Ag2R’s Kuota KOM machines lie in wait prior to the start of Stage 3
Ag2R is using Sigma’s Rox 9.0 computer
As it turns out, Acqua & Sapone captain Stefano Garzelli isn’t the only rider on the team with a specially painted Bottechia as team-mate Frances Masciarelli has one as well
Androni Giocattoli-Diquigiovanni rider Alessandro Bertolini is using a bright silver-and-blue Guerciotti Krakatoa for this year’s Giro d’Italia
The sleek lines of the Guerciotti Krakatoa are covered with gleaming metallic paint
Androni Giocattoli-Diquigiovanni captain Michele Scarponi protects his head with a custom painted Selev helmet
Pinarello have enjoyed a good start to this year’s Giro d’Italia with a win by Bradley Wiggins on the company’s new Graal. Caisse d’Epargne rider Marzio Bruseghin has one as well, though, plus a striking Dogma model for use on the road
The dotted tread of Continental’s Competition Pro Limited Allaround tubulars are a common sight in this year’s Giro d’Italia
Several riders on Cervelo TestTeam are using Saris’s new Joule 2.0 computer
Carlos Sastre (Cervelo TestTeam) is using a SRAM Red transmission plus a 3D crank and Q-Rings from Rotor
Giro d’Italia GC hopeful Carlos Sastre (Cervelo TestTeam) continues to favour the softer ride of Cervelo’s R3-SL over the aerodynamic performance of the S3
Cofidis continue to soldier on with their trusty Look 595 lugged carbon machines
The Fuji-Servetto team bikes feature Reynolds carbon wheels, Challenge tubulars and TRP R970SL magnesium brake callipers
Footon-Servetto chose Fuji’s SST 1.0 aero road bikes for the early road stages of the Giro d’Italia. Interestingly – and just as former Oval Products owner Morgan Nicol has always said – the team are also using standard-diameter bars and stems instead of oversized ones
In addition to Cervelo TestTeam, Rotor are supplying cranks, chainrings and chain watchers to Footon-Servetto
Footon-Servetto riders have turned to iBike’s novel iAero computers to track and display their data
Christian Vande Velde’s (Garmin-Transitions) Felt F1 is built for all-round performance as seen here with lightweight, medium-depth Mavic Cosmic Carbone Ultimate wheels
Garmin-Transitions first started using AceCo’s K-Edge chain watchers only on the team’s time trial bikes but have since decided to install them on everything
Stage 2 winner Tyler Farrar’s (Garmin-Transitions) Felt F1 lies safely tucked away amid the rest of the team bikes
Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Transitions) is seemingly the only team rider to opt for Fizik’s Pave CX saddle
Tyler Farrar’s (Garmin-Transitions) rear Mavic Cosmic Carbone SLR tubular – which still isn’t available to the public – is wrapped with a Vittoria Corsa EVO CX tyre
Tyler Farrar’s (Garmin-Transitions) front wheel, however, sports a prototype Vittoria tubular
Felt’s top-end F1 frames aren’t specifically Shimano Dura-Ace Di2-ready so instead, the company provide the team with drilled-out cable guides that are slotted for zip-ties
Garmin-Transitions rider Murilo Antoni Fischer has a supplemental direct-measurement speed and cadence sensor mounted on his chainstay to supplement his GPS-enabled Garmin Edge 500 computer
O.symetric chainrings look to have made major inroads in the pro field this year, appearing on over half of the Team Sky bikes and David Millar’s (Garmin-Transitions) Felt F1
Hey, since when is carbon fibre shiny and silver? Garmin-Transitions’ team-edition Felt F1s are fitted with aluminium dropouts instead, presumably to better cope with the unusually frequent wheel changes that pro bikes have to endure
Garmin-Transitions rider David Millar definitely has his colour co-ordination thing going on
White pulleys from Shimano’s Yumeya upgrade kit grace the rear derailleur on David Millar’s (Garmin-Transitions) Felt F1
Svein Tuft (Garmin-Transitions) set off towards Utrecht with Mavic’s new 80mm-deep Cosmic 80 carbon tubulars
Looks like it’s now official: Mavic’s new deep-section wheel will be called the Cosmic 80
Katusha pay homage to the Giro d’Italia with these pink water bottles
Hmm, red and green trim, gold lettering, a custom level top tube geometry … this bike can only belong to Katusha’s Filippo Pozzato
Wilier has provided both Alessandro Petacchi and Damiano Cunego (Lampre-Farnese Vini) with these brightly coloured Cento 1 Superleggeras
