Tour de France tech: Cavendish debuts hydraulic rim brakes

Stage 1 of the Tour de France may have been marked by crashes, a team bus and Marcel Kittel pulling on yellow but there were a number of tech aspects that made waves too.

First up was Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-QuickStep), who was debuting hydraulic rim brakes for the first time. There was also the new Look 695 Aerolight at Cofidis and the new, more sculpted Orbea Orca were all present on yesterday’s first stage to Bastia.

There were also tyres from Schwalbe – called the One – which carried the company’s First Ride stamp, a sure sign that some new road tyres are on the way.