2021 Team bikes of the men’s WorldTour

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2021 Team bikes of the men’s WorldTour

For the first time in years, the UCI WorldTour didn’t start at the Tour Down Under in Adelaide. As such, our annual “bikes of the WorldTour” feature has also been delayed. Instead, the UAE Tour was this year’s WorldTour curtain-raiser and got underway last weekend.

As you might expect, we have not had a chance to get up close and personal with the 2021 WorldTour bikes, but we were determined to keep the tradition going. We reached out to every men’s WorldTour team to get photos of their 2021 rigs. While not quite the same, we hope this virtual version of the annual tradition brings you a little sense of normality.

As we reported last October, WorldTour team bikes played a game of musical chairs over the winter. When the music stopped, Mitchelton-Scott had changed their name to Team Bike-Exchange and landed on Bianchi bikes, Jumbo-Visma grabbed Cervelo, and when Sunweb took a vacation, DSM found a seat with Scott. BMC seemingly got greedy taking both Ag2r and Qubekha Assos, leaving both the legend Eddy Merckx and Giant without a seat and out of the game.

Amidst all this confusion, some things seemingly never change. Deceuninck-Quickstep and Bora-Hansgrohe stick with long time partners Specialized, Bahrain Victorious has had a name change but the marriage with Merida is still strong. Team Ineos heads into its 12th season aboard Pinarello rigs. Lastly, Lotto Soudal and Groupama FDJ management are no gamblers as they stick with Ridley and Lappiere respectively.

So with that, grab yourself a coffee, check out the bikes and drop us a comment if you spot anything at the UAE tour that the teams have not shared with us in their photos.

Listing the teams alphabetically AG2R-Citroën is up first. If we were to choose which team to start with, AG2R would still be first. The long-standing French squad signed a host of new riders, switched focus to the classics, and everything bar pedals has changed on the team bikes.

BMC replaces Eddy Merckx as frame supplier and also provides stem and handlebars. AG2R briefly ran Campagnolo components in 2019, before switching to Shimano (reportedly due to compatibility issues). Campagnolo is back supplying its disc brake Super Record EPS groupsets for 2021. With Campagnolo also supplying wheels this year and the team using Campagnolo Power2Max power meters, expect the partnership to stick this year.

Fizik provides saddles and Pirelli is on board to supply the team’s tyres.

It’s as you were for the Kazak squad. Disc brake only Wiliers with Shimano components and Corima wheels. Astana riders will again run Ceramic Speed oversize pulley wheels and prologo saddles. Look pedals and Vittoria tyres will provide familiar setups for Astana riders.

While the sponsors remain the same, the riders do have a new bike to enjoy. Wilier launched its Filante SLR last November, stay tuned to CyclingTips for a review of that bike in the near future.

Bahrain Victorious

The team name has changed and Cav has gone, but the bikes remain the same, right down to the paint. Riders sticking with the team will most likely welcome this continuity. The saddles, bars, frames, wheels, tyres and even braking system are exactly what the team have become accustomed to. This makes for a smooth transition from last years rigs to this years.

The team uses Vision Metron wheels, and FSA components, including the ACR integrated cable routing system on the new Reacto.

Bike Exchange

In contrast, its nearly all change at Team Bike Exchange. Groupsets, wheels and tyres remain the same, but Bianchi, Fizik and FSA are providing frames, saddles and bars to the Australian outfit.

Riders will have the choice of the new Specialissima and the Oltre XR4 for road stages. The riders will swap to rim brakes and the Aquila frame for time trials. Perhaps more notably, the team switches from Shimano wheels to Vision wheels for the race against the clock.

Bora – Hansgrohe

Peter Sagan and crew will roll into the 2021 World Tour exactly as they left the 2020 World Tour aboard the Specialized Tarmac SL7. The team will also have the choice of the Roubaix for the cobbled classics.

The bikes are decked out with Shimano groupsets, Roval wheels, Specialized tyres, and saddles. Wahoo provides navigation and ride data with its range of Elemnt head units. For time trial stages the Bora-Hansgrohe riders will switch to still relatively new Shiv TT Disc.

