What makes a WorldTour bike? Oliver Naesen and Sam Bennett talk race bikes

What makes a WorldTour bike? It may seem a simple question at face value, but if most people were asked to explain it to a friend in 2024, they would probably say something like; 'Aero, handling and stiffness'. Racers want to go fast and bikes need to be able to cope with the power of some of the world's strongest bike riders as they thunder down technical mountain passes. But it's one thing to speculate and assume, it's another to speak with the riders who race these bikes at the highest level for a living.

Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale has hit the ground running this year. It's too early to say if the Van Rysel RCR has been the bike of the season, but the riders, bikes and overall equipment package seem to have coalesced into a winning formula this year. The Van Rysel RCR seemed to slot seamlessly into the WorldTour ranks and only appears to have received praise since its release. The team has claimed 23 victories already this year and currently sits 2nd overall in the 2024 UCI WorldTeam Rankings, a jump of 16 places compared to last year.   

We were able to chat with team riders Oliver Naesen and Sam Bennett about pro-level race bikes.  Naesen has been a professional for over a decade and can count a Belgian National road race title, and numerous other big Monument and Classics results on his palmares. Bennett is one of the peloton's fastest sprinters and has won stages in all three grand tours. It's safe to say this pair know what they are talking about when it comes to race bikes. 

For any fan of the sport, there are some fascinating pro insights here, from the ability to feel pedal wear and chamois thickness, thoughts on the new relationship with the Van Rysel engineers and a desire for one thing in particular; speed. 

So what makes a WorldTour bike? 

So what exactly makes a WorldTour bike in 2024? Well, it's probably hard to get far into the subject without 'aero' being mentioned, but aero is only one part of the equation. Naesen and Bennett shared their racer's perspectives on what makes a current-day WorldTour race bike. 

"First of all, there's the speed, there's the aerodynamics," Naesen said. "And what makes a fast bike? That's very much determined in the lab environment I think. Van Rysel bought a bunch of bikes and compared them. Borrowed a few ideas from this brand, a few other ones from that brand, to make their own bike as fast as possible."

"And second is the weight of course. So those two factors are the most important, and then afterwards is stuff like comfort and, of course, the geometry, how to get an aggressive position on it, But nowadays, actually, it's mostly speed driven." 

It's probably unsurprising, we hear the word used a lot for a reason, but Sam Bennett echoed Naesen's comments on speed and aerodynamics.

"It does have to be a well-rounded bike," began the Irishman, "but aerodynamics plays a huge part of it. Now, climbing at 20k an hour, aerodynamics can start to outweigh the weight of bikes, it needs to be a well-rounded bike, but I think mainly the aerodynamics."

A new partnership with Van Rysel 

Naesen confirmed that the team's riders were happy with their equipment package this year and that a strong relationship with the engineers at Van Rysel has also been formed.

"Yes. If riders are unhappy with the material most of the time, if they're professionals, you won't read anything about it. But if they're happy with it, you'll read about it, you'll hear about it, you'll see talk about it on TV." 

"That's the case this year with us. There's nobody that's unhappy with the bikes we have. The partnership with the brand is already paying dividends this year if you look at our results, which have been amazing compared to other years. We have to really thank them for that because as the riders, we just simply kept doing what we do, what we did last year. It's truly an amazing partnership." 

He also described a close-knit relationship between Van Rysel and Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale team staff and that there was no clear divide between the two.

"We call the engineers by their first names now, because we see them on every race. We saw them on our camps. We're part of their team. They're part of our team. We don't distinguish between Van Rysel people and members of the team. We see each other all the time, and it's really interesting."

"Sometimes when you have questions, like, let's say at the dinner table in a race, riders voice their concerns to each other, talking about the bike. This could be great, this could be less good and so on. When you see the engineers so often, every time you have a question, you just simply ask them. And those guys, most of them, are just so smart, they just have the answer, numbers-driven or data-driven I mean, to keep the concern to a minimum, if you ask, does this team have a faster bike or whatever, it's like, 'No, we tested it'."

"It's especially nice to know that it's going to be until at least 2028. It's nice because I know we're gonna have those bikes next year. Whereas, if you do bike testing work like that, for a sponsor that only has a one-year contract with your team, it's also interesting to do the work, because it's a job, but you're not doing it. There's nothing to gain for yourself, now it's very interesting and so motivating for the future."

Sam Bennett echoed Naesen's thoughts on the Van Rysel setup generally but explained he knew he had to ride a bike for himself to know for sure at first. 

"When you talk to bike brands, everybody says their brand is the best, and they have to believe it, I suppose, and they have to sell the product, and we have to sell the product. We got told last year it would be Van Rysel and the numbers were super impressive. But in my head, I was like I really have to wait till I ride it and then I'll be able to really tell. But I'm absolutely blown away by it. Everybody's super happy."

"It's a well-rounded bike, the climbers are happy, and the sprinters are happy. My favourite is the bigger depth wheels. Even on the climbing stages, I seem to get a really good response, even at low speeds. So climbing, it feels stiff. The bike feels fast. I can rail the corners with it, the whole package is just fantastic."

Bennett, who was part of the team that developed Specialized's S-Works Ares 'sprinter' shoe during his time at Bora-Hansgrohe and QuickStep, also seemed happy about the clear communication with engineers when asked about it and the positive team environment.

