Tadej Pogačar has, unsurprisingly, got off to a strong start at this year’s Tour de France. The Slovenian superstar has already donned the yellow jersey for a day and we covered his yellow accented bike yesterday.
That bike was put away for a day though as Richard Carapaz took over the race lead, but will have to come back out of the cupboard again as Pogačar has retaken the race lead in fine style following a sensational attack and hair raising descent over the Col du Galibier.
Post Giro, UAE Team Emirates sports manager Joxean Matxin commented that Pogacar "didn't finish tired," and gave an insight into potential weight-saving upgrades ahead of the Tour in an interview first published by BiciPro.
“We’ve tested some new things on the bikes, mainly with regard to lightening them, and we did time trial testing,” Matxin said.
“Small things, but they make the difference. The bikes are the same as at the Giro, but we’ve tried to lighten them a bit.”
We have been keeping an eye out for some of the aforementioned weight-saving moves during the start of the Tour and have been excited to see things like aftermarket lightweight brake pads and upgraded bolts. Cyclingnews snapped Pogačar's number two bike on the ground at the Tour and we've taken a look at what we think are some of these upgrades.
It's common knowledge that UAE Team Emirates has a deal with purveyors of carbon exotica Carbon-Ti and there is a range of its components fitted to the bike. There are also some new parts we haven't seen before like a Spanish ceramic bottom bracket, an upgraded derailleur hanger and what appears to be some upgraded brake caliper hardware. We love seeing these upgraded parts, it almost reminds us of buying parts online for our own bikes and feels refreshing in the current era of sponsor correctness. Long may the weight weenie moves continue in the peloton.
Check out our bumper Tour de France tech gallery for lots more detailed tech shots.