Team Cofidis

Unfortunately, we received no response from Team Cofidis but we did find this picture of the De Rosa Merak on the team website. Now in its second year at the WorldTour level, it appears Cofidis will continue with a similar setup to last season. De Rosa provides the frames with the Merak all-rounder pictured here.

Campagnolo provides the groupsets and sister brand Fulcrum supply the wheels. SRM power meters and head units will keep count of all those watts.

Expect to see team sprinters including Elia Viviani on the De Rosa SK Pininfarina.

Deceuninck Quickstep

It’s as you were for the Wolfpack, who will continue to hunt wins left, right, and centre on Specialized’s Tarmac SL7 and Shiv TT Disc models. Quickstep Floors (as it was known then) was the first team to win at UCI level using disc brakes and also one of the first teams to move entirely to disc brakes. Compare this to today’s pro peloton where disc brakes are commonplace and rim brakes have disappeared from all bar one team.

As has been the case for a number of years, Roval provides the wheels which are wrapped in Specialized tyres, with the riders perched on Specialized saddles. The team uses Tacx bottle cages and Wahoo head units.

Deceuninck-Quickstep riders can also call upon the Specialized Roubaix for the cobbled classics, will we see a new Roubaix with a suspension seat post this Spring?

Team DSM

Riders at Team DSM will have had some work to do at pre-season training camps to dial in their positions on brand new steeds. The team formerly known as Team Sunweb made the switch from Cervelo to Scott bikes. The riders will have to familiarise themselves with the handling of the new bikes and also the grip levels of Vittoria tyres having previously ridden continental.

With saddles from PRO and sister company Shimano providing groupsets and wheels, there will be some level of familiarity for the riders remaining with the team from last year.

EF Education – Nippo

EF Education-Nippo stuck firmly to the rules with its new kit design and firmly to a familiar setup with its bikes. Cannondale supply the American team with bikes for the seventh successive season, stretching all the way back to the Garmin-Sharp / Team Cannondale merger at the end of 2014

The Cannondale SystemSix and SuperSix frames are equipped with Shimano groupsets, Power2Max power meters, Vision Wheels, bars and stems, Speedplay pedals and Vittoria tyres. To finish the bikes off the team has Tacx bottle cages, plus saddles and bar tape from Prologo.

Groupama-FDJ

Groupama-FDJ has ridden Lapierre bikes since before the World Tour existed and that partnership shows no signs of ending any time soon. The team will have the new Aircode, which we first spotted almost a year ago before its launch last September, for flat or faster stages. While for the mountainous days the team can turn to the Xelius model.

The team will run Shimano Dura-Ace Di2, Dura-Ace wheels and Dura-Ace pedals on both bike options. As a Shimano sponsored team, Groupama-FDJ bikes feature stems, bars, bar tape, and seat posts (Xelius only) all from sister brand PRO. The saddles are from Italian brand Prologo. The bikes are completed with Continental tubular tyres.

Ineos Grenadiers

Ineos Grenadiers did not supply us with a photo of this years bike, so we dug up this one from last year, because functionally it hasn’t changed much. The image is of the stripped-down X-Light version of Pinarello’s F12 as seen at last years Tour Down Under.

The Ineos Grenadiers have hit the season hard winning at the Etoile de Besseges and the Tour de la Provence on F12s very similar to those we seen the team on last year.

The British registered team, widely credited with the creation of the marginal gains approach, are now the last remaining team sticking solely with rim brakes.

The team has a tried and tested recipe with Dura-Ace Di2 groupsets, MOST integrated handlebar and stem, and Fizik saddles. While the team used Dura-Ace wheels in both French races, it remains to be seen if the team turns again to the Lightweight Meilenstein Obermeyers for the biggest races of the year.

After Giro winner Tao Geoghegan Hart’s hit-out at Tour des Alpes Maritines, we can show you what the new bike looks like:

Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert-Materiaux

Unfortunately, we did not receive a reply from the newly promoted Belgian World Tour team, but it did post this video on the team YouTube channel just yesterday.

From what we can see in the video the team’s Cube Litening C:68x are almost identical to last years, with one notable exception being German brand Newmen Components now supplying wheels.

