Nacer Bouhanni's Orbea Orca

Criterium du Dauphine Stage 1 winner's punchy Basque ride

Josh Evans / Immediate Media

Published: June 7, 2016 at 9:00 am

Nacer Bouhanni boxed his way to stage 1 victory at the Criterium du Dauphine then feigned several punches to pay tribute to the late Muhammad Ali. The French sprinter is a divisive character in the peloton with his fiery character ruffling the feathers of his rivals and has made it no secret that post-cycling he will take up boxing professionally.

However, for now the 25-year-old is becoming a regular winner on the WorldTour circuit and now has four victories at the sport's highest level in 2016. In one of the few opportunities for the fast men at this year's Dauphine, a canny Bouhanni celebrated the victory onboard his Orbea Orca.

Cyclingnews took a look at Bouhanni's bike before the start of stage 1 in Cluses with his glossy and matt black frame standing out against the team- issue red and black paint jobs. The 'fight' boxing glove and 'NB13' logos provide further clues as to who the bike belongs to, as does the huge 140mm Vision Metron Aero Stem.

Orbea re-entered the professional peloton last year when it replaced Look as the bicycle of choice for French Pro-Continental team Cofidis. The Basque bicycle company created a custom frame for Bouhanni in March of last year with little aesthetic change for 2016. The 'fight and 'NB13' logos remain in the same place on the fork and stem with the removal of the French flag graphic on the top tube the major change.

While Shimano takes care of the shifting via Di2 Dura-Ace, FSA and Vision provide the lion's share of the components. Bouhanni's bike is kitted out with an FSA crankset (but no SRM power meter compared with last year), seatpost and brakes, with Vision supplying the wheels and cockpit.

The Di2 junction box is nicely hidden under the stem as the fully wrapped bars make for a neat and tidy front end. Bouhanni has alternated between several bartapes so far this season but appears to have settled on white for the Dauphine.

In several races this season Bouhanni's bike has included a SRM head unit attached via his handlebars on the right, but looks to have decided against using his power meter for the Dauphine.

With his bike setup largely unchanged from last year, there is one notable change with Bouhanni switching from a from Selle Italia saddle to a Prologo model.

Have a look through the gallery above for a closer look at Nacer Bouhanni's Orbea Orca.