The best new bikes, kit and components from the first WorldTour race of the year
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Bora-Hansgrohe wear a custom-finished version of Specialized's S-Works 7 shoes(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
This giant inflatible bike looms over the whole event village(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
Continental's Competition Pro Ltd tubular has been updated for 2019 with the central section of the tyre now smooth(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
Vredestein supplies tyres to AG2R La Mondiale(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
Wolfpack is a small tyre manufacturer based in Germany(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
These unreleased wheels from Fulcrum were spotted being used by Bahrain-Merida(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
What a rather expensive stack of wheels(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
Glueing tubs forms a large part of the pro-tour mechanic's day-to-day life(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
When you go to the supermarket for a pint of milk and come back with aero gains(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
Matched with pink socks, we think they look rather fetching(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
Lachlan Morton was spotted wearing some unreleased lace up road shoes from Rapha(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
A prototype shoe from Specialized with a lightweight upper was spotted being used by the team(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
This particular tyre was marked with a white pen. Exactly why is not clear.(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
This cleat jig is a serious piece of kit(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
Team Jumbo-Visma air their helmets after a hot day in the saddle(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
Dimension Data goes down a traditional route when trying to keep its squad cool(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
150mm! Ridiculous.(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
Movistar opts for Canyon's integrated Aerocockpit(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
The seatposts on Movistar's Canyon Aeroad's are marked with convenient height markers(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
Many riders use these FSA stems to lower their front end(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
The seatposts on Movistar's Canyon Aeroad's are marked with convenient height markers(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
How long would you manage to keep this saddle as gleaming white?(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
The tops of the bars feature small dimples to improve grip(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
The bar tape on these Specialized Aerofly bars is finished with a strip of cotton tape over the usual electrical tape(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
Sagan has his own kicks in white and gold(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
The Bullet 2.0 features a magnetic clip-on visor(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
Lazer launched an updated version of its Bullet aero helmet at the event(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
The helmet is claimed to offer increased ventilation over the original Ventral(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
POC's new Ventral Air helmet was spotted upon the domes team EF Pro Cycling's riders(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
Direct mount hangers, which offer a claimed increase in shift accuracy, are becoming increasingly popular(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
Many teams choose to use Ultegra cassettes over Dura-Ace but it's very unusual to see a Campagnolo-equipped bike using a Shimano cassette(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
A Movistar bike fitted with the new groupset(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
The other big sighting was the as yet unreleased EPS version of Campagnolo's new 12 speed Super Record groupset(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
Some bikes have what appears to be a stick-on cover obscuring the chainrings(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
A rim brake version of the groupset has also been spotted(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
FDJ wear a custom-finished version of Giro's recently released Aether helmet(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
Bahrain-Merida use helmets from Rudy Project(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
…and sliders(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
When it comes to the casual footwear favoured by pro teams, it's a close toss up between Birkenstocks…(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
Team Movistar has a number of different colours of the Powerstrap R5 to hand(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
Fizik's Tempo Powerstrap R5 was launched late last year(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
This FDJ rider opts for the same shoes in a sparkly white finish(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
Team Jumbo-Visma wear Shimano's S-Phyre RC901 shoes in an unreleased pearlescent finish(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
DMT shoes are a relatively rare sight in the pro-peloton(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
We've spotted a whole bunch of new kicks at the TDU(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
The best hairdo in the pro peloton?(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
Katusha-Alpecin have Oakley, a relative new comer to the cycling helmet game, as a helmet sponsor(Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
SRAM's unreleased eTap 12 speed groupset was spotted on all of Trek-Segafredo and Alpecin-Katusha's bikes (Image credit: Jack Luke/Immediate Media)
The Tour Down Under is the first race of the WorldTour season and, as such, it's an early-season hotbed to see all of the latest bikes, tech and team jerseys for 2019. It's also the first opportunity to see the biggest signings in their new team colours.
Alongside the headline rider signings, Team Sunweb switches from Giant to Cervélo, Team Dimension Data moves from Cervélo to BMC and BMC Racing (now CCC Team) completes the circle by signing with Giant.
AG2R La Mondiale is another team on new bikes for 2019, switching from Factor to Eddy Merckx framesets.
We've also seen a swathe of new shoes and helmets, including new shoes from Specialized and Rapha, as well as a brand-new helmet from POC.
Lastly, and arguably most notably, Peter Sagan — three-time world champion and current Slovakian national champion — raced the Down Under Classic on Sunday, the precursor to the Tour Down Under, aboard an aluminium Specialized Allez Sprint Disc. Sagan finished second, just a bike's length behind Lotto-Soudal's 2019 headline signing Caleb Ewan.
Click through to see our full gallery from the 2019 edition of the Tour Down Under.
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