New helmets from KASK and POC, loads of aero tape hacks, and two new prototype bikes: It’s time for the 2026 Tour de France Grand Départ mega tech gallery

There are a few issues happening right here. Firstly, take a look at that extra strut that sits behind the top tube is an uncommon body design. Secondly, the plate that sits on the prime of the bottom bar’s stem to cover the cables is sitting happy with the bottom bar itself. Hopefully the mechanics get spherical to fixing that earlier than stage 1.

Little and enormous! TotalEnergies had two completely different handlebar choices, and so they could not be extra completely different.

The entrance finish of Remco Evenepoel’s new Specialised Tarmac SL9, together with his Olympic champion gold colourway, appears to be like actually sensible.

The brand new Bianchi Specialissima is a smart-looking machine, and this darkish inexperienced colourway was actually refined in sure gentle…

…but it surely popped into this gorgeous shimmering flake within the solar.

I even have a number of time for Movistar’s new paint scheme.

„Assemble Earlier than Flight“ – it is a good contact on the DT Swiss disc wheels utilized by the Uno X crew.

This TGale TT saddle is a cool-looking factor, and it pops properly on this photograph in opposition to the yellow of the Visma Lease a Bike bus.

Visma goes via the trouble of including just a little 3D-printed bung into the outlet on the again of the seatpost sliding rail. Presumably a marginal aero win.

I additionally actually just like the addition of the element weight on this mono riser and TT extensions.

One other factor I actually like is the crew’s newfound consideration to element, and this easy however neat technique of bettering aerodynamic efficiency. This bolt is not ideally positioned, so the crew has caught a small circle of tape over it. It is the proper dimension to cowl the outlet with no pointless further.

The identical could be discovered right here, with the saddle clamp adjustment dial, which sits behind this well-shaped sticker.

This one’s just a little extra arbitrary, with a easy strip of what I assume is electrical tape, but it surely’s sufficient to cover the hex bolts that maintain this aero WolfTooth chain catcher in place.

We discovered the identical on Pogačar’s seatpost clamp bolt too; that is one other very neat contact.

The rear derailleur on Josh Tarling’s time trial bike had the outlet within the rear mech arm taped over.

Tim Merlier went one other route by snapping his off! In fact, this wasn’t intentional, and it was about to get replaced.

And Filippo Ganna even had the chainring spider bolts taped, though the surplus materials right here feels just a little counterproductive.

This one at Cofidis was additionally just a little counterproductive. Taping up the mount solely to then bolt one other one to the underside. That is presumably as a result of the unique place made it arduous to shortly look down and see when the rider’s palms have been in place.

TotalEnergies was getting in on the tape-over-holes motion too. That is excessive tube bento field mount holes on their time trial bike.

Likewise, Uno-X, whose time trial bike had this beneath the bottom bar.

Whereas we’re on Uno-X briefly, I had a number of time for these low-profile bottle cage bolts.

Likewise, this 3D-printed out-front mount is full with Uno X branding integrated into the design.

Maybe my favorite tape-over-hole hack, although, was this duo from Visma Lease a Bike. First, the outlet on the SRAM Pink AXS chainset is kind of massive and presumably fairly draggy. Not anymore it is not.

And second, the inside face of the pedal axle is one other gap that presumably catches extra air than you’d need on the pinnacle of time trials. Jonas Vingegaard’s crew has clearly put a number of effort into his bike setup.

Tape has many makes use of, after all, and that is most likely extra a bodge than a hack. My guess is that the tape unravelled mid-training journey and was ripped off, then taped up as a get-home resolution.

To briefly bounce again to TotalEnergies, here is an amusing discover. This sticker is on the seat tube of their prototype body Litening body. I am no knowledgeable, however I do not suppose that is a fork.

One other amusing discover: Most groups merely set out their bottles on a desk earlier than filling all of them with water. At Lidl-Trek, that is not potential as a result of the bottles do not rise up on their very own. As an alternative, SRAM equipped dozens of those folding bottle carriers. The folding motion helps with the bottles‘ lean, however the carry deal with was shortly nixed.

Extra Lidl-Trek for a second. The crew is racing aboard this actually eye-catching paint job, which celebrates Trek’s fiftieth anniversary.

We’re instructed that every of the squares represents some extent in Trek’s historical past, and that the entire pre-orders for the frames being made accessible to the general public are sadly bought.

And whereas we’re at Lidl-Trek, take a look at the brand new hubs they’re rocking. These Tactic hubs are a £1000+ improve per bike and assist drop some weight.

They’ve additionally added new aero chain catchers from Leap Parts. I actually like that they specify what dimension chainrings they can be utilized with.

I used to be shocked to see the €559 SRM X-Energy pedals, which have been designed together with Q36.5 footwear. Their headline determine, moreover the excessive value, is the 9.7mm stack peak, together with the cleat.

They’ve additionally been studying Alex Dowsett’s playbook and have launched a unique colored strip on every time trial bike to make it simpler for every rider to know the place to fit again into the road after they’re driving at max coronary heart fee.

Additionally they had a intelligent jig, which is designed to allow groups to completely align riders‘ cleats. An actual step up from the Ergon instrument that I’ve at residence.

And to wrap up our time at Lidl-Trek, simply take a second to understand the neatness of this mechanic’s instrument format.

As has most likely turn out to be clear, I actually like acts of consideration to small particulars, and this one is an efficient instance of that. The seatpost mud cowl on the Wilier Filante SLR has been changed with one which additionally incorporates a race quantity holder. That is actually cool.

