Although they’re not as common as they once were, mountain time trials at the Tour de France often serve up a feast of cool bike tech.
Though just 10.9km in length, every rider will face a tough challenge today – there’ll be no taking it easy as riders fight to avoid getting booted out of the race by the time cut.
If it were a simple race from the bottom to the top of a mountain, then we’ve no doubt all riders would try simply to make their bikes as light as possible – or to hit the UCI’s 6.8kg minimum bike weight limit.
As on stage 20 of the 2020 Tour de France, in which Tadej Pogačar stole the yellow jersey from Primož Roglić in dramatic fashion, today’s mountain TT starts with a flatter opening section (albeit substantially shorter) that poses the riders a more nuanced question as to bike setup.
Would a time trial bike with lightweight wheels be the fastest choice, or an aero road bike with clip-on aero extensions?
No doubt every team had a set of boffins crunching the numbers, but here’s how the three top podium contenders decided to play it on the day, and why Pogačar opted for a different bike setup to his key rivals.
Remco Evenepoel’s Specialized Shiv TT Disc
Evenepoel didn’t have his best day on a TT bike, but his setup was dialled. ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT/AFP via Getty Images
At just 61kg (according to Pro Cycling Stats), the reigning world and olympic time trial champion is built for days like this.
When it comes to flat and undulating races contre-la-montre, the Belgian rider is almost unbeatable, thanks to his ability to sustain ungodly amounts of power in one of the most efficient aero tucks in the bunch.
Perhaps because of his affinity for time trial bikes, Evenepoel opted for the Specialized Shiv TT Disc – supposedly one of the lightest TT bikes available.
In terms of wheels, it seems Evenepoel opted for Roval’s latest Rapide CLX III – a mid-depth all-rounder wheelset, with a 51mm-deep front rim paired with a 48mm-deep rear.
Built with carbon spokes to save weight, these were shod with Specialized S-Works Turbo Cotton clinchers (likely paired with lightweight TPU or latex inner tubes), rather than the new Turbo Cotton TLR tyres we’ve seen Specialized-sponsored riders using throughout this Tour.
Evenepoel was back on clincher tyres for the mountain TT.
In terms of gearing, Evenepoel opted for a Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 R9200 groupset in 2x form.
As on his Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL8, Eveneopoel had a set CarbonTi chainrings and looked to be using an 11-34t cassette at the rear.
In terms of kit, Evenepoel wore the white skinsuit as the leader of the young rider classification, plus Specialized’s S-Works Evade 3 aero road helmet, rather than the TT5 time trial lid.
This would have meant giving up some aerodynamic efficiency during the opening kilometres, but would have been significantly cooler, lighter and more comfortable on the climb.
In contrast to Vingegaard and Pogačar, Evenepoel wore time trial overshoes and took a single bottle cage and water bottle on his bike, though he discarded the water bottle part way through the race.
Jonas Vingegaard’s Cervélo P5
Vingegaard flew up the mountain on his Cervélo P5 TT bike, but it wasn’t enough to take a stage victory. ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT/AFP via Getty Images
In contrast to his great rival Pogačar, who opted for a relatively stock aero road bike (more on this shortly) Vingegaard rolled the dice and opted for his Cervélo P5 time trial bike.
It appears to have been given the lightweight, all-black treatment with what looks like a custom, likely ultralight, seatpost and a €1,250 Prologo Predator 01TT saddle – a version of which was used by Pogačar in the final TT at last year’s Tour de France.
In terms of wheels, Vingegaard opted for what looked like Reserve’s mid-depth 40|49 rims with Vittoria’s featherweight Corsa Pro Speed TLR tyres.
While his Shimano-sponsored rivals used 2x setups, Vingegaard opted for a 1x drivetrain, helping his SRAM Red AXS groupset be even lighter than normal.
We’re not sure exactly what chainring size Vingegaard used, but it looks relatively small by pro road racing standards, or enormous by typical hill climb standards.
In contrast to his two podium rivals, Vingegaard opted for a 1x drivetrain.
We suspect Vingegaard used SRAM’s widest 10-36t cassette option at the rear, however, to give himself the maximum possible range.
While many of his teammates opted for Giro’s smaller Aerohead time trial helmet (the original model which debuted at the Tour in 2015) or an aero road helmet, Vingegaard went full-TT and wore his outlandish red and white Giro Aerohead II.
