Vuelta a España Tech Gallery: A prototype Dura-Ace groupset, a new saddle for Tadej Pogačar, and a special custom bike

The sun may have failed to penetrate between some of Monaco’s taller structures as riders navigated the tight twists and turns of the Vuelta a España’s highly technical opening prologue, but the speeds were scorching.

We were on the ground at the final Grand Tour of the year for stages one and two and, as per usual, were on the hunt for the race’s best tech.

Pogačar denied Ethan Hayter a prologue victory by the narrowest of margins, and we took a good look at Hayter’s machine before the start; the Brit can be devastatingly quick in short time trials, and we had an eye on him.

Elsewhere, we spotted a new Dura-Ace groupset in the wild for the first time, and we have images in the gallery below; it’s clearly not finished, but it’s the first time it’s been seen at a race. We will be following this one closely for you over the next few months.

Elsewhere, we spied a new time trial saddle for Tadej Pogačar and took a look at a beautiful custom Spanish national champion’s bike along with a few other Spanish squads’ machines.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

Here is Hayter’s TT machine; despite not being the latest Shiv we saw at the Tour, it very nearly won the stage.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

There was talk of slightly smaller chainrings being used on the short, technical course; Hayter went round it like lightning.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

Neatly integrated gear shift buttons for Hayter here.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

Hayter raced on older Turbo Cotton time trial tyres, not the newer Cotton TLR models; this could be a size smaller than 28mm.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

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Here’s Hayter’s custom and slick-looking TT bar; his position looks super aero.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

Here’s the bike of the man who denied Hayter a win, a certain Mr Pogačar who rode a Colnago TT2.

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Deep-section Enve wheel and TT tyres for Pogačar.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

Here’s the handlebar from behind; it must take a lot of hours to get truly comfortable and confident on a bike like this.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

And from the front, note the horizontal Colnago base bar, a key change for the latest TT2 time trial bike.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

Pogačar chooses grip tape for the base bar.

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Here’s a sneaky look at the rear of the fork for you; nice UCI sticker placement.

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Here’s the BikeOne aero threaded bottom bracket cup again.

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This shot gives a real idea of the narrowness of that Colnago TT2 head tube.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

K-Edge makes custom chain guides for a lot of teams.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

Carbon-Ti hanger matching the bottom bracket; check out the neat Di2 cable routing.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

Here’s the arrangement from the side; pulley wheel bolts get swapped too.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

This wheel and tyre are clearly for Pogačar’s bike and have been marked with a paint marker.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

This is a different saddle to the one Pogačar ran on his Tour de France TT bike and was a new one on us.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

The carbon rails are big and chunky at the back.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

Turns out this is a custom version of the Aeris LD R1 light with thinner padding. Fizik told us Pogačar had requested a lighter option.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

Here’s the POC TT helmet that first appeared at the Tour; TT lids are not getting smaller.

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Here’s a bike from the Burgos Burpellet BH squad. It’s nice to look at non-WorldTour equipment, and this front end was very clean.

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This was another different front end for another rider, displaying a clear attention to detail.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

The team races on the aptly named BH Aero TT model.

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Get ready for a close-up look at this Lotto handlebar setup.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

This bike had a Speedmax tri bar fitted, with 3D-printed custom extension ends, technology which has really helped tri bar tech develop.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

Let’s zoom in again; note the perfectly integrated shift buttons on the underside of the extension handholds.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

Custom Miche aero chainring over at FDJ; what a great colour match.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

These silver extensions look especially space-age; the days of one-size-fits-all extension ends are long gone.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

Lots of foam padding on these bars for comfort; in the past, a cut-up mouse mat has been a popular option.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

Another very tidy setup on this Pinarello; that armrest pad will need sticking down, though.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

Here’s another example: the ability to print something that feels perfect for a rider’s hands must be a real asset.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

This is a Canyon Speedmax front end, another very clean TT machine.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

This is the mad-looking BMC Timemachine Mpc; it uses a wide fork and seat stay design.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

Here’s Stefan Küng’s time trial bar, which features a connected, rounded handhold.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

It’s a very tall and very tidy front end.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

More tyre writing on this tyre from Decathlon; this is possibly the sealant refill date.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

These guys have probably seen all sorts in Monaco, perhaps not a Canyon Speedmax, though.

