New frames, shoes, helmets and more on show at the Tour de France precursor
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Only some of the BMC Racing team have been given the latest Teammachine SLR01 framesets, launched officially last week in Switzerland (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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Ben Swift talks his former teammates through his UAE Team Emirates Colnago C60 (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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The KTM Revelator features a neat seat post clamp mechanism (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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Siskevicius of Delko Marseille Provence was running a low and long Ritchey stem aboard his KTM Revelator (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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Contador's third bike is his custom painted Trek Project One Madone (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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Alberto Contador has been running Continental Competition tubular tyres at the race, the only Trek-Segafredo rider to do so (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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The new Cervelo R5 was first spotted at the Dubai Tour earlier this year in obscuring balck and white livery. This is the latest R5 in the Dimension Data team colours (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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Dimension Data run ROTOR cranksets, powermeters and out-front mounts (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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Fouriers produce a Shimano Di2 junction box mount that sits below the stem without the need for cable ties or rubber bands and doubles up as a spacer (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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Irish national champion Nico Roche wears Oakley Jawbreakers customised by Optiek van Gorp (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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Cannondale-Drapac use Tacx Neo trainers for warm-ups and warm-downs (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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Dan Martin is riding the race on what we suspect to be the 2018 Specialized Tarmac (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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Haimar Zubeldia (Trek-Segafredo) wears the new Bontrager helmet, seen for the first time at the race (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
Valverde's nickname is 'El Bala' or The Bullet (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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Alejandro Valverde has a custom painted Canyon Ultimate commemorating 100 WorldTour victories and four-time UCI WorldTour champion (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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SRAM Red eTap components for Delko Marseille Provence (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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Zefal Pulse carbon bottle cages were on display (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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Apparently BMC have worn the same jersey for the past seven seasons (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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Ian Boswell is the only rider in the race to wear Rapha shoes. Boswell also opts for Speedplay pedals (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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Alberto Contador shows off his new Bontrager helmet to Irish national champion Nico Roche (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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Knees' custom shoes feature a camoflouge blue design to compliment the Team Sky colours (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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Christian Knees wears custom painted Lake CX 402 shoes (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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Chris Froome appears to be wearing an update of the Sidi Shot, which he debuted at the Dauphine last year. Extra perforations perhaps point to a lighter weight, hot weather version (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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Bryan Coquard of Direct Energie's Hutchinson tubular tyres (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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LottoNL-Jumbo ran a mix of Shimano Dura-Ace 9000 and 9100 series wheelsets (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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Nacer Bouhanni's name adorns his Vision wheels aboard the Orbea Orca (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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Elite launched new bottles at the Giro d'Italia last month (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
Michael Morkov was the only rider on stage 2 to race with disc brakes (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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Internal hydraulic cable routing on the Canyon Aeroad disc (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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The bikes were running 160mm rotors on the front and 140mm on the rear, the generally agreed standard among the peloton (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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Alexander Kristoff and Rick Zabel had disc versions of the Canyon Aeroad as spare bikes (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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Sonny Colbrelli of Bahrain-Merida is rumoured to be riding the latest Merida Reacto and has wrapped the frame in black and white stickers to keep the details obscured (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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The Giant TCR Advanced SL0 is now a Giro d'Italia winning machine (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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The new frameset has slightly wider rear stays, so the geometry remains the same between disc and calliper versions (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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A good percentage of WorldTour pros run Ultegra cassettes to keep costs down, and occasionally to add weight to bikes that come in under the UCI weight limit (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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Talansky runs a 53/39T FSA chainrings, Cannondale's SISL cranks and a SRM powermeter (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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Despite