New TT bikes from Specialized and Argon 18, clinchers, tubeless tyres and more
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Vital Concept race on Orbea Ordu framesets(Image credit: Josh Evans)
The forearm supports on Yates' bike are from WattShop(Image credit: Josh Evans)
Groupama-FDJ use the aggressive looking Lapierre Aerostorm(Image credit: Josh Evans)
The latest Merida Warp TT was first seen at the Dauphine last season(Image credit: Josh Evans)
Team mechanics queue in the concert hall, which hosted the stage start, to ensure each rider's bike was UCI compliant ahead of the stage(Image credit: Josh Evans)
Colnago K.One framesets are used by Dan Martin and his UAE Team Emirates teammates(Image credit: Josh Evans)
UAE Team Emirates used a simple whiteboard to denote when each rider needs to begin their warm-up, their start time and which DS is driving the follow car(Image credit: Josh Evans)
A look at the Lotto Soudal Ridley Dean TT bikes(Image credit: Josh Evans)
Lotto Soudal's Tomasz Marczynski looks to be racing on a similar WattShop seetup to Adam Yates(Image credit: Josh Evans)
A look at Bjorg Lambrecht's Ridley Dean (Image credit: Josh Evans)
A full day of time trialling allows team mechanics to work on some of the team's road bikes too(Image credit: Josh Evans)
Not all teams have the budget for two time trial bikes, including Guillaume Martin of Wanty Groupee Gobert(Image credit: Josh Evans)
Adam Yates has been working in the wind tunnel on his time trialling and this cockpit setup could be contributing to the gains made(Image credit: Josh Evans)
Mitchelton-Scott riders each had two time trial bikes for the stage(Image credit: Josh Evans)
Most Team Ineos riders opt for additional grip on their saddles to improve positioning(Image credit: Josh Evans)
Eddy Merckx don't currently make time trial framesets and this looks very similar to a Ridley Dean Fast, which is manufactured by the same group(Image credit: Josh Evans)
A few Astana riders raced on what appears to be a new version of the Argon 18 E-118 time trial bike(Image credit: Josh Evans)
Like many new time trial bikes, the new Argon 18 has disc brakes front and rear(Image credit: Josh Evans)
The seat tube appears to have a new profile compared to the current iteration of the bike(Image credit: Josh Evans)
Instead of a traditional steerer, the Argon 18 E-118 has an exteernally hinged system(Image credit: Josh Evans)
It looks like Dimension Data might be using some of BMC Racings left over bikes(Image credit: Josh Evans)
A few of Jumbo-Visma's Bianchi Aquila feature this paint design instead of plain black or celeste paint(Image credit: Josh Evans)
EF Education First raced on Cannondale SuperSlice(Image credit: Josh Evans)
Tom Dumoulin and his Team Sunweb teammates raced with the relatively new Cervelo P5 Disc(Image credit: Josh Evans)
For the first time in several seasons, Team Ineos have updated the paint designs on their Pinarello Bolide time trial bikes(Image credit: Josh Evans)
Chris Froome and selected Team Ineos riders have 3D-printed titanium cockpits, first seen at the 2017 Tour de France(Image credit: Josh Evans)
Richie Porte's spare bike was setup with a 1X SRAM RED eTap AXS drivetrain and Bontrager front wheel(Image credit: Josh Evans)
A 10-tooth sprocket on the casette and a 52-tooth chainring will offer a high enough geear ratio in a 1X drivetrain setup(Image credit: Josh Evans)
Emanuel Buchmann appeared to be the only Bora-hansgrohe rider racing the, as yet, unreleased Specialized time trial bike(Image credit: Josh Evans)
The new head tube on the Shiv is visibly narrower than the outgoing model's, seen here on the left(Image credit: Josh Evans)
Team Ineos' warm-up setup comes courteesy of Wahoo(Image credit: Josh Evans)
A look at the UCI measuring jig to ensure bikes are compliant(Image credit: Josh Evans)
When the team car returned after Froome's crash, his bike was put straight on the mechanics truck but had damage to the handlebars and a dropped chain(Image credit: Josh Evans)
Each follow car has their respective rider's name board attached at the stage start(Image credit: Josh Evans)
