The Astana Specialized bikes await the riders(Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
The Nippo Vini Fantini team is riding these De Rosa bikes (Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
Australia TT champion Richie Porte has a special Pinarello Bolide TT bike(Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
Porte has a custom made cockpit(Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
The green and gold brake cover(Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
Team Sky used tri-spoke Pro front wheels(Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
Porte has customed made gear changers integrated into the bars(Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
Team Sky uses special 23mm TT tyres(Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
The Pinarello Bolide has rear facing drop outs(Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
The Team Sky staff line-up the Pinarello bikes for the riders to do their warm-up routine (Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
The Etixx-QuickStep Specialized Shiv bikes await in the shade(Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
Fabio Sabatini's bike was fitted with a 56 tooth aero chainring(Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
The LottoNL-Jumbo team used black Bianchi bikes(Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
The UCI officials checked every bike before the riders trained on the TTT course(Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
A Movistar mechanic takes a Canyon bike to the UCI judges for dimension approval(Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
The LottoNL-jumbo team used black Bianchi Aquila CV TT bikes(Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
Check out the stack and headtube on Robert Wagner's bike(Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
The bars are a single piece of carbon fibre with the changers mounted on the end(Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
Simon Gerrans and his Orica-GreenEdge teammates all rode black Scott Plasma TT bikes(Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
The aero head tune of the Scott Plasma bike(Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
The Lotto Soudal Ridley bikes have big aero seat posts (Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
The Cannondale-Garmin team warmed up on their road bikes(Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
The aero seatpost area of the Cannondale Slice bike(Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
Ryder Hesjedal has a black version of his Slice as a spare TT bike(Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
The massive bottom brcket of the black Cannondale Slice(Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
Like all the TT bikes, the Cannondale Slice is UCI approved(Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
The BMC bikes await their riders(Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
This Etixx-QuickStep Specialized Shiv bike had some extra grip on the saddle(Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
The 22 teams in action in the Giro d’Italia wheeled out their best bike technology for the opening team time trial stage in San Remo, knowing that every second gained during the 17.6km course would be vital. Cyclingnews visited the teams in the paddock-style bus area near the start in San Lorenzo al Mare to check out the bikes in action.
Before the riders began their training and course inspection every bike was checked by the UCI race judges to ensure it respected rules on dimensions, handlebar length and height and that saddles were horizontal. One or two bikes didn’t quite fit into the special jig the UCI judges use and so mechanics were ordered to make rapid adjustments or even cut off the top of an aero bar.
Everyone was eventually allowed to race. All the bikes carry the UCI stickers than confirms they UCI approved frames.
There were no new time trial bikes in action in the Giro d’Italia but Cyclingnews spotted several custom bikes made for team leaders. Australian national champion Richie Porte (Team Sky) has a special green and gold Pinarello Bolide bike and has custom built aero handlebars made by Pinarello that allow the perfect fitting of the electronic gear changers.
2012 Giro d’Italia winner Ryder Hesjedal had a special naked black Cannondale Slice as his reserve bike. It was on the team car during the rider as the Canadian raced on a team issue-coloured Slice.
Fabio Aru and his Astana teammates rode a Specialized Shiv time trial bike fitted with Corima wheels. Most of the riders appeared to use Campagnolo mechanical components rather then electronic gears.
The stage winning Orica-GreenEdge team used black Scott Plasma bikes fitted with Shimano components and PRO wheels.
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Stephen is one of the most experienced members of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. Before becoming Editor-at-large, he was Head of News at Cyclingnews. He has previously worked for Shift Active Media, Reuters and Cycling Weekly. He is a member of the Board of the Association Internationale des Journalistes du Cyclisme (AIJC).
