While IRONMAN always helps us with access for bike counts, we don’t get to spend a lot of time in the pro compound. And that held true at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Nice this past week. So while we were unable to get all of the details we would like, we were able to look at a few things that we think are important trends to track. For 70.3 Worlds, I felt like it was most important to track five things professionals were racing on:
Bike Brand
Drivetrain
Tires
Wheels
Cockpit
Those are all important metrics, and they are also manageable to capture in the hour we’re given to get all the information. I would have liked to also looked at saddle choice if we had more time, but saddles can be very hard to read when you can’t touch the bike at all.
Women’s Field Counts
Bike Brand
BrandCountCanyon10Cervelo9Trek7Specialized3QR3Felt2Cube2Argon 182Ventum2Factor2Scott2Ridley2KU1Orbea1Racextract1LIV1
Drivetrain
BrandCountShimano26SRAM24
Tires
ModelCountContinental Grand Prix 5000 TT TR30Continental Grand Prix 5000 S TR4Continental Aero 1114Pirelli P ZERO Race TLR SL-R4Schwalbe Pro One3Specialized Cotton1Hutchinson Blackbird Race1Conti Grand Prix 4 Season1Goodyear Eagle F1R1Vittoria Corsa Pro1
Wheels
BrandCountDT Swiss12Zipp6Princeton Carbon4Hed3Roval3Enve3Bontrager2Shimano2Hunt2Parcours2Bora Ultra1KU1No Limits1Ellevo1Black Inc1Reserve1Fast Forward1Swissside2Newen1
Cockpit
BrandCountFastTT11Canyon Speedmax10Drag 2 Zero7Profile Design6Vision2Speed Co1Katana1Custom cockpit1Factor aero bars1Custom bars1Syncros1Deda1Speedbar1Tririg1Cadex1Aero Coach1Aero Gain1
Men’s Field Counts
Bike Brand
BrandCountCervelo8Factor7Giant6Canyon5BMC3Quick Pro3Ridley3Trek2Cube2Argon 182Scott2KU2Pinarello1Ventum1Racextract1Storck1Felt1Specialized1Orbea1Cadex1Merida1
Drivetrain
BrandCountSRAM30Shimano24
Tires
ModelCountContinental Grand Prix 5000 TT TR33Pirelli P ZERO Race TLR SL-R13Continental Aero 1114Schwalbe Pro One2Schwalbe One Aero1Vittoria Corsa Pro1
Wheels
BrandCountCadex9Black Inc7DT Swiss6Princeton Carbon5Hed4Reserve4Zipp3Swissside3Enve2Shimano2Xentis2KU2Newen1Scope1Vision1Parcours1Alone in Drag1
Cockpit
BrandCountFastTT10Canyon Speedmax8Custom4Sync4Delta Speed4Aero Gain4Cadex3Drag 2 Zero2Speedbar2Vision2Profile Design1Parts4Speed1Speed Co1Strive1Stock (unspecified brand)1Katana1Speed4Tri1Speed bars1Aero Coach1Most1Wattshop 1
Combined Count Top Results
Bike Brand
Cervelo — 17
Canyon — 15
(tie) Trek, Factor— 9
Drivetrain
SRAM — 54
Shimano — 50
Now, let’s frame this out a little bit. I did see a couple of Rotor cranks and 2 SRM cranks out there. But there was nothing from Campagnolo, despite being in Europe. And I didn’t see anything by FSA. But those are just parts of a drivetrain, and it’s really the derailleurs that drive most of things. And it’s clear that SRAM has done a good job with getting into the pro field. That, I would guess, would have to do a lot with SRAM’s ease of operations and getting product into athlete hands, as this wasn’t a course I would have otherwise expected to see so many 1X drivetrains at.
Tires
Continental Grand Prix 5000 TT TR — 63
Pirelli P ZERO Race TLR SL-R — 17
Continental Aero 111 — 8
Of note: neither of the fastest rides in the race used the most popular tire. While the fastest women’s bike split by Taylor Knibb was on the Continental Grand Prix 5000S TR (her tire of choice for a while now), on the men’s side it was Gustav Iden posting the fastest ride in on the new Pirelli P ZERO Race.
Wheels
DT Swiss — 18
(tie) Cadex, Princeton Carbon — 9
(tie) Zipp, Black Inc. — 8
Cockpit
FastTT — 21
Drag 2 Zero — 9
Profile Design — 7
Surprises From the Count
The thing that surprised me the most was how many pros have quickly adopted the Pirelli P ZERO Race TLR SL-R as their tire choice. Seventeen athletes chose this tire over either sponsored tires or the current king of rubber: the Continental Grand Prix 5000 TT TR. When asking Casper Stornes about the tire he said, “It’s got the same rolling resistance as the Continental Grand Prix 5000 TT TR but its way more comfortable so we are all using it.”
It’s always hard to tell who is choosing products due to sponsorship or their own personal choice. For example, we always seem to have a lot of pros riding on Cervelo frames. But tires are a place where athletes typically are making their own choices, as 98% of the time, they are buying their own. For that many athletes to switch to the same new tire by choice and away from Continental, it says something.
Also…we got some pushups in.