having a neat race number mount from K3 Holders, the Cannondale-Drapac mechanics still use cable ties for added security (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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Like many Pro Continental and Continental level teams, Wanty-Groupe Gobert run mechanical groupsets (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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UAE Team Emirates' Colnago C60's always catch the eye (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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Chris King ceramic hubs with ceramic bearings on the ENVE 4.5 SES wheels (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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DT Swiss 240 hubs on display for Dimension Data (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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ENVE offer their 4.5 SES wheelsets with an ENVE, DT Swiss or Chris King hubs (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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Boasson Hagen generally runs 54T outer chainrings for sprint stages (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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Team Dimension Data are equipped with Tacx Deva bottle cages (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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The Cervelo S5 also has lion on the outside of the fork representing the eternal king of Norway (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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Boasson Hagen's frame features the Norwegian flag inside the stays and forks, as well as under the top tube (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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The Teammachine SLR01 also features a new stem, with the fastening bolts to the rear of the face plate (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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Internal rear brake cable routing keeps the bike looking clean (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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Giant's Contact SLR components were used by Tom Dumoulin during last month's Giro d'Italia victory (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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Fabio Aru checks out his new bike (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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Fabio Aru also has a custom painted Argon18 Gallium frameset (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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Limar has produced a customised helmet for the Sardinian Fabio Aru (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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Alberto Contador rode stage 1 of the race on the new Trek Emonda (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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Simon Gerrans rode the Scott Addict for stage 1, whilst his Orica-Scott teammates opted for the aero Foil model (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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No prizes for guessing whose cranks these are (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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Smiley Colombian Esteban Chaves promotes the Esteban Chaves Foundation on his head tube (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
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Alexander Kristoff's saddle has seen better days (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
Edvald Boasson Hagen has a custom painted Cervelo S5 commemorating his Norwegian national championship (Image credit: Josh Evans / Immediate Media)
The Criterium du Dauphine is one of the final chances for riders with GC ambitions to test themselves ahead of the Tour de France in July. A race with prestige in its own right, Criterium du Dauphine winners, have built a reputation of subsequently winning the Tour the following month. Chris Froome, Bradley Wiggins, Greg LeMond, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain have all done the Criterium du Dauphine/Tour de France double to name just a few.
The race has also become a hotbed for new tech, as it offers riders an opportunity to test equipment in a race scenario ahead of the biggest event of the season. New frames, components and apparel have all been spotted here in recent years, generally showcasing products that will be available to the general public in the following season.
2017 sees the 69th edition of the race and a stellar line-up including three-time winner Chris Froome, two-time winner Alejandro Valverde, more former winners in Andrew Talansky and Janez Brajkovic, as well as Dan Martin, Richie Porte, Romain Bardet and Alberto Contador who have all podiumed at the race. Esteban Chaves, Simon Yates and an array of sprinters were also on the start line in Saint-Étienne in what should be a thrilling week.
Both Contador and Martin began the race on previously unseen framesets from Trek and Specialized respectively. The Trek Emonda SLR bears the UCI approved frame code that correlates with the 2018 Emonda, whilst Martin's new Specialized points towards the unreleased Specialized Tarmac. Both framesets look as if they will also be released in disc versions, although the calliper versions being raced by the pair each have direct mount brakes.
As well as the headlining bikes from the component giants Trek and Specialized, new frames were seen underneath Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida) and Arnaud Demare (FDJ), whom are riding new aero frames from Merida and Lapierre.
Trek-Segafredo also appear to be wearing a new Bontrager helmet. Cyclingnews reached out to Bontrager for a comment and although confirming the team are wearing new helmets, were unable to provide any further information until its official release.
Reigning champion of the event, Chris Froome was the first rider to wear the Sidi Shot shoes at the race last year. This year, Froome seems to be wearing an updated version of the shoe that feature more perforations on the upper suggesting a lighter weight option for climbing or hotter temperatures.
The usual arrays of custom products are also on show at the race. Irish national champion Nicolas Roche (BMC Racing) is wearing Oakley Jawbreakers in Irish colours, custom painted by Optiek Van Gorp. Christian Knees (Team Sky) had a pair of custom Lake shoes, whilst the Astana team leader Fabio Aru had an eye-catching red Argon18 Gallium frameset.
Valverde, Adrien Petit (Direct Energie), Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Dimension Data) and Contador all also had custom painted frames on display at the race.
Click or swipe through the extensive gallery above to take a look on all that was on show at the week-long stage race in France.
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