The 2026 Tour de France has started in Barcelona with a team time trial for the first time since 1971. Team Visma-Lease a Bike won and put Jonas Vingegaard into the yellow race leader’s jersey, following on from Eddy Merckx’s Molteni 55 years ago.
Team time trials (TTTs) have infrequently featured in La Grande Boucle lately – coincidentally, Visma-Lease a Bike won the last one in Brussels (yet another Grand Depart on foreign soil) on Stage 2 of the 2019 race. This year’s TTT was raced under new, arguably more dynamic, rules. Previously, the fourth rider to cross the line gave the whole team their time. Now individual riders get their own times, with the first finisher’s time counting for the team.
The change has spiced up what can be a formulaic discipline – ride strongly and steadily to keep as many riders together as possible. In TTTs raced in this format earlier in the season at Paris-Nice and Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, teams dropped more riders earlier and gave their GC favourite or strongest climber a lead-out to the finish. This is exactly what happened up the final climb on Saturday.
In terms of tech, the new rules have exacerbated the extent to which riders optimise their equipment for their role. At the team buses before the start, we saw bikes belonging to riders whose job it is to pull on the flatter, earlier parts of the course fitted with bigger chainrings, while their lighter teammates, expected to break away on the climbs, focused more on weight reduction and slightly easier gearing.
In addition to that trend, in our Tour de France Grand Depart tech gallery below, we noticed a move towards narrower tyres, 3D-printed accessories, bling titanium parts, more stem spacers, and chain retention devices. We photographed World and Olympic Champion Remco Evenepoel’s prototype Specialized S-Works Shiv TT and defending Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar’s Colnago TT2.
Ahead of Sunday’s first road stage, a hilly 168.5km route between Tarragona and Barcelona, we also featured interesting road bikes, including those ridden by the overall contenders, such as young French star Paul Seixas, who is expected to do battle on the double ascent of Montjuïc. Scroll down to cast your eyes over photos of Seixas’ prototype Van Rysel all-rounder, Pogačar‘s Y1Rs road bike and Evenepoel‘s S-Works Tarmac SL9. There are also unreleased helmets, custom bikes, and nifty mechanics’ hacks.
Tadej Pogacar’s Colnago TT2
(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
We’ve already published an article dedicated to the ins and outs of Tadej Pogačar’s Colnago TT2 time trial bike, which the Italian brand says can meet the 6.8kg UCI weight limit. So we’ll just run through the talking points here.
Most interestingly, his Enve SES Pro wheels (100mm-deep front and a disc at the back) are wrapped in 700x25c Continental GP5000 TT TR tyres. By today’s standards, these are pretty narrow even in a time trial. Given the Colnago TT2 has clearance for 30mm tyres, this must be a deliberate ploy either to reduce weight or drag, or both.
The four-time Tour de France champion pushed an enornmous 64T Carbon-Ti single chainring. Nothwithstanding its narrow-wide profile which improves chain retention, Pogačar also used a K-Edge chain catcher. He was one of the most notable adopters of short cranks and stuck with the 160mm size for the TTT, where a low aero position and open hip angle are high priority.
Jonas Vingegaard Cervelo P5
(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
Here is Jonas Vingegaard‘s Cervélo P5, a double Tour de France winner and Pogačar’s main rival for the general classification.
There’s no paint to be seen here. The Dane’s time-trial machine is stripped back to bare carbon, which is probably covered with a clear coat for protection. Going paintless can save a decent amount of weight (in the region of 100-200g), but it’s an advantage reserved for team leaders. Vingegaard’s teammates rode painted frames.
His base bar looks very low. It’s already slammed flush with the head tube, then dips below it. This was potentially to give him a more aggressive position when riding solo on the last climb.
Because the UCI’s saddle setback rule still applies to TT bikes, Vingegaard’s Prologo TGale TT saddle sits far back in the rails to keep the nose at least 5cm behind the bottom bracket.
Like his Slovenian nemesis, Vingegaard has a deep-section front wheel, a Reserve 77, and disc rear wheel, a Reserve Infinity Disc. But his 700x30c Vittoria Corsa Pro Speed tyres are much wider.
Van Rysel XCR TT of Olaf Kooij
(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
This is the Van Rysel XCR TT of Paul Seixas’ Decathlon CMA CGM teammate Olaaj Kooij.