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Now we come to the road machines and new Dura-Ace components; we’ve got 13 sprockets on the new cassette.

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It’s clear the groupset isn’t finished, and Shimano has form for trialling early versions of Dura-Ace, but we can learn a few things: firstly, the rear mech isn’t wireless.

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Here’s a new crank arm too and we didn’t see any 1x version. It looks like carbon isn’t being adopted.

(Image credit: Cyclingnews)

This looks like a new power meter charging point.

(Image credit: Cyclingnews)

Next up are levers; the ‘A’ button on top of the shifter hood looks to be gone, though there is a marking up top that may hint at it remaining, and there appears to be a new additional shifter on the inside of each hood.

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Overall, it’s a similar-looking shape to what we are used to seeing, but this may not be the final form.

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Here’s another shot of the new shifters from above. The online reaction has felt lukewarm so far.

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Here’s a lovely bike, Spanish national road race champion Marcel Camprubí’s custom-painted Pinarello Dogma F.

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It’s a clean, classy design showing off the Spanish colours.

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Here’s the other side: Camprubí will no doubt be keen to do the bike justice in his home Grand Tour as national champion.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

It’s an easy spot amongst the other Pinarello-Q36.5 team bikes.

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Here’s a different coloured Ridley Noah Fast for Tobias Halland Johannessen.

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Movistar will be looking for stage wins at this Vuelta; their Canyons have some eye-catching paint.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

This is Enric Mas’ machine; spot that 140mm stem and time trial front tyre.

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It seems to be a team-only paint job for this year.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

We couldn’t help but notice Jorge Arcas’ slammed forward saddle position.

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We’ll keep the Spanish theme going here with Equipo Kern Pharma’s Giant Propel team bikes, more non-WorldTour machinery to look at.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

Another team with non-Shimano chainrings; this is a ‘The mechanic parts’ option.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

Here’s an insight into this riders fuelling strategy.

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Here’s the Propel seatmast topper; this kind of arrangement used to be far more common on race bikes.

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The team are on Cadex Aero 30mm tyres.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

Orbea had produced some custom-painted Orca bikes for the race; here’s a smooth pink and white one.

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Check out the proprietary rear bottle cage design.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

It’s now less common to see stock Dura-Ace chainrings; we could be looking at a new Shimano crankset in the near future though which might change this.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

Steffen De Schuyteneer will be riding this model.

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Red wheel decals were applied for the race leader overnight for the start of stage two.

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40-55 tooth chainrings for Pogačar for the relatively flat second stage.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

Here’s the Colnago wordmark peeking out on the Y1Rs bayonet-style fork.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

Wout van Aert is also back and looking good; here’s the Belgian’s Cervélo S5

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

A nod to Van Aert dressing as a squirrel on the Belgian TV show ‘The Masked Singer’.

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Reserve 64/57mm deep wheels for Van Aert; this combination seems to be used sparingly by the Visma team.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

A single 54-tooth chainring for the Belgian superstar on stage two.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

This is surely a colour combination Van Aert will be hoping to enjoy during this year’s race.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

More speed, captain. Richard Carapaz wasn’t holding back with his tyre choices, opting for Vittoria Time Trial tyres.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

Hot off a scintillating Tour de France, Carapaz will surely have a few tricks to pull aboard his Cannondale Supersix.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

41/54 tooth ‘Pro’ SRAM chainrings for the EF leader.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

Mads Pedersen is also in the race, and his setups are always aggressive.

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Here’s that big Trek Madone Isoflow cutout.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

The Lidl-Trek team are still riding unreleased Bontrager RSL wheels; we’ll keep our eyes on these over the next few months.

(Image credit: Harry Talbot)

Try this fuelling strategy out on your next long ride – we dare you.