The bikes of the Tour de France

These are the 22 bikes of the Tour de France, from Pinarello to Merida and Cannondale to Specialized.  For an in-depth look at some of the star rider's bike click on the Tour tech 2014 tag.

Ag2r La Mondiale

Ag2r La Mondiale will be riding Focus Bikes, with the German company's all-new Izalco Max this year, released earlier this year, the main choice for the team. Pro bikes are getting lighter, and that's the case with the Izalco Max, it's a claimed 725g for a size 54cm, making it one of the lightest in the peloton. Here is a closer look at Daniel Maxime’s bike

The team equip the frames with Campagnolo Record EPS groupsets with matching Campagnolo wheels and they use Fizik's bar, stem and seatposts, the only team here to use the saddle manufacturers new products. 

Focus also recently launched the new Cayo, available with rim or disc brakes, which just might see action in the Tour. Of course disc brakes aren't allowed in pro road cycling at the moment (they are allowed in cyclo-cross) so don't expect to see the disc version on display. 

Astana

Astana are backed by Specialized again this year and they'll be riding the newly introduced Tarmac. The team also have the Venge aero bike at their disposal plus the Roubaix SL4, which could be rolled out for the cobbled stages when the race hits mainland Europe after its short stint in the UK.

Astana switched from SRAM to Campagnolo last season, and they haven’t switched back, so it’s Record EPS groupsets all round then. As well as frames, they’ll use cranks, stems, handlebars and seatposts from Specialized. They’re the only team to roll on Corima wheels as well. They'll use the Aero or MCC model, which both feature a full carbon rim with a foam core. Spokes are carbon too and so is the hub. So they're light, very light, they tip the scales at just over 1kg.

Here's a close look at Vincenzo Nibali’s ‘Shark’ Specialized Tarmac.

Belkin Pro Cycling

Bianchi are now supplying the Dutch team with its race proven Oltre XR2 and the new Infinito CV. The Oltre XR2 is the go-to bike for the team most of the time, with the Infinito CV coming into service for the Paris-Roubaix cobbles of stage 5, where its comfort and capacity for wider tyres will be an obvious benefit.

Bianchi have also revealed they’re set to release a brand new time trial bike to replace the ageing Chrono, but no date has been set for that release. We imagine it'll be during the Tour for the time trial. The bikes are finished with Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupsets with Dura-Ace wheels and FSA finishing kit. They're using Pioneer's power meter, a crank-based design a bit like the SRM.

You can read our review of the Infinito CV here and the Oltre XR2 right here.

BMC Racing

Little change for BMC this year, they've been riding the new TeamMachine SLR01,  launched just last year, all season and we've seen nothing to suggest they'll be riding anything else that hasn't been launched yet. While the TeamMachine resembles the previous bike in its style, it’s been significantly updated to shed the weight and boost the stiffness.

Some of the team have been spotted riding the rare Impec (pictured above) the frame built by specially designed robots and machinery at BMC’s Swiss facility. Then there is the TimeMachine, their aero road bike first introduced two years ago and favoured by Taylor Phinney.

Like last year the team are riding Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupsets with Shimano wheels and 3T finishing kit, and SRM Powermeters.

Tejay van Garderen’s BMC TeamMachine SLR 01

Want to read our review of the new BMC TeamMachine SLR01?

Bretagne-Séché Environnement

This French Professional Continental team, sponsored by a French waste treatment company (yes, really) ride Kemo Bikes, a brand that to be honest we're not that familiar with. We do know however that the company designs their bikes in Switzerland and they're assembled in Italy, and run by the Comalli brothers, who boast of 20 years experience in the cycle trade.

They ride a carbon frame with the catchy model name of KE-R8 5KS. What is interesting about this frame is that they use similar TeXtreme carbon fibre to that used by Felt in their latest line of carbon road frames. Its big claim is to increase the potential stiffness while keeping the weight low.  

They use Vision Metron 55 wheels and the company's new K-Force chainset along with Shimano Dura-Ace groupsets. You can actually buy an exact replica of the bike the team are racing if you've got a spare €6,599. 

Cannondale

The team ride the same SuperSix Evo Hi-Mod that you or I can buy straight from the shop, with the exception of Peter Sagan who rides a custom frame with a unique geometry. The Evo, a successor to the previous SuperSix, was introduced in 2011, and the team have been riding the same frame and fork since then.

Cannondale have since launched an even lighter version of the Evo frame, the Evo Black, which makes use of a ‘nano resin’ in the construction to chop about 40g from the weight, bringing it down to a claimed 655g. The 6.8kg limit means the team don't need to ride this lighter frame, they already have to add weights in the form of solid steel axles.

