Van Rysel has made headlines with its competitively priced race bike, the RCR Pro. The brand is part of the Decathlon Group, which took over as title sponsor and bike supplier to the Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale men’s WorldTour pro team at the beginning of 2024.
The team has already seen some notable wins, including two stages of the Giro d’Italia, moving from 18th in the UCI team rankings in 2023 to seventh so far in 2024.
So how has Van Rysel built a winning pro bike in only five years and how does it plan to develop as a brand? We spoke to Yann Le Fraillec, chief product officer at Van Rysel, to find out.
Big ambitions
“Van Rysel is a very young brand in the bike industry, born in 2019, so we are only five years old,” explains Le Fraillec.
“We were just a few people at the start, with a target of being part of the WorldTour with a performing machine. This was the objective when we decided to create Van Rysel.”
That’s a big change for Decathlon, which, as Le Fraillec explains, despite being the largest sporting goods retailer in the world, is more a leisure and fairly priced family sport business.
“Van Rysel is something really different from what we used to do. We had to show the world we were able to deliver very high-performing products," he says.
“We knew how to make a carbon frame, but not a super-fast carbon bike frame."
However, Le Fraillec explains Decathlon has been selling bikes since 1980, making it “one of the oldest global bike brands”.
Building on this heritage and highlighting the importance of aero tech, Le Fraillec says Van Rysel used computer-based simulation and data analysis to build its new WorldTour-ready bikes.
“Data and simulation are key nowadays to developing a high-performance bike and everything has been improved – the wheels, the tyres, the frame…" Le Fraillec explains.
“You can’t develop as in the past by just making a frame and seeing how it performs. That’s too slow.
“So we focused on computer-based simulation and worked during this early stage of the project with partners with expertise in this area."
Massive development in computer modelling means not having a long history of developing performance bikes isn’t a handicap, Le Fraillec adds.
“Although some brands started to work on aero road bikes 15 years ago, or more, computers and simulation software were not as advanced as they are now. So having history isn’t as important. It’s about engineering,” he says.
“It’s not just true in cycling. Take Formula One, where Red Bull was able to enter the sport and beat Ferrari after just a few years. Incremental skills aren’t so important, which is what makes the game open for a newcomer to enter the market fast.
"It’s dangerous for the established brands, but promising for potential challengers.”
No second chances
While the stakes are high in top-level cycling, they’re even higher in the spheres in which Van Rysel’s partners work.
“At the start of the project, I spoke to Swiss Side, which has Formula One expertise, and Onera, who work on rocket and satellite technology. They said ‘we don’t have a second chance’, because of the cost involved in both Formula One and space. They can’t just try it and see if it works,” says Le Fraillec.
“If you are very good in simulation, you don’t need to have many attempts to get it right.”
While simulation tools are well developed in motor racing and space, Le Fraillec stresses cycling is still behind in understanding what results in a high-performing bike; in cycling, we don’t yet have the knowledge to predict all the variables. You have the wind moving, the rider's legs moving and many other factors that influence performance.
“We still had to 3D print some frame designs and decide which would be the best… in a wind tunnel."
Even if aerodynamic modelling is advanced, Le Fraillec says rider feedback still plays a critical role in bike design.
"Even if 90 per cent of the job is done by simulation… feedback from pro riders and what they feel when riding is vital," he explains.
“It’s always very interesting to work with the most demanding athletes and learn from what they say.
“The pros are honest with Van Rysel too, and provide honest feedback. They really appreciate being asked about their views on how [our bikes] ride, and what they’d like to see improved.”
An everyman brand too
While the spotlight is on Van Rysel’s premium performance products, Le Fraillec is adamant that the brand is there to support riders throughout their cycling journey.
“Van Rysel still believes its mission is to help people discover the pleasure of riding a road bike," he adds. "Not everyone can spend €4,000 to start road cycling, so it’s very important to offer lower-priced bikes, [riders can] then upgrade to a higher performance bike in future because they love it.
“We need to still give them the opportunity to discover road cycling.
“Van Rysel aims to be credible across the spectrum, offering high-end products, but also affordable products.”
Van Rysel isn’t focused solely on delivering quality cycling products; there’s a major emphasis across Decathlon on how its sporting goods are produced and what happens to them at the end of their life.
“Decathlon has a challenging, world-leading sustainability programme. It wants to lead across human well-being, supplier management, raw material use and other aspects too," Le Fraillec says.
"It’s not optional, but one of the first strategies for Decathlon – [we don’t] just ask suppliers if they can do it, but how they will do it. There’s no other way to work in the future.”
Not just bikes
Van Rysel isn’t using its advanced simulation and wind tunnel testing only for its bikes.
While it continues to develop new bike designs, the brand is also focusing on high-performing textiles, helmets, socks, shoes and more.
“We have been working for over a year on this and really want to go deep for each category. There’s more to gain now by improving garments than bikes,” claims Le Fraillec.
“It’s even more complex and demanding than bikes because simulation isn’t as advanced, so we have to develop new systems and evaluation methods.”
Le Fraillec outlines the rewards of this project: “It’s really challenging, but the way is still open for improvements, while still fitting within the UCI rules, to develop products that are faster, more breathable, lighter and, in some cases, more protective," he says.
“Fitting is much more complex than with bikes too. With bikes, performance is similar regardless of the bike’s size. With garments, performance can vary with the rider… you cannot have the best fit for every rider… but that makes it more interesting too."
That rider-specific variability means the highest-performing garments are always likely to require customisation to individual riders.
“For bikes, customers can buy and enjoy the same bike as the pros. For garments, non-pro riders will never be able to have the same individual performance as the pros," Le Fraillec says.
“Van Rysel will deliver a pro garment line, but will never claim that every rider will be the fastest when using it. The same is true for time trial helmets; it may be the fastest with one rider, but average with another.
“It’s not just a constraint though, but an opportunity. There are many ways to innovate.”
Le Fraillec still sees off-the-peg performance cycling kit as an opportunity for Van Rysel though.
“What is sure is that if you’re a regular rider and you purchase a pro-line garment, you’ll be faster than if you buy a classic jersey. Even if it’s not completely optimised for you, you’ll benefit from improved performance," he says.
“People focus on the pleasure of riding a performance bike and wearing quality kit, rather than just the performance aspect. They’re not pros and will never be."