Developed in conjunction with Swiss Side, whose Hadron wheels it rolls on, the XCR is a beefy-looking TT bike on account of its deep tubing.
(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
At the end of his base bar, the Dutch sprinter has custom 3D-printed Leap brake levers and blip holders. We’re seeing more of these on SRAM-equipped bikes as riders seek a more elegant and secure way to attach blips, which enable you to change gear from anywhere on the bike.
(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
Unlike Shimano, SRAM makes its own 1x chainrings. Kooij ran a 64T single aero ring, which seemed a popular size on the day.
(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
The Decathlon CMA CGM team wore as-yet-unreleased Van Rysel time-trial helmets. We don’t know much about these for now, but they do have a seamlessly integrated and slightly concave visor, rounded top, and a tail that looks to nestle into the gap between the rider’s neck and shoulders.
(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
The Specialized Shiv was raced in the time trial by Soudal-Quickstep and Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe. This is the rig of Jan Tratnik, who rides for the second, German team.
The Shiv is one of the lighest time-trial bikes in the WorldTour, as its relatively skinny tubes, especially at the back, suggest.
That said, the prototype Shiv Remco Evenepoel rode looks to have turned that on its head. The rear end is significantly chunkier and appears to incorporate a version of the ‘Win Fin’ that Specialized introduced to the new Tarmac SL9. Continue scrolling to see our photos of this bike.
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Pinarello-Q36.5 mechanic prepping the team’s Pinarello Bolide F TT bikes ahead of the TTT
(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
We’ve also gone into depth on Tom Pidcock’s Bolide FF time-trial bike, which is also raced by his former team, Netcompany-Ineos. The Bolide F has a distinctive wavy, deep fork and ribbed pattern along the front of the seatpost and seat tube. Both are claimed to reduce drag.
Mauro Schmid’s Giant Trinity Advanced SL
(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
Mauro Schmid’s Giant Trinity Advanced SL is a good-looking bike in the Jayco-AlUla team colourway. The latest version of the bike, and the first to have disc brakes, came out in January 2025. The Cadex Aero four-spoke front wheel is one of the more eye-catching designs on the market.
(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
Cannondale also updated its SuperSlice time-trial bike in 2025, claiming a thinner head tube and deeper tubing elsewhere made it 10 watts faster than before. This is EF Education-EasyPost rider Max Walker’s Lab71 bike, which is blacked out, probably to save weight.
(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
These look like the Leap blip covers we’ve seen on other SRAM bikes, but here they are unbranded.
(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
At the end of his extensions, Walker has more Leap TT mounts for his blips. The textured tape could be there for grip or to cover up the branding.
(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
Despite the new SuperSlice having room for 32mm-wide tyres, Walker is running 700x28c Vittoria Corsa Pro Speeds. The pink Muc-Off tubeless valves are a nice match for the team’s kit.
(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
Walker and his teammates wore this new POC time-trial helmet. Because it’s not officially released, there’s not much we can say other than it looks sculpted and light – similar to the Giro Aerohead MIPS II. Its profile is more bullet-shaped than the Van Rysel lid above. The low peak seems like it would meet the shallow visor quite far down the rider’s forehead.
(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
Tim Wellens’ Enve TT extensions are labelled left and right, presumably for Team UAE Emirates-XRG mechanics’ benefit, not his. The white stains on the pads look like salt deposits from sweaty training sessions.
(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
This is the unreleased Specialized S-Works Shiv Remco Evenepoel raced in the time trial. It is very different from the current version his teammates rode (see below). The head tube tapers dramatically, while the fork legs splay wider.
(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
Now look to the back of the bike where material extends from the back of the seat tube to hug the rear wheel. One of the world’s best time trialists has a typically whopping 68T chainring.
(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
For context, this is the current generation of the Shiv with shallower, svelter tubes.
(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
While ‘warming up’, riders are trying to prime their aerobic system for an intense effort, not to raise their core body temperature, which negatively impacts performance. Here, EF’s Ben Healy is riding a Wahoo Kickr V6 smart trainer and getting blasted by the brand’s Headwind fan. This may well be controlled by a Core body temperature sensor the former yellow jersey wearer has attached to his heart-rate monitor strap.