Take a look at Elia Viviani’s Cannondale SuperSix Evo.

The team are sponsored by SRAM and use the new Red 22 11-speed groupset, along with Vision wheels, the Metron 40 tubular the most popular choice, and FSA finishing parts.

For the cobbled sections we'll likely see the team switch to the bump-absorbing Synapse Hi-Mod, the company's endurance road bike that gets pressed into action for the Spring Classics. It has bigger tyre clearance, so the team can fit up to 27/28mm tyres, and features technology and design elements to provide a bit of comfort as well as more stable handling for racing over rough roads and pave.

Up above is Peter Sagan's Cannondale Synapse.

Cofidis

The French team are supplied with bikes from French bicycle manufacturer Look. They will race the company's flagship 695 Aero Light. This new bike was launched just before the 2013 edition of the Tour, and brought forward their latest aerodynamic design features into one of the best looking (well I think so anyway) bikes in the peloton.

The frame features integrated brakes, integrated E-Post seatmast, internal cable routing and a new aero stem. The team build the frames with a Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupset. They're sponsored by Mavic and will have a selection of the French wheel company's wheelsets at the ready.

Daniel Navarro's Look 695

Europcar

Europcar, given WorldTour status this season, will be racing the latest bikes from Italian manufacturer Colnago. So far this season the team have been riding the C59 and M10, but the Italian company recently launched the brand new C60 and V1-r, both replacements for those respective bikes.

The V1-r is Colnago's first aero road bike. All the main tubes and fork blades have been shaped using NACA airfoils with a truncated shape, much like the Kamm Tail profile that is used by quite a few bicycle manufacturers. This tube shape is said to offer a decent aerodynamic performance while providing a good balance of weight and stiffness.

The Europcar team build the bikes with an Italian theme, featuring Campagnolo groupsets and Bora 35 or Bora Ultra Two deep-section wheels, with Deda handlebars, stems and seatposts, and Hutchinson tyres. 

Bryan Coquard’s Europcar Colnago V1-r aero race bike

We've tested the new C60 and you can read our review here.

FDJ.fr

A French squad riding a French bike, FDJ.fr continue to enjoy sponsorship from Lapierre. For most road stages the team will be aboard the same Xelius EFI Ultimate they raced last season, which features a claimed 890g frame fitted with a Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 9070 11-speed groupset. =

Like Cannondale with their Synapse, Lapierre have their new Pulsium endurance bike which the team could potentially use for the cobbled sectors. The frame features an elastomer ring in the top tube is designed to absorb vibration. Whatever the bike of choice, they’ll be shifting and braking with Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupsets, matching wheels and PRO finishing kit.

Garmin – Sharp

No change at Garmin-Sharp, their long association with Cervelo continues for another year. The team have a few bikes to choose from, the lightest, and most suitable all-rounder, is the R5, which can lay claim to being one of the lightest frames in the peloton. The company was one of the first to develop an aero road bike with the Soloist a good few years ago, and that lives on in the S3, which David Millar has been riding this season (but won't be riding at the Tour), and the S5.

All bikes will be decked out with an interesting mix of Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupset with Rotor cranks and chainrings (with riders free to choose round or non-round rings), Mavic wheels such as the tubular version of the Cosmic Carbon 40 that we tested earlier this year. And for the stems, handlebars and seatposts it’s 3T and saddles are from Fizik.

Andrew Talansky's Garmin Sharp Cervélo R5

Giant-Shimano

The team will have several road bikes at their disposal including the TCR Advanced SL, Propel and the Defy, with Shimano providing Dura-Ace Di2 groupsets. The Propel is Giant’s most recently introduced model. It’s the company’s first ever aero road bike having been launched at the Tour Down Under last year.

Most teams now allow riders to choose between an ultra-light road bike and an aero road bike depending on the course and the tactics. Marcel Kittel and the rest of Team Giant-Shimano’s sprinters will rely on the Propel Advanced SL for finishing line speed and fast stages. Shimano’s sub-brand PRO will supply wheels and finishing kit. Riders will race time trials on Giant’s Trinity.

Marcel Kittel's Giant Propel Advanced SL

IAM Cycling

The Swiss team continues with its Scott partnership, which means the riders will have the choice of the aero Foil or lighter and stiffer Addict depending on their preference or demands of a particular stage. It's most likely the majority of the team will opt for the Foil, certainly for the flatter stages, while the Addict will be called upon for the climbing stages.

The Addict was reintroduced last year after a couple of year absence. It lost some weight while it was away, the frame and fork weighing a claimed 995g for a size 54cm, lighter than same frames on their own from other manufacturers.

