With the Tour de France starting in just a few weeks, it's a key time for brands to launch their new bikes. Most will have had an outing before their official release though, with the just-finished Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes a great place for a sneak peek of one or two pros riding bikes that don't look quite like their normal rides.
We've spotted six new bikes ahead of the 2026 Tour de France, which we expect to take to the line as the race progresses.
With the race starting with a team time trial, there's a new TT bike, although most of the bikes here won't see service until stage 2 and the subsequent road stages heading over the Pyrenees, when the crop of new lightweight bikes should come in handy.
New Colnago TT2 time trial bike
At least some of the UAE Team Emirates XRG team, almost certainly including Tadej Pogačar, will be taking to the start line on Stage 1 on the new Colnago TT2. It was the bike that he rode in the prologue of the Tour de Romandie, a race which he won overall back in April.
Colnago has taken a chunk of weight off the TT2, which it claims to be 550g lighter than the TT1 for a size S. It says this is in response to punchier and more technical time trial courses.
That description exactly matches the 19.6km Tour de France stage 1 parcours in Barcelona, which finishes with a steep, twisty climb to the Olympic stadium. The bike should also prove useful in the 26.1km stage 16 time trial, which climbs 500m and has some twists and turns on the run-in to Thonon-les-Bains.
The new time trial bike is also claimed to be 2 watts more aero at 50km/h and more stable in crosswinds. There's space for 30mm tyres and a monster 70-tooth 1x chainring.
With the new rules applied to the team time trial, in which individual times are taken rather than the fourth rider to cross the line, Pogačar will want to ensure he's not held back on stage 1 by a heavy bike.
Van Rysel prototype aero/lightweight bike
Van Rysel debuted a prototype all-rounder race bike at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, which we'd previously spotted ridden in training by Paul Seixas. The lower part of the downtube bore the inscription
‘Road - Aero - Light’, which neatly categorises the new bike.
The new bike has an aero cut-out around the back wheel and looks to include plenty of tyre clearance. We reckon it's an aero refinement of Van Rysel's original RCR Pro lightweight/aero bike, which caused a sensation when it was launched in 2024, rather than the RCR-F aero bike that has become the Decathlon-CMA CGM team's preferred ride.
Orbea prototype aero bike
Orbea, meanwhile, has concentrated on its aero bike for the Lotto-Intermarché team, with what we expect to be a new Orca Aero.
An updated, deeper head tube and fork look to be major changes, which we'd guess reflect the modern view that front-end aerodynamic tuning yields the greatest aero gains.
The tyre clearance looks wider than the 30mm offered by the current Orca Aero and the bottom bracket is deeper and the seatpost narrower. The current bike's mounts for an aero storage box under the down tube remain, although this cannot be fitted in races. We weighed the size 56 bike on show at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes at 7.68kg, fitted with 57mm deep Oquo wheels.
New Cube Litening Aero C:68X
Team TotalEnergies has a new Cube Litening Aero C:68X, which should see action under the French wildcard team at the Tour. Its distinctive feature is a slope to the seat tube top, which we speculate could improve compliance at the saddle or be an aerodynamic tweak.
Cube looks to have taken full advantage of the UCI's geometry rules, with a deep head tube and down tube, while again there's an apparent increase in tyre clearance from the current bike's 31mm.
There's significant asymmetry to the fork blades and the bottom bracket area and a new aero cockpit.
New Ridley lightweight bike
Back on the lightweight trail, Uno-X Mobility debuted a new Ridley with a 6.9kg weight in size S at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Team mechanics told us that there was more weight that could be shed, placing the bike perilously close to the UCI weight limit.
Aero tube profiles are mainly confined to the head tube, the upper parts of the seat tube and the seatpost. The fork crown's U-shape may help to avoid aerodynamic interference with the wheels and slim seat stays while an almost-round down tube should help reduce weight. Tyre clearance appears to be around the 35mm mark.
We reckon the new bike is a replacement for the existing 2023 Falcn RS, although both Ridley and the UCI just call it 'prototype' for now.
Specialized Tarmac SL9
While the name of Ridley's new bike remains an enigma, we reckon it's odds-on this is going to be the Tarmac SL9, although Specialized could always throw a curve ball.
What's changed? There's a bulging fork crown reminiscent of the Factor One, although without that bike's bayonet fork hinge. The Speed Sniffer head tube looks to be toned down from the Tarmac SL8 and there's a new seatpost that's narrower where it meets the seat tube, but wider further up.
It's not a bike that seems to have been raced yet, so we'll have to wait a few days to see if it's officially launched ahead of the Tour.
