It feels like the World Tour peloton is still in the early stages of the 2024 season, but we've already reached May and the halfway point on the road calendar. This season has been characterized by on-bike trends, with Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogačar winning all races, and off-bike trends, such as the use of larger chainrings. It has also been a season with a lot of success for Decathlon's AG2R La Mondial, with his 12 wins so far this season, making him the fastest to reach that number of wins since 2005.
That success is clearly due to talented riders, but as Ollie Bridgewood and Alex Payton discuss in this week's article, GCN You'll also be able to ride the team's new Van Rysel bikes at the Tech Show. Looking at the team, most of the key elements remain the same, including many of the riders, but the bikes stand out as the main difference.
During a busy off-season, Decathlon joined the team as title sponsor and brought in a new high-end series of Van Rysel bikes. These bikes have caused quite a stir in the racing world as well as the racing world, with pre-sales selling out in hours. This is perhaps not surprising considering that the top model with the SRAM Red AXS sells for his 8,500 euros, making it much more affordable compared to other World Tour bikes.
Its low cost doesn't seem to have a negative impact on performance, and the bike has performed admirably in testing, but is it contributing to the team's success? Alex in the video at the top of this page Check out Olly's thoughts and let us know what you think in the comments.
read more: Technology retrospective: Remembering the Decathlon pro bikes of the 2000s
hot and spicy technology
It's another busy week in the tech world, with the new SRAM Red groupset likely to make a big splash at the Giro d'Italia.
New SRAM Red to be showcased at Giro d'Italia
There's no official announcement yet, but an unreleased version of SRAM's top-of-the-line Red AXS groupset was shown off in earnest at the Giro d'Italia.
I won't give away all the details here, but suffice to say there are some interesting developments throughout the groupset, including changes to the shifting lever and derailleur.
Check out the full breakdown of the changes spotted at the Giro d'Italia.
Tadej Pogačar's skinsuit divides opinion at Giro d'Italia
Tadej Pogačar, who led the race in the second stage, became the owner of Maglia Rosa. However, in a move that polarized cycling opinion, the UAE Team Emirates rider opted to wear a Castelli skinsuit for Stage 3, blending his usual pink on the top half with Granata on the bottom half.
Bringing this up in hot tech is controversial in itself, as it didn't sit well with many people's tastes. It turns out that this included a race committee member who threatened to disqualify him for breaking the rules, rather than an obvious fashion crime. The UCI has since denied such rumors and allowed the Slovenian to wear a multi-colored skinsuit in future stages if he maintains the lead.
read more: Tadej Pogačar allowed to wear multi-colored skinsuit at Giro d'Italia
Forge+Bond brings recyclable rims to the road
Forge+Bond is a new company that only hit the market in 2023, but it's already making a big impact through its carbon recyclable wheels. Previously only offering gravel and mountain bike wheelsets, we've extended our recycling capabilities to the road with our new CR wheels.
Like the other wheels in the lineup, it's made using FusionFiber technology, a combination of nylon and carbon fiber. When heated, it becomes liquid and can be recycled.
read more: Forge+Bond brings FusionFiber technology to the pavement through new CR Allroad wheels
SLF Motion's new oversized pulley wheels…sort of
Oversized pulley wheels are popular with many brands on the market, including SLF Motion. However, the brand, which manufactures its products in the United States, has done things a little differently and developed a slightly larger version designed for sprinting.
It's much less visually impressive than the giant wheels often found on bicycles, but the blue color still helps it stand out in the crowd.
Downhill mountain bikers pursue aerodynamics
Mountain bikers are considered the cool kids of cycling, but it seems they're tapping into their inner geeks by venturing into the world of aerodynamics. It's been difficult to do so in the past because the UCI has banned skinsuits in the sport, presumably to protect its cool-kid status, but Fox has come up with a solution with a two-piece aero jersey and bib shorts. . However, bib shorts go above the shoulders and act like the top of a jersey.
bicycle storage
If you would like to see a critique of your bike by a presenter, don't forget to submit an image of your bike via the uploader. More information on how to do this can be found here.
Once submitted, your bike could win the coveted Super Nice vote, but like this Giant TCR Advanced, it must meet the presenter's high standards of presentation.
For the latest technology developments, be sure to visit: Dedicated technology news section of the GCN website.