Shimano will supply the team with Dura-Ace groupsets and they'll roll on DT Swiss Spline wheels, the only team in the race using these wheels. They have bars, stem and post from Ritchey and saddles from Prologo, as well as the bar tape. Tyres are from German company Schwalbe.

See Sylvain Chavanel’s IAM Cycling Scott Foil. You can read our review of the Foil 15 here.  

Katusha

 Katusha will have three bikes to choose from, the Ultimate CF SLX 9.0 and the new Aeroad CF SLX (above) for road stages, and the Speedmax CF TT 9.0 for time trials.

Canyon launched the new Aeroad just before the start of the Tour de France and it's already bagged to stage wins thanks to Alexander Kristoff. You can read all about the new bike here. 

To choose between the Ultimate and Aeroad will come down to rider preference and the course of a particular stage or race. Sprinters and breakaway specialists will lean towards the Aeroad, while climbers and all-rounders will favour the lighter weight of the Ultimate. 

Shimano supply their Dura-Ace Di2 groupset and they use SRM Powermeters with Mavic wheels and Ritchey bars, stem and post.

Alexander Kristoff’s brand new Canyon Aeroad CF SLX

Lampre – Merida

This was the big news last year, the world's largest bicycle manufacturer, Merida, finally entering the professional peloton with its backing of the Italian Lampre squad. Merida have been working hard on their bikes and will provide the team with the Scultura SL, their top-end frame that tickles the scales to just 830g, and the Reacto Evo Team aero road bike.

The Reacto is the company’s latest race bike. Where the Scultura SL goes for low weight, the Reacto aims to be as slippery through the wind as possible. We’ve seen the rise of aero bikes in the peloton in the past couple of years, and this is the latest. The tubes that slice through the wind have been shaped according to NACA airfoil principles, and using the popular Kamm tail approach of chopping off the trailing edge, tricking the air into acting as if the trailing edge was there.

Whichever bike each individual rider chooses, they’ll be kitted out with Shimano’s Dura-Ace Di2 groupset, Rotor cranks,  Fulcrum wheels and FSA finishing kit. An unusual pairing, Fulcrum wheels are made by Campagnolo, they’re essentially the same but they picked a neutral name that allows non-Campagnolo equipped bikes to use their wheels happily.

Rui Costa’s Merida Reacto KOM

Lotto-Belisol

The Belgian team is sponsored by Belgian cycling company Ridley, and they supply the team with a choice of bikes. Sprinters like André Greipel favour the slippery Noah FAST aero road bike while the majority of the team, faithful domestiques like Hansen, opt for the lighter and stiffer Helium SL. 

This is the company’s lightest offering, a frame with a claimed weight of just 750g making it one of the lightest  in the professional peloton. That means a light build is possible. Ridley announced before the Tour they'll be supplying bikes with a retro-inspired paint finish, nicely matching the Lotto-Belisol team jerseys. 

Here’s Australian Adam Hansen bike in detail and here's Tony Gallopin’s yellow Ridley Helium SL, for one day only.

Movistar

The new Movistar deal means Canyon joins Specialized in sponsoring more than one team, and replacing Movistar's previous sponsor Pinarello.  The team, including the likes of Alejandro Valverde and Alex Dowsett, will have the choice of three bikes, the Ultimate CF SLX 9.0 and Aeroad CF 9.0 Team for\gf the road, and the Speedmax CF 9.0 Team for time trials.

It’s increasingly common for manufacturers to have such a quiver of road models for climbing and regular road stages, an aero bike and a cutting edge time trial bike, and Movistar is well supplied with suitable bikes. It's a case of Campagnolo Record EPS groupsets. Bora wheels and Canyon branded finishing kit, bit really they're Ritchey components.

You can also now buy the Canyon Ultimate CF SLX 9.0 Movistar replica bike, we've actually been testing it recently. 

NetApp-Endura

It's Fuji bikes for the NetApp-Endura team, riding their first Tour de France. So far this season they have been riding the Altamira SL. First introduced in 2011 and recently updated to shed some weight, the frame features modern touches like a tapered head tube, BB86 bottom bracket, huge oversized down tube and super skinny seatstays.

The team will mostly be riding the new Transonic aero road bike launched before the start of the race.  Two years in development, the Transonic is a new aero bike that has built on the work that Fuji undertook to develop the Norcom Straight TT bike and the Track Elite track bike. Get the full details in our launch article here.

Which ever bike they ride, they'll be built up with a Shimano Dura-Ace groupset and Oval 946 Carbon wheels with Vittoria Corsa CX tyres. They also get stems, handlebars and seatposts from Oval, and saddles from Prologo.

For the time trial stage the team can call on the company's brand new Norcom Straight, a redesigned time trial bike they claim is 18% faster than their previous model.

