Vuelta a España Tech Gallery: A prototype Dura-Ace groupset, a new saddle for Tadej Pogačar, and a special custom bike

Here is Hayter’s TT machine; despite not being the latest Shiv we saw at the Tour, it very nearly won the stage.

There was talk of slightly smaller chainrings being used on the short, technical course; Hayter went round it like lightning.

Neatly integrated gear shift buttons for Hayter here.

Hayter raced on older Turbo Cotton time trial tyres, not the newer Cotton TLR models; this could be a size smaller than 28mm.

Here’s Hayter’s custom and slick-looking TT bar; his position looks super aero.

Here’s the bike of the man who denied Hayter a win, a certain Mr Pogačar who rode a Colnago TT2.

Deep-section Enve wheel and TT tyres for Pogačar.

Here’s the handlebar from behind; it must take a lot of hours to get truly comfortable and confident on a bike like this.

And from the front, note the horizontal Colnago base bar, a key change for the latest TT2 time trial bike.

Pogačar chooses grip tape for the base bar.

Here’s a sneaky look at the rear of the fork for you; nice UCI sticker placement.

Here’s the BikeOne aero threaded bottom bracket cup again.

This shot gives a real idea of the narrowness of that Colnago TT2 head tube.

K-Edge makes custom chain guides for a lot of teams.

Carbon-Ti hanger matching the bottom bracket; check out the neat Di2 cable routing.

Here’s the arrangement from the side; pulley wheel bolts get swapped too.

This wheel and tyre are clearly for Pogačar’s bike and have been marked with a paint marker.

This is a different saddle to the one Pogačar ran on his Tour de France TT bike and was a new one on us.

The carbon rails are big and chunky at the back.

Turns out this is a custom version of the Aeris LD R1 light with thinner padding. Fizik told us Pogačar had requested a lighter option.

Here’s the POC TT helmet that first appeared at the Tour; TT lids are not getting smaller.

Here’s a bike from the Burgos Burpellet BH squad. It’s nice to look at non-WorldTour equipment, and this front end was very clean.

This was another different front end for another rider, displaying a clear attention to detail.

The team races on the aptly named BH Aero TT model.

Get ready for a close-up look at this Lotto handlebar setup.

This bike had a Speedmax tri bar fitted, with 3D-printed custom extension ends, technology which has really helped tri bar tech develop.

Let’s zoom in again; note the perfectly integrated shift buttons on the underside of the extension handholds.

Custom Miche aero chainring over at FDJ; what a great colour match.

These silver extensions look especially space-age; the days of one-size-fits-all extension ends are long gone.

Lots of foam padding on these bars for comfort; in the past, a cut-up mouse mat has been a popular option.

Another very tidy setup on this Pinarello; that armrest pad will need sticking down, though.

Here’s another example: the ability to print something that feels perfect for a rider's hands must be a real asset.

This is a Canyon Speedmax front end, another very clean TT machine.

This is the mad-looking BMC Timemachine Mpc; it uses a wide fork and seat stay design.

Here’s Stefan Küng’s time trial bar, which features a connected, rounded handhold.

It’s a very tall and very tidy front end.

More tyre writing on this tyre from Decathlon; this is possibly the sealant refill date.

These guys have probably seen all sorts in Monaco, perhaps not a Canyon Speedmax, though.

Now we come to the road machines and new Dura-Ace components; we’ve got 13 sprockets on the new cassette.

It’s clear the groupset isn’t finished, and Shimano has form for trialling early versions of Dura-Ace, but we can learn a few things: firstly, the rear mech isn’t wireless.

Here’s a new crank arm too and we didn’t see any 1x version. It looks like carbon isn’t being adopted.

This looks like a new power meter charging point.

Next up are levers; the ‘A’ button on top of the shifter hood looks to be gone, though there is a marking up top that may hint at it remaining, and there appears to be a new additional shifter on the inside of each hood.

Overall, it’s a similar-looking shape to what we are used to seeing, but this may not be the final form.

Here’s another shot of the new shifters from above. The online reaction has felt lukewarm so far.

Here’s a lovely bike, Spanish national road race champion Marcel Camprubí's custom-painted Pinarello Dogma F.

It’s a clean, classy design showing off the Spanish colours.

Here’s the other side: Camprubí will no doubt be keen to do the bike justice in his home Grand Tour as national champion.

It’s an easy spot amongst the other Pinarello-Q36.5 team bikes.

Here’s a different coloured Ridley Noah Fast for Tobias Halland Johannessen.

Movistar will be looking for stage wins at this Vuelta; their Canyons have some eye-catching paint.

This is Enric Mas’ machine; spot that 140mm stem and time trial front tyre.

It seems to be a team-only paint job for this year.

We couldn’t help but notice Jorge Arcas’ slammed forward saddle position.

We’ll keep the Spanish theme going here with Equipo Kern Pharma’s Giant Propel team bikes, more non-WorldTour machinery to look at.

Another team with non-Shimano chainrings; this is a ‘The mechanic parts’ option.

Here’s an insight into this riders fuelling strategy.

Here’s the Propel seatmast topper; this kind of arrangement used to be far more common on race bikes.

The team are on Cadex Aero 30mm tyres.

Orbea had produced some custom-painted Orca bikes for the race; here’s a smooth pink and white one.

Check out the proprietary rear bottle cage design.

It’s now less common to see stock Dura-Ace chainrings; we could be looking at a new Shimano crankset in the near future though which might change this.

Steffen De Schuyteneer will be riding this model.

Red wheel decals were applied for the race leader overnight for the start of stage two.

40-55 tooth chainrings for Pogačar for the relatively flat second stage.

Here’s the Colnago wordmark peeking out on the Y1Rs bayonet-style fork.

Wout van Aert is also back and looking good; here’s the Belgian’s Cervélo S5

A nod to Van Aert dressing as a squirrel on the Belgian TV show ‘The Masked Singer’.

Reserve 64/57mm deep wheels for Van Aert; this combination seems to be used sparingly by the Visma team.

A single 54-tooth chainring for the Belgian superstar on stage two.

This is surely a colour combination Van Aert will be hoping to enjoy during this year's race.

More speed, captain. Richard Carapaz wasn’t holding back with his tyre choices, opting for Vittoria Time Trial tyres.

Hot off a scintillating Tour de France, Carapaz will surely have a few tricks to pull aboard his Cannondale Supersix.

41/54 tooth ‘Pro’ SRAM chainrings for the EF leader.

Mads Pedersen is also in the race, and his setups are always aggressive.

Here’s that big Trek Madone Isoflow cutout.

The Lidl-Trek team are still riding unreleased Bontrager RSL wheels; we’ll keep our eyes on these over the next few months.

Try this fuelling strategy out on your next long ride - we dare you.