"I love that part of it as well. I love the numbers. I love knowing what's going into it. And if I can give feedback that they actually want to listen to, it's quite nice as well. They've been all ears, which is fantastic. You know they want to make the best bike they can, and that's why it's been great to work with them."

Requirements in a race bike

When asked if he had any specific requirements for his own race bike, Naesen's response showed a single-minded focus on one thing: speed. 

"All out speed, I'm not prone to injuries, so comfort and geometry are less important for me personally. Weight is also a bit less important. It's nice to have a fast bike, to be as light as possible. But I'm not aiming to be a climber or anything. It's nice to have a light bike launching out of corners and stuff like that, but if it's fast and long straights, most races average nearly 50km per hour. It's just all about the speed."

He also commented on just how much of what pro riders do is the same, and that, in his opinion, material has a big bearing on how races are decided nowadays.

"I'm under the impression that we all live very parallel lives to riders. I mean, we eat the same stuff, we do the same training rides, we put in the same hours. Our lives are extremely parallel, and yet there are such big differences in performance from team to team, and I think the material is the biggest factor in those better or worse performances. So the best bike for me is just plain and simply the fastest bike."

Sam Bennett has sprinted to victory in all three grand tours, including to victory on the Champs-Élysées in the Tour de France green jersey, surely about as good as it gets for any sprinter. He gave an insight into the requirements of the peloton's fastest riders and what he wants from his race bike to allow him to sprint and win.

"For me, a big part of it would be rolling resistance, aerodynamics and stiffness. Stiffness is a big thing because you don't want to be sprinting, feeling like you're losing something through the bike. And then also, for a sprinter, knowing that this bike is one of the quickest bikes in the peloton is also good for the head going into a sprint because you don't want to feel like you're at a disadvantage already. Tests are done at 40 and 50 kilometres per hour, but if we step out from a lead-out train or out of the peloton at 69, 70k an hour, you're hitting a block of wind, you know. And you can really feel that.

"So you want to have the stiffness. You want to have the aerodynamics. You want to know the numbers, I suppose. And I mean, you know, after that, then you're looking for the rolling resistance with the tyres. You're looking for good bike handling, a lot of the time it can be raining in sprints, it can be technical final. So, yeah, having a bike that is easy to handle in the peloton, because it gets quite aggressive in bunch sprints. You could make fairly aggressive bike manoeuvres. There are a lot of things here you are looking for."

Equipment and professionalism

Naesen disagreed with the idea that some riders are able to just jump on any bike and ride it well in the current era, that it's simply a tool for them and they can throw a leg over any bike and perform.

"No one at all, not today. There's some outliers that have just genetic advantage, or way bigger talent than others. And if you would give them any bike, they would still perform well or semi-well. But if you put a great rider on a bad bike, it's over for him. 

"If I were a consumer, I would really base the brand of the bike I'd buy on the results of WorldTour teams, simple as that. Because, like I said, we all do exactly the same stuff. Everybody at the same time does the same training camps throughout the rest of the year. We have such parallel lives. It's incredible. The only difference is the material."

He also explained that riders discuss when they aren't happy with things internally, but in the name of professionalism and sponsor correctness, you will rarely if ever hear of it in the media.

"Of course, the cycling world is very small, and especially among Belgians, there are so many Belgian WorldTour riders from WorldTour teams, when we speak to each other, often the discussions are guided towards material, and there's always stuff that the riders are unhappy or very unhappy with. I mean, we also see from the outside when the team doesn't go well or goes very well, it must be because they changed this or that."

"As an example, last week in the Dauphine, on some descent, we were descending one of these mountains with our team in the wheel of another team, and they had some trouble going through corners. And, you know, knowing each other fairly well, we were joking together with them. And then afterwards it was, 'You guys have those tyres, what do you want from us? We have this tyre.' Stuff like that does happen, but you wouldn't read about that in the newspaper."

Pro rider bike feel 

Naesen said everything had to be perfect on his race bike when asked what mattered most to him, but explained that the contact points of cleats, saddle and handlebars took priority. He also gave an insight into a pro's feel for the bike that goes far beyond what most of us would ever be able to notice.

"All of it. But the three contact points I would say. For example, this morning, I changed cleats, and two kilometres into a training ride I turned back home for an Allen key because something was a little bit off. If my saddle is one millimetre lower or higher, I would sense it immediately. If the shifters are turned inwards one degree more or less, you feel it instantly. If the saddle is a bit more worn on your bike number one, than your number two spare bike that you don't use and you switch bikes, you feel straight away there's something different with the saddle. Every detail. You sense it straight away."

"But I don't like to make a thing out of it, in the Dauphiné last week, I broke my bike number one in that huge crash and had to take a different bike. The position is exactly the same, but there is zero wear on the pedals and zero wear on the saddle. I sense that immediately."

Bennett echoed teammate Naesen's comments on saddle height and feel, this also extended to being able to feel when a chamois pad is a different thickness in his cycling shorts. 

"I’m super, super particular about my saddle height and position, I feel every half millimetre. Saddle angle and height I'm really sensitive too. Even down to my chamois, they have to be in the right place, if a skin suit and shorts are slightly off, it could throw my position completely and have me working totally different muscles, my cardiovascular system would be fine, but if the muscle groups are working different, I get really bunged up with that."

"Sometimes I could take out a new pair of shorts, and if I've been using a few pairs of shorts, and the chamois could have gone soft after half a year, the saddle could be worn, shoe insoles could be worn, and then all of a sudden, I think the bike is off.”