He discarded the visor at the foot of the climb to gain some extra ventilation, though.
Unlike Pogačar and Evenepoel, Vingegaard was able to wear his team-issue skinsuit, which he paired with a set of Nimbl Air Ultimate lace-up cycling shoes and aero socks.
Looking to save every last gram, Vingegaard opted to go with a bottle cage on his bike.
Tadej Pogačar’s Colnago Y1Rs
While his rivals used TT bikes, Pogačar went with his Colnago Y1Rs aero road bike. Dario Belingheri/Getty Images
Thanks to Daniel Benson’s substack, we got a preview on what kind of bike Pogačar, the current holder of the yellow jersey, would liekly be riding today.
While we spotted a Colnago V5Rs with clip-on ENVE aero extensions at Pogačar’s team hotel before the Grand Départ in Lille, the Slovenian rider opted for a relatively stock version of Colnago’s Y1Rs aero bike on the day.
It’s not the world champion’s Y1RS we saw in Lille, though, as Pogačar is the road race world champion and therefore doesn’t have the right to ride a rainbow bike during a TT.
Although the bike Benson saw featured a team-issue paint job, Pogačar actually rode one with an all-black paint job, to save every possible gram.
Pogačar opted against a set of tri-bar aero extensions – perhaps as they simply wouldn’t fit on the Y1RS’ funky integrated handlebar – but he did use a TT-specific saddle.
This Y1Rs had a stripped-back paint job and plenty of weight weenie details.
It’s hard to tell, but it looks like a modified version of the Fizik Transiro Aeris saddle Pogačar has on his Colnago TT1 time trial bike.
Clearly concerned about not carrying too much weight up the climb, Pogačar opted for his new ENVE SES 4.5 Pro wheels with 28c Continental GP5000 TT TR time trial tyres.
Rather than run a 1x setup, though, Pogačar opted for the wider range of a 2x setup with his Shimano Dura-Ace groupset. According to Benson’s report from the ground in France, Pogačar opted for 55/38t chainrings up front paired with a wide-range 11-34t cassette out back.
It looks like he’ll go without fluids during the race as there are no bottle cages on his bike, but Pogačar has opted for a Shimano Dura-Ace power meter crankset and a Wahoo Elemnt Bolt 3 bike computer to help him pace his effort.
Last but not least, Pogačar also opted for simple electrical tape on his bars instead of proper handlebar tape, and we reckon he’ll also have used the lightweight CarbonTi thru-axles we spotted on his ultra-light Colnago V5Rs at the Grand Départ.
Pogačar used what appears to be the sleeve of an aero base layer to cover the bandages on his left arm. Tim de Waele/Getty Images
While we weren’t able to weigh Pogačar’s setup, it should be a decent bit lighter than the 7.57kg his world champion’s Y1Rs weighs – thanks mainly to the more reserved paint job, and the swap from ENVE SES 4.5 wheels and Continental Archetype tyres to the lighter SES 4.5 Pro wheels and TT tyres.
The lighter wheels and tyres alone should save around 217g, for example. If we say the change in paint is worth another 200g plus another 50g for losing the Y1Rs’ integrated bottle cages, that would put this Y1Rs at around 7-7.1kg.
That’s respectable for a full-on aero road bike, but still some 2-300g off the UCI’s minimum bike weight limit.
It’s possible Colnago produced a special lightweight frameset for the day, though, so it could be even lighter in reality. We’re sure no stone was left unturned, after all.
The result suggests Pogačar made the right bike choice, but the gap was so big perhaps it didn’t matter either way. Dario Belingheri/Getty Images
Speaking to the press after the stage, Pogačar said the team’s race modelling had shown little difference in performance for this stage between his aero road and TT bikes, so he opted for the bike he felt most comfortable on, and had been riding for the previous stages.
Pogačar reasoned this would help him produce more power on the climb, and that certainly seems to have been the case as he romped to victory by 36 seconds over Vingegaard.
In terms of kit, Pogačar wore the race-leader’s yellow skinsuit with a MET Manta aero road helmet, his signature DMT Pogi shoes and aero socks.
He even had a section of aero-striped fabric – possibly the sleeve from an aero base layer – covering the bandages from his crash on stage 11, which looks like a clever marginal gain.