With Cadel Evans as the team leader on his last stage race before retirement, Rohan Dennis’ race lead after winning the third stage of the Tour Down Under came as a surprise to all. Nonetheless, the 24-year-old hometown local proved to have the better legs and convincingly held it together against a charging Richie Porte of Sky to win the race by a mere two seconds.
Dennis got his start on the track as part of the 2010 World Championship winning pursuit team, alongside the likes of Jack Bobridge. An attempt at the hour record is coming up soon, and it seems likely Dennis has the speed to take it.
Rohan Dennis won the third stage and held onto the lead until the end
Like the rest of BMC Racing team, recent recruit Dennis rides a TeamMachine SLR01 for most of his races, including the Tour Down Under. It's an ideal showcase of ‘team-issue’ spec.
BMC pitches the TeamMachine is the ‘perfect combination of weight, stiffness and vertical compliance’ – something that in our testing has proven pretty close to the truth.
Among the bikes of the peloton, BMCs are easy to spot thanks to their distinctive cross brace between top tube and seat tube. While this concept originally offered some reinforcement and force distribution, it’s now a defining cosmetic feature of the Swiss maker.
It’s common for frames to use the same cable port for gear housing or Di2 wiring, but BMC does things differently. A small port near the rear brake housing provides an entry-point for Di2, creating an extremely clean look with minimal wire poking out vulnerably. In the case of Dennis’ bike, the gear cable port behind the head tube remains unused and cleanly covered.
With the team sponsored by Shimano and SRM, it's unsurprising to find a full Dura-Ace Di2 9070 groupset and matched SRM power meter crank. Dennis doesn’t use any additional sprint or climber’s shifters, instead sticking with the single point of shifting from behind the brake lever.
The brakes on Dennis’ bike felt completely dialled, with much credit to the rear brake setup with segmented compression-free housing
Stuck to the Shimano Dura-Ace C50 wheels are Continental Competition ALX LTD 25mm tubulars, something that is commonly seen in the pro-peloton but extremely hard to find otherwise.
Much like Team Sky has done with its PRO components, the 3T parts on BMC are special ‘team-issue’ versions of otherwise standard items – purely done to make the Italian brand’s logos clearer.
Complete bike specifications
- Frame: BMC TeamMachine SLR01 – size 56cm
- Fork: BMC TeamMachine SLR01, 1–1/8 to 1–1/2in tapered
- Headset: Sealed (unbranded)
- Stem: 3T ARX II Team, 130mm, -6 degree (team issue)
- Handlebar: 3T ErgoSum Team, 44cm (c-c) (team issue)
- Tape: 3T Team
- Front brake: Shimano Dura-Ace BR-9000
- Rear brake: Shimano Dura-Ace BR-9000
- Brake levers: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 STI Dual Control ST-9070
- Front derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 FD-9070
- Rear derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 RD-9070
- Shift levers: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 STI Dual Control ST-9070
- Cassette: Shimano Dura-Ace CS-9000, 11-28T
- Chain: Shimano Dura-Ace CN-9000
- Crankset: SRM Shimano 11-speed, 172.5mm, 53/39T
- Bottom bracket: C-Bear Ceramic
- Pedals: Shimano 9000 Dura-Ace
- Wheelset: Shimano Dura-Ace C50 tubular
- Front tyre: Continental Competition ALX LTD, 25mm
- Rear tyre: Continental Competition ALX LTD, 25mm
- Saddle: Fizik Arione Classic
- Seatpost: BMC TeamMachine carbon, 15mm offset
- Bottle cages: Elite Custom Race (2)
- Computer: SRM Power Control 7 (not pictured)
Critical measurements
- Rider's height: 1.82m (5ft 11in)
- Rider's weight: 71kg (156lb)
- Saddle height from BB, c-t: 767 mm
- Saddle setback: 89mm
- Seat tube length (c-t): 555mm
- Tip of saddle to center of bar: 595mm
- Saddle-to-bar drop: 110mm
- Head tube length: 163mm
- Top tube length (effective): 560mm
- Total bicycle weight: 7.03kg (15.47lb) (w/o SRM Power Control 7 head unit)