto Bettiol (Italy) and Henok Mulubrhan (Eritrea).Also add New Zealand national champion and WorldTour rookie Aaron Gate to that list. In case you missed, we previously took a close look at Gate’s new X-Lab AD9 bike.You know it’s hot out when you see the soigneurs cutting up pantyhose and stuffing them with ice.Australian premium wheel manufacturer Partington made its WorldTour debut (albeit not with a WorldTour team) under ARA rider Rudy Porter.Previously reviewed, Partington’s R39/44 wheelsfeature the company’s signature boomerang-like carbon spoke.Just about everyone in the men’s peloton started the day with no less than 50 mm depth wheels. The 1,165 g Partingtons looked quite shallow in comparison.UAE Team Emirates-XRG is one of the more progressive teams in terms of bike positions. This one has to be close to crossing the UCI’s 50 mm set-back rule. Kelland O’Brien (Jayco Alula) with the limited edition Shimano S-Phyre RC903s. Quoc is a relatively rare sighting at the WorldTour level, although you will now find the likes of Geraint Thomas in the British brand. Here, young Alastair MacKellar (EF Education-EasyPost) is in the new Quoc M3 Air.Influencers in the wild. A light amount of Instagram stalking revealed that you can get 10% off your WanderBean portable espresso maker by using code JORDAN10. Thanks for the deal, Jordan Labrosse.There’s no denying that Boa-equipped shoes are the most common choice, but there were still a surprising number of laces and straps doing circles. Lake’s CX20R shoe spotted here on Ineos Grenadiers’ Ben Swift.Meanwhile Aaron Gate is sporting a custom pair of Bont Vaypor S. Not the most aero shoe option of the peloton. On a more serious note, the use of aero socks is now almost status-quo.Italian shoe brand Nimbl has steadily grown its presence at the top of the sport. The company sponsors Visma-Lease a Bike, and its shoes are found on the feet of other riders, too.Movistar continue with its Fizik sponsorship. Various models were seen on the feet of riders, including this team-edition Vento Powerstrap Aeroweave. No aero sock here. Lidl-Trek is now sponsored by TriPeak, a relatively small Taiwanese component manufacturer that specialises in ceramic bearings. Colorful rotor lockrings is what first alerted me to the sponsorship, and it’s likely the company’s bearings are hidden within. High finishing speeds were expected for the opening stages of the Tour Down Under, and you can bet the big gears were out to play. Here’s a Picnic-PostNL bike with team-issue 56/44T chainrings.Riding for Human Powered Health, Ruth Edwards (formerly Winder) has chosen the Wove Mags saddle. Ruth was the only rider spotted at the Tour Down Under on this new perch.Also seen on the Human Powered Health team’s Factor Ostros are new matching Black Inc carbon bottle cages. These cages are specifically shaped to the down tube and seat tube, respectively.Another angle of the cages, showing how they’re designed to smooth airflow.Campagnolo is back in the WorldTour, but not a big way. Cofidis is the only WorldTour team where you’ll find the Italian components.Intermarché-Wanty continue with Uvex helmets for 2025. In contrast to many other aero road helmets, the Surve Aero MIPS is visibly more open. Last-minute pressure checks. Some teams are still inflating all tyres to the same pressure, but most now have rider-specific pressures that they set things to.The prototype Van Rysel FCR Pro aero bike made another appearance, this time under Paul Lapeira.You know what they say about guys with big hands? They can hold this handlebar.A lot of the frame details sit horizontal to the wind.Still in prototype. Along with UAE, Decathlon was another team spotted on aftermarket Carbon-Ti chainrings. I believe these are a 55/40T combo.Groupama-FDJ have made the move to Miche wheels for 2025. It’s been a while since we last saw the Italian brand in the WorldTour. Seen here are the new Kleos RD 62 wheels.Some teams have official footwear sponsors, while others leave the choice up to the riders. Arkéa-B&B Hotels clearly takes the latter approach with multiple brands on show.Recently crowned Australian national time-trial champion, Luke Plapp, remains in his custom-painted Nimbl shoes. They’re painted by Luke’s uncle, Cam Plapp.The shoes are covered, in-and-out, with Aussie details. Occasionally you see riders wiping down their kicks to look fresh on the day. And then you have the shoes that are clearly coming off a big training block. Trek’s newer RSL Knit are pictured on the right.The fanciest ice vest award goes to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.Before the racing had begun all the Red Bull bikes were set up with 2x shifting, but that had changed by the start of the first stage. Sam Welsford won the sprint on stage one with a massive 56T chainring and no bail-out. Follow the link for acloser look at Welsford’s bike.A K-Edge chain guide is present on the single-ring drivetrain setup.One Happy Little Vegemite was seen getting riders of the ARA team ready at the start.This Ekoi shoe looks like the Perf R4 Evo Light model, but the “Road Limited” label at the heel suggests otherwise. Liam Walsh (ARA) was another rider running a 1x SRAM drivetrain on opening stage. Alpecin–Deceuninck has switched from Vittoria to Pirelli tyres for 2025. Lucky last is what appears to be an unreleased Specialized S-Works shoe on the feet of a few riders (thanks to Ronan for spotting this one). Here is the foot of Soudal-Quick Step’s Andrea Raccagni Noviero, the shoe reveals a more central Boa placement and wrap-over upper compared to what’s currently available.
Want more? Check out all the bikes of the Women’s WorldTour, and keep an eye out for the round-up of the men’s bike. Also don’t miss our pro bike features for a close look at the finer details.