Omega Pharma-Quick Step

The team will have the choice of the new Tarmac (which they're not calling an SL5) and the existing Venge and Roubaix SL4 models for the Tour. Mark Cavendish will know favours the Venge, but will there be an update to the Venge for the Tour?

The team is supplied by SRAM and will use its RED 22 groupset, the company’s new 11-speed offering - this is the first season when we'll see all the teams on 11-speed bikes. The only notable exception is the Specialized S-Works crankset, which Specialized likes to see its sponsored teams using.

SRAM don’t just supply the team with its groupset, it has done a deal that sees the team its Zipp wheels and finishing kit too. We’re seeing more teams using the wheels and finishing kit supplied by the groupset manufacturers, so in this regard Omega isn’t alone.

That is Mark Cavendish’s special Specialized Venge up above.  Cav has his own colour scheme with the fork legs and sections of the frame painted in a colour close to British Racing Green but with an bit of iridescence about it. CVNDSH, the Cavendish/Specialized brand, is written down the seat tube.

Orica – Greenedge

Sponsored by Scott, the Australian Orica – Greenedge team have been predominantly riding the company’s aero road bike, the Foil (review). It’s been around for a quite a while now and has been the go-to choice at the top-end of their range. While it is an obvious choice for breakaway specialists and sprinters, the company now offers the Addict, which returned to the range last year. It’s ideally suited for all-round riding and the spring classics, as it’s designed to be lighter and more comfortable than the Foil.

The new Addict is light: a 995g frame and fork weight (for a size 54cm) is lighter than some frames. With a narrow 27.2mm seatpost and chainstays and seatstays designed to provide a degree of deflection, Scott claim a 39% increase in flex under seatpost load compared to the older Addict. Whatever bike they choose, they'll be built with Shimano Dura-Ace Di2, Dura-Ace wheels and PRO stem, bars and post.

Simon Yates’ Orica GreenEdge Scott Addict

Team Sky

Team Sky will be switching from the Dogma 65.1 Think 2 that has served them well for the past two years, and hoping aboard the brand new Dogma F8. It's the first aero road bike from the Italian company and is a claimed 120g lighter than the old Dogma. They also claim it's 12% stiffer too.

The team continue with Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupsets and they've switched from SRM to Stages for their power measuring needs. They also use Shimano wheels and PRO (owned by Shimano) stems, handlebars and seatposts. Saddles are from Fizik.

Here's Chris Froome's Team Sky Pinarello Dogma F8.

Tinkoff-Saxo

Specialized continue to sponsor three WorldTour teams in 2014, and one of those is Tinkoff-Saxo, the team now wholly owned by Russian businessman Oleg Tinkoff. They’re sticking with Specialized for the season, the US company supplying not only its brand new Tarmac, Roubaix SL4, Venge and Shiv bikes, but helmets, cranks and shoes as well. The new Tarmac first broke cover in Tinkoff-Saxo colours at race earlier this year. 

The team are supplied groupsets by SRAM and they use the Specialized S-Works carbon crank, and it's Zipp for the wheels, handlebars, stems and seatposts. Prologo supply saddles.

Nicholas Roche teh lucky boy has been given the new Specialized S-Works McLaren bike to race.

Trek Factory Racing

US bicycle manufacturer Trek took over the former RadioShack-Leopard WorldTour licence at the end of last season and have become the title sponsor for the 2014 season, joining BMC and Cannondale in becoming a sole name sponsor of its own pro team. They've built a squad around Fabian Cancellara, the fans' favourite Jens Voigt, and Andy and Frank Schleck.

The team will have at their disposal the Madone - now re-cast as Trek's aero road bike, the new 'world's lightest production road bike' Émonda and Domane for the road, and the Speed Concept for time trials. Both the current top level Madone and Domane were launched in 2012, and as we head into the first races of the 2014 season, the bikes remain unchanged. Trek has moved away from product years which frees them to release new bikes as and when they see fit, and we wouldn’t be surprised if there is some sort of update to one, or both, bikes this summer.

The Émonda is claimed to be the world's lightest production bike. Trek say that they have prioritised saving weight above every other parameter, claiming that the highest specced complete bike is almost 1kg lighter than Cannondale’s SuperSix Evo Black Inc. The lightest frame is 690g painted. You can read the full launch story here.

All bikes will be built with Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupsets, with the exception being Fabian Cancellera who prefers a mechanical groupset. As Trek owns Bontrager, the team equip the bikes with Bongrager wheels, handlebars, stems, saddles and seatposts.

Here's Andy Schleck's Trek Émonda.

For in-depth looks at some of the star bikes (and more) from this year's Tour check out Tour tech 2014 page.