One other neat discover was this Schwalbe Clik tubeless valve. I actually just like the two-part nut that holds it in opposition to the rim.

I would additionally not seen these Topeak valves in individual earlier than I noticed this on Biniam Girmay’s bike. They appeared fairly sensible.

Talking of Girmay’s bike, the crew unveiled this new paint scheme earlier within the week.

I discovered a number of different neat issues at NSN. Not least this bike for crew proprietor and footballing sensation, Andrés Iniesta.

This was contained in the crew NSN Crew mechanics‘ truck. The mechanic instructed me that they usually need to arrange riders‘ groupset configurations and the way they pair with Hammerhead computer systems. This sheet helps them keep in mind who desires what.

This guidelines was close by too, serving to mechanics within the pre-race chaos.

I additionally noticed this Selle Italia Watt triathlon saddle on the NSN lodge. The addition of 3D-printed lattice materials on the underside is an uncommon contact.

Over at Picnic PostNL, considered one of their workstands was upgraded with the perfect quick-release lever in all of biking.

At Ineos, there have been a number of new-to-market merchandise on present. First, this Scope Trispoke, which the Dutch model launched simply this week.

And second, these helmets from KASK are new too. The main points stay scarce however we’ll do some digging over the following few days to try to discover out extra.

One other new helmet is that this one from POC, the obvious inheritor to the Tempor throne. I used to be allowed to select it up and was amazed by how gentle it was. I am instructed it is within the area of 350g.

It is a curious one on Tadej Pogačar’s time trial bike. Shimano’s base bar Di2 brake lever/shifter comes with a single shift button on both facet, and depends on ‚Synchronised Shift‘ to vary the entrance mech. Professional riders favor to have the selection when to shift, although, so it’s normal so as to add a second ’satellite tv for pc‘ shifter. Nevertheless, Pogačar’s bike was arrange 1X, so these added shifters are simply added weight at this level. Does it imply he’ll truly run 2x on race day? We’ll have to attend and see.

Pogačar’s bike was in any other case outfitted with a full package deal of titanium from Carbon-Ti, together with the thru-axle and derailleur hanger seen right here.

He was additionally kitted out with this so-called aero-threaded backside bracket from Bikone. The aero-ness comes from its utterly clean shell, the place most have splines or ridges to permit a instrument to understand it.

Talking of aero, probably the most aero rider on the planet (unproven however broadly claimed) has a brand new bike and a brand new entrance wheel, as Specialised’s Shiv TT is getting an improve.

I additionally actually like how these extensions look. The form simply by some means appears to be like higher than everybody else’s. Spot the personalised grips too.

I additionally actually appreciated these changeout jerseys that Matteo Jorgensen and Victor Campenaerts wore on the crew’s presentation. They’re a part of a collaboration between Nimbl and Nike, which additionally features a pair of €650 footwear.

A trio of tech from Tom Pidcock now: First, a reasonably frequent sight within the WorldTour now, however he was the one rider on his crew to make use of the Leap Parts aero out-front laptop mount.

Second, the crew has clearly borrowed the race transponder hack that we first noticed being utilized by Ineos a few seasons in the past. It locations the transponder behind this fork tab, hiding it within the wake behind the fork quite than taping it to the facet, the place it provides extra aero drag.

And third, he has his title on his wheels, however maybe extra fascinating than that’s that he is utilizing Vittoria’s TPU inside tubes, quite than establishing his tyres tubeless.

We bought to spend a while with the brand new Van Rysel bike of the French hope, Paul Seixas. We’ll carry you a fuller gallery within the coming days, however my preliminary takeaway is that it appeared actually unfinished. The stickers have been already starting to peel away, and the seatpost clamp was left uncovered. It is solely a prototype bike, after all, however I would count on extra from a crew with such a prodigious rider with a sensible probability of a podium on his first outing.

A whole lot of effort had gone into the setups at Caja Rural. For instance, Bikone had equipped new pulley wheels for his or her Dura-Ace derailleurs; that they had bling KMC chains, and though not proven right here, bikes have been fitted with lighter-weight Overfast via axles.

There was additionally a prototype bike from their sponsor, MMR, on the lodge. We have been instructed that it wasn’t but authorized by the UCI, so it would not be used within the race, however Fernando Gaviria had been out coaching on it earlier within the day.

In the identical lodge, Alpecin have been unusually cagey about their time trial bikes, regardless of not being the brand new Speedmax that has damaged cowl on the Problem Roth triathlon this weekend. They’d Scope wheels with Shimano branding (as we have seen already this 12 months), Wahoo Velocity sensors on their hubs to assist riders preserve tempo extra easily, and so they’d executed just like Lidl-Trek, with completely different colored stickers for every bike. Right here, although, you possibly can see new Dura-Ace logos beneath this black tape on the wheels, which on nearer inspection have been labelled as WH-R9370.

Mathieu van der Poel’s bike right here, and there is a actual traditional aesthetic to the drop profile of his new handlebars.

Van der Poel has lengthy been a traditionalist in terms of tech. He caught with 44cm handlebars lengthy after his teammates and the remainder of the peloton went to narrower choices, however you possibly can see right here that he is lastly caught up, and these are listed as 350mm. Proper on the UCI restrict.

I discovered these time trial extensions to be fairly humorous. It seems the mechanics have caught on some microfibre fabric utilizing a Velcro base, presumably so as to add a little bit of consolation and a few sweat-wicking grip to the forearms.

And in a slight juxtaposition, these Speedbar extensions are rather well completed, with a wonderfully formed cut-out for the shifters.