Team Belkin’s super chunky tyre choice looked aggressive on the Bianchi Infinito CVSam Dansie/BikeRadar
Davide Frattini’s (United Healthcare) Wilier Cento 1 SR standing outside the team bus, bedecked in blue anodised K-Edge accessoriesSam Dansie/BikeRadar
Frattini’s K-Edge stem mount replaces a spacer on the steererSam Dansie/BikeRadar
United Healthcare’s solution to the annoying and dangerous problem of bottles bouncing out of the cages on the pavé was simple – tightly nipped cable tiesSam Dansie/BikeRadar
FMB tyres were ubiquitous across the peloton – including on Edvald Boasson Hagen’s (Team Sky) PinarelloSam Dansie/BikeRadar
Clearance was minimal as many teams opted for 27-30mm wide rubber, but in the dusty conditions of the race, crud build up wasn’t a concernSam Dansie/BikeRadar
A remote Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 shifter mounted the opposite way to usual on a Sky bikeSam Dansie/BikeRadar
Sky’s solution to bouncing bottles was grip tape on bottle cage contact pointsSam Dansie/BikeRadar
Double wrapped bar tape was a feature of most team Sky bikesSam Dansie/BikeRadar
Topsport-Vlaanderen bikes were to have the cobbled sector notes mounted on the stemsSam Dansie/BikeRadar
Jelle Wallays (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise) defies peloton convention with his ultra-short stem on his Eddy Merckx EMXSam Dansie/BikeRadar
Trek Factory Racing arrived with Fabian Cancellara’s bike at the vanguard – they even travelled with his SRM in situSam Dansie/BikeRadar
More FMB tyres: this time 27mm at Trek Factory RacingSam Dansie/BikeRadar
Luca Paolini’s (Katusha) spare bike was a bright red Ultimate CF SLXSam Dansie/BikeRadar
Specialized had set up a formal partnership with FMB, with the French company providing the cotton tubular and the Californian company providing the treadSam Dansie/BikeRadar
Alexander Kristoff’s (Katusha) Canyon Ultimate CF SLX was standard, apart from turning the high-mounted mechanical Shimano Dura-Ace STI leversSam Dansie/BikeRadar
Some Katusha riders mounted Cane Creek cyclocross brake leversSam Dansie/BikeRadar