The Van Rysel RCR-F is already winning at the biggest races, and you can have an identical pro-level setup from the shop floor

If you’re a cycling fan and you haven’t been living under a rock for the past few years, you’ll undoubtedly have noticed one brand, more than perhaps any other, having a meteoric rise not just on the pro scene but out on your home roads too. Van Rysel, hailing from Lille in northern France, has upset the established players in the market by offering genuine pro-level performance straight from the shop floor to its customers.

In recent season,s we’ve seen the riders of Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale tackling the biggest races in the world aboard the Van Rysel RCR-R, a do-it-all race bike which was praised for bringing WorldTour performance to the people across all terrains. Now the French brand has a new machine that raises the bar even higher, taking aim at flatter, faster stages where aerodynamic efficiency and brute strength outgun featherweight climbing bikes, and just like the RCR-R Pro, it’s available to the public in an identical spec to that which the pro riders use day in and day out.

This new bike, the RCR-F, already has victories to its name and looks to add more to its tally on home turf as the Tour de France begins this year in Lille. What’s more, the French squad are kitted out head to toe in Van Rysel kit; not content with just producing new, disruptive race bikes, the brand also now makes WorldTour-level kit, helmets, shoes, and sunglasses too.

The new Van Rysel RCR-F

There’s no denying that the RCR-R Pro is a good bike, but in order to stay competitive nowadays, any bike brand worth its salt needs something aerodynamic in the range. With this in mind, Van Rysel partnered up with the aerodynamic experts at Swiss Side to develop the RCR-F in the wind tunnel.

Every contour of the frame has been sculpted to reduce drag as much as possible. The head tube and fork legs are deeper, and the down tube has been widened to shape the air around your bottles to help the bike scythe through the air more readily, especially when paired with deep, Swiss Side carbon wheels in the pro-tier models.

The aerodynamic fettling hasn’t just been limited to the new frame though, with an all-new cockpit from Italian brand Deda exclusively for the RCR-F that shrouds all the cables and hoses to hide them from the wind and also to create a sleek, uncluttered silhouette because, let's face it, aesthetics are important too.

The countless hours in the wind tunnel have made the RCR-F a full 13 watts more efficient than the RCR-R at 45km/h, which is more than enough to assist anyone, whether they are fighting for the Tour de France green jersey or simply battling their friends in the Sunday morning town sign sprint. Decathlon pro rider, Pierre Gautherat, certainly noticed the gains when he tested the new machine out:

Aero efficiency is nothing, though, without efficient power transfer. With this in mind, the engineers in Lille iterated carbon layups for the frame to make sure every last watt from your legs is transferred to the road, without adding unnecessary bulk.

The RCR-F, as well as being more aero, is 7% stiffer than its climbing stablemate. This combination of stiffness and aerodynamics is why superstar sprinter Sam Bennett uses it as his bike of choice.

At the very highest level of our sport, performance trumps all other considerations, but that hasn’t stopped the designers keeping a keen eye on aesthetics too. If a bike doesn’t look good you wouldn’t want to ride it, and so in addition to the Decathon team colours, the RCR-F can be purchased in a stealthy black paint scheme, a silver fade, or even a regal purple for those who like to stand out from the crowd. Whichever you go for, you’ll be sure to turn heads as you break away from the pack.

Specs and where to buy

Unlike many top end bikes, where you have to be a sponsored athlete to get access to the team bikes, you can pick up the new RCR-F, the very same bike that Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale will be using at this year’s Tour de France, directly from Van Rysel or in Sigma Sports for UK customers, either online or in store.

The top spec model is handsomely equipped with a range-topping Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 R9200 groupset, deep carbon Swiss Side Hadron2 wheels shod with the benchmark Continental GP5000 S TR tubeless tyres, and a Fizik saddle provides a comfortable perch so you can focus on the road ahead.

Now we can all buy a Tour de France bike, we're going to have to come up with some new excuses for getting dropped, as it certainly won’t be down to the new Van Rysel RCR-F.