Israel Start-up Nation

Israel Start-up Nation had a successful first year at World Tour level scoring victories in both the Giro and the Vuelta. The team has been further strengthened over the winter and Factor bikes also unveiled the Ostro VAM, a new lightweight aero bike.

As if Dave Rome’s review didn’t tell you everything you need to know about the new Factor Ostro, Chris Froome recently did his own review.

Factor’s sister company Black Inc provide the wheels and integrated cockpits. The team bikes are equipped with Shimano groupsets, ceramic speed oversize pulley wheels and bearings, and roll on Maxxis tyres.

Jumbo-Visma

Dutch World Tour team home to Primoz Roglic and Wout Van Aert was one of this year’s big movers in terms of equipment. The team not only moved across from Bianchi (including some all-black XR4s seen at last years Tour) to Cervelo, but it has also made a complete switch from all rim brake bikes to solely disc brake setups.

Wheels, groupsets, pedals and saddles from Shimano and Fizik have followed Jumbo-Visma across to Cervelo. Vittoria has also continued with the grand tour winning team, so besides the frames and brakes, it is a familiar setup for the Jumbo-Visma riders.

Lotto Soudal

Lotto and Ridley have been a constant partnership since the start of the 2012 season. The second sponsor name has changed a number of times, this year it is Soudal, but the Belgian team has stuck with the Belgian bike brand.

The components suppliers have stayed remarkably similar also. Campagnolo, Selle Italia, SRM, Vittoria, and Deda have been an ever-present combination.

The bikes certainly look the part and the riders deliver World Tour success year on year. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right?

Movistar

Team Movistar went through a major overhaul prior to the start of the 2020 season moving away from Campagnolo components for the first time in its long history. The team moved to SRAM and Zipp components for its Canyon frames.

Unsurprisingly, given the scale of last years changes, the team’s 2021 bikes remain largely the same as its 2021 models. Save for the paint, everything else remains identical: Fizik saddles, Continental tyres, Elite bottle cages, Lizard Skins bar tape, Look pedals, and Garmin head units will all be familiar to the riders and mechanics alike.

Qhubeka-Assos

Qhubeka-Assos is another team that didn’t provide any pictures of the new bikes, but we assume they might be pretty busy at the moment given that the team was just recently saved from extinction at the 11th hour.

The team will ride a familiar setup to last year’s NTT squad. The BMC Teammachine SLR 01 will provide a platform for the only African registered team in the World Tour. Hunt wheels provide the most noticeable change to team equipment and Goodyear tyres mean a completely new wheel system for the team. Riders will use Goodyear’s Eagle F1 tyre.

Selle Italia provides the saddles for those cushiony Assos chamois, Ceramic Speed takes care of drag reduction with OSPW and bearings. The bikes are completed with Shimano Dura-Ace groupsets, except that is for the cranks. The team will use Rotor’s new Aldhu Carbon modular crank, complete with power measuring compatibility.

Trek-Segafredo

Trek-Segafredo is another team keeping things familiar for 2021. Riders will have a choice of the recently updated, lighter Madone and the all-new Emonda launched last June.

The team sticks with SRAM’s Red AXS eTap 12-speed shifting, Bontrager RSL 37, XXX 4.0, XXX 6.0 wheelsets, Pirelli P-Zero tyres, Bontrager XXX stem and bottle cages and Bontrager bars.

Riders will also have the Domane to call upon for the classics season and Trek’s Speed Concept for time trial stages.

Trek-Segafredo riders will have to familiarise themselves with Wahoo head units as Trek joins a long list of teams to have switched to the increasingly popular GPS devices.

UAE-Team Emirates

Tadej Pogačar was the first Slovenian to win the Tour de France and, surprisingly, the first rider ever to win aboard a Colnago (at least one branded Colnago). UAE-Team Emirates has largely stuck with the winning recipe for 2021. The only major changes this season sees the team switch from rim brake to solely disc brake and from Stages power meters to SRM.

In another small change, the 2021 bikes also get an updated Colnago decal and, perhaps controversially, Richard Mille watches adorn the stems of all bikes and the arms of a few riders.

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