(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
Prototype Shimano Dura-Ace rims, hubs (as seen here on Alpecin-Premier Tech’s Canyon Aeroad CFR) and pedals have been regularly spotted at races this year. This means an official release is imminent because UCI rules mandate that products become commercially available within a year of their first race.
(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
There are rumours of a new Canyon Speedmax CFR, but Mathieu van der Poel looked to be on the current bike.
(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
Tudor Pro Cycling raced the recently updated BMC Timemachine TT bike, with strikingly wide and deep fork legs and seat stays.
(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
The Trek Speed Concept SLR TT bikes we saw on top of a Lidl-Trek team car had a mixture of Bontrager (Trek’s in-house component brand) and Princeton Carbon Works wheels. Since these were probably spare bikes, this could have been down to availability, the needs of specific riders, or other reasons we’re not aware of.
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(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
Last year’s third-place finisher overall, Florian Lipowitz, is the co-leader of Red Bull alongside Remco. His Tarmac SL9 has what looks to be about 25mm of spacers. We’re seeing fewer slammed stems in the WorldTour as riders favour comfort and a sustainable aero hoods position over getting low at all costs.
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(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
The sunlight shows off the raw carbon on Tadej Pogačar’s Colnago Y1Rs. Last year, he raced this aero bike exclusively over Colnago’s V5Rs climbing bike because it is probably faster, despite being a little heavier. As usual, his Y1RS is kitted out with boutique, lightweight parts.
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(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
Using 3D-printing to perfectly integrate accessories with the bike seems to have really caught on at this year’s race. It might only deliver a marginal aero gain, but that’s enough for this level of racing. When this mount is holding a Wahoo Elemnt Roam or Bolt, there’ll be no space between the gullwing handlebar and the computer.
(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
On what looks to be Pogačar’s spare bike, he has a 3D-printed titanium computer mount. Whether this brings any performance advantage or not, it looks very cool.
(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
Pogačar’s super domestique Isaac del Toro, who has a decent chance of finishing on the GC podium himself, has a healthy spacer stack.
(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
In a neat touch, the seat post cover doubles as a number holder, saving a couple of grams. This also looks to be 3D-printed.
(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
Another raw carbon bike. This time among Jayco-ALUla’s fleet of Giant Propel Advanced SLs. The weight reduction from the lack of paint must bring Giant’s updated aero bike very close to the UCI weight limit. It’s already so light that Jayco-ALUla have no need for the TCR on climbing days.
(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
It belongs to Aussie puncheur Michael Matthews, who will look to benefit from the weight saving on uphill finishes.
(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
This finish would sell like hot cakes if Giant made it publically available.
(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
The fantastic-looking paint on Felix Engelhardt’s Propel celebrates his German national title win. He, too, has several spacers under the stem of what is a very low bike.
(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
This fabric sheet holds his race transponder. It looks ungainly compared to sleeker attachment methods other teams use.
(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
Even a shorter rider like Tom Pidcock doesn’t slam the stem on his Pinarello Dogma F.
(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
A Leap computer mount holds the Garmin Edge 840 right against the Most Talon Ultra Fast one-piece cockpit. That screen needs a clean though.
(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
Tour de France stage winner Kasper Asgreen can always be relied upon for an aggressive set-up. Check out the saddle-to-bar drop on his Cannondale SuperSix Evo Lab71. That’s a new bike for EF this year after Cannondale dropped the stack and slimmed down most tubes to save a handful of watts over the outgoing model.
(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
The 2021 Tour of Flanders winner has a fabric sleeve and a paint chip on his fork.
(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
Lab71 denotes Cannondale’s highest tier of carbon – dubbed Series 0 – with the best stiffness-to-weight ratio. The pencil-thin SuperSix seat tube is designed to disperse dirty air coming off the rider’s legs.
(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
If you put your spectacles on, you’ll notice the Tipp-Ex markings on Asgreen’s saddle rails, which help mechanics set it up the way he likes. This seems to be as far forward as possible to promote a more powerful and aerodynamic position. He’s on a 3D-printed Fizik Vento Argo saddle.
(Image credit: Aaron Borrill)
The blips on the drops will enable the breakaway specialist to change gear while sprinting out of a reduced bunch.
That’s all from the Grand Depart for now. We’ll be searching for more tech over the coming days, so stay tuned for additional news, bike checks and trends.
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