The rear derailleur cable on the Wilier Cento 1 Superleggera runs externally along the down tube before making a brief internal run through the chainstay
Damiano Cunego (Lampre-Farnese Vini) selected shallow-section Fulcrum Racing Zero alloy tubulars for Stage 3’s relatively windy conditions
It’s quite common for riders to request specific drink mixes in their bottles
Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Doimo) is hoping to come into better form as the Giro progresses
SRM’s PowerControl 7 is now available to the public – but not in this Liquigas-Doimo green hue as far as we’re aware
Linus Gerdemann’s (Team Milram) Focus Izalco is equipped with SRAM’s Red group and power meter, FSA and Fizik cockpit components, and Lightweight wheels
Quick Step and Caisse d’Epargne are sharing the black, white and red motif this year
Quick Step’s FFWD wheel sponsors are likely proud to see the Giro start in Amsterdam, as the wheels are built not far from there
Saxo Bank ran Zipp 404 tubulars across the board on their Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL3s
Pinarello use a conventional mounting position for Team Sky’s Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 batteries
Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) has long favoured O.symetric’s unusual chainrings
The entirety of Team Sky are using Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 componentry on the road
The distinctive black-and-blue Pinarello Dogmas of Team Sky are easy to pick out in the peloton
Bradley Wiggins’ equipment preferences must be rubbing off on his Team Sky team-mates as more than half of them are using O.symetric chainrings
This year’s flat opening road stages of the Giro d’Italia have naturally favoured the sprinters of the peloton, with Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Transitions) taking stage 2 and Wouter Weylandt (Quick Step) conquering stage 3.
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Not surprisingly, most of the major contenders’ bikes have been geared more towards outright speed rather than light weight – at least for now.
Deep-section wheels have been the norm, as aerodynamics has been a more important performance metric than mass. Still, the occasionally blustery conditions – especially along the coast – have caused riders to temper those tendencies a bit, as we saw nothing deeper than 80mm (not a single Zipp 1080 in sight).
Some smaller or lighter riders have been going with shallow-section wheels instead. Even stage 3 winner Weylandt went fairly conservative with FFWD’s 50mm-deep F5, in the extra-stiff ‘C’ variant with a higher spoke count to better handle his 79kg (174lb) weight.
As has become customary these days, Cervélo TestTeam riders have gone with aerodynamic frames too, with nearly everyone on the sleek S3. A notable exception is 2008 Tour de France winner Carlos Sastre who still prefers the softer ride of the R3-SL – not that it matters much for him, as he’s generally well protected from the wind anyway.
Several Garmin-Transitions riders also played the aero frame card with Felt’s speedy AR, which is largely based on the company’s dedicated DA time trial platform. Most were spotted with either 40mm-deep Mavic Cosmic Carbone Ultimates or 52mm-deep Cosmic Carbone SLR tubulars (the latter still only available to the public in clincher form). Svein Tuft went all-in, though, with a set of Mavic’s new 80mm-deep Cosmic 80 carbon tubulars.
At first glance, Footon-Servetto have followed suit as well, having notably switched from last year’s Fuji SL-1 to this year’s SST model – for aerodynamics if you believe the company’s marketing claims, but more likely because the new frame is simply stiffer and faster, as few frame members appear to truly offer substantially lower drag.
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Compared to the SL-1, the SST sports a tapered head tube, a wider bottom bracket shell with press-fit bearing cups, a bigger and internally ribbed down tube, and a relatively deep integrated seatmast that should offer up a more solid pedalling platform than before. Claimed frame weight has even gone up a bit to nearly a full kilo but in these early days of the Giro, speed is king.
