New Factor 'Hanzo' time trial bike ridden by Chris Froome at the Tour de France

The Stage 20 time trial of the 2021 Tour de France saw Chris Froome and his Israel Start-Up Nation teammates take to the start ramp aboard an as-yet-unreleased Factor time trial bike.

The bike is the same as the model that first appeared at the Giro d'Italia at the end of May, but at that time it was completely blacked out, devoid of any branding whatsoever, leaving no obvious clues as to the brand or model name. As a result, it was presumed to be a new Factor Slick, in replacement for the team sponsor's existing TT bike. 

The bike, also ridden by Andre Greipel who today announced his retirement, is complete with a large Factor logo on the downtube, confirming suspicions that it is indeed a new Factor time trial bike. More notably, however, it is accompanied by the wordmark 'Hanzo' on the top tube, suggesting that instead of being a new 'Slick', this TT bike will get an all-new name. 

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It comes just a day after the team's co-owner, Sylvan Adams, leaked that it was indeed a Factor bike when complementing the bike's designer, saying "Factor’s gifted super engineer Graham Shrive has produced a new TT bike which we first tried at the Giro".

The frame itself is radical in its construction, utilising ultra-wide seat stays and fork legs that arc outward rapidly from their starting point, before continuing downward to the dropouts. It is a design not unlike the radical track bike designed by Lotus and Hope for the Tokyo Olympics. 

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Alongside the Factor branding, it features a spider web of colour, resplendent of the Israel Start-Up Nation logo across the downtube, seatstays and forks. 

Froome's bike has been paired with wheels from Black Inc, despite using non-sponsor Lightweight wheels at points during the race. The Factor base bar is paired with extensions from 51 Speedshop and Drag2Zero arm rests.