Philippe Gilbert raced on the new Specialized Shiv for Deceuninck-QuickStep(Image credit: Josh Evans)
Servais Knaven sets Wout Poels' radio to the correct channel ahead of the Dutchman's effort(Image credit: Josh Evans)
A look at Wout Poels' spare Pinarello Bolide TT bike(Image credit: Josh Evans)
Michael Woods ran a 58-tooth outer chainring for the stage(Image credit: Josh Evans)
A look at the extreme seat stay design on the new Specialized Shiv(Image credit: Josh Evans)
EF Education First riders set off on their recon, with James Whelan ready to race in his speed suit(Image credit: Josh Evans)
Unlike his teammates, it appeared Porte raced with a 2X setup of SRAM's older 11-speeed eTap groupset. It was also Porte's first stage on a Trek Speed bike(Image credit: Josh Evans)
The CCC Team Giant Trinity bikes are paired with components nearly entirely from Giant(Image credit: Josh Evans)
CCC Team's Laurens ten Dam appeared to be racing on tyres from Giant(Image credit: Josh Evans)
Like most of Trek-Segafredo, most of the Katusha-Alpecin team raced on 1X drivetrain setups using SRAM's new groupset(Image credit: Josh Evans)
Katusha-Alpecin's Nils Politt checks his tyrees ahead of recon(Image credit: Josh Evans)
Katusha-Alpecin looked to be using clincher tyres with latex inner tubes on the front wheels of their bikes(Image credit: Josh Evans)
Politt's rear tyre was a Continental Grand Prix Pro TT Ltd(Image credit: Josh Evans)
Katusha-Alpecin mechanics set up chainrings and cranksets ahead of the start(Image credit: Josh Evans)
Dutch natiional timee trial champion Dylan van Baarle has a custom-painted Pinarello Bolide in the iconic orange of his home nation(Image credit: Josh Evans)
A look at the front end of Richie Porte's Trek Speed(Image credit: Josh Evans)
Niklas Eg and the majority of his Trek-Segafredo teammates raced with 1X drivetrain setups from SRAM(Image credit: Josh Evans)
Porte looked to be riding a front PRO Textreme three spoke wheel and a re-stickered Lightweight rear disc wheel, although opted for a Bontrager front wheel for the stage(Image credit: Josh Evans)
Interestingly, Woods also appeared to be running tubeless tyres(Image credit: Josh Evans)
The individual time trial on Stage 4 of the Criterium du Dauphine shared similarities in length and profile to the Tour de France individual time trial, giving riders a chance to test their aerodynamic setups, gearing options and even new bikes.
An updated Specialized Shiv was first seen at the Giro d'Italia last month and was again used at the Dauphine by Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Philippe Gilbert (Deceuninck-QuickStep). Astana riders also used a new time trial frameset, with a disc brake equipped Argon 18 E-118 in an eye-catching grey to blue fade.
Mitchelton-Scott's Adam Yates has continued to improve in a discipline where he has received, perhaps unfairly, criticism for in the past. The new race leader admitted to have been working in the wind tunnel to improve his time trialling, making a few minor changes that perhaps contributed to a 20-second saving in Wednesday's race. Yates' Scott Plasma ran a cockpit from WattShop in a narrow setup.
Despite a climb that included an altitude gain of around 200 metres, most riders opted for a 56 or 58-tooth chainring.
However Katusha-Alpecin and Trek-Segafredo riders mostly ran a 52-tooth chainring in a 1X format using SRAM's new RED eTap AXS drivetrain, which offers a 10-tooth sprocket on the cassette. Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo), who was racing his first time trial for his new team, opted for a traditional 2X setup and used older, 11-speed SRAM RED components.
Alongside the traditional tubular tyres used in the stage, Michael Woods (EF Education First) was seen with tubeless tyres equipped on his spare bike, while Katusha-Alpecin mechanics were seen setting up front wheels with clincher tyres and pink latex inner tubes.
Click through the gallery above for a closer look at the tech on display at Stage 4 of the Criterium du Dauphine.
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