Critérium du Dauphiné mega tech gallery: Three prototype bikes and more

Dauphine stage 1

The Tour de France is, for cycling, something akin to a season finale that occurs in the middle of the season. Teams want to use the best tech possible, but they also try and avoid using anything brand new, preferring to trial potential new products in the warm up races leading up to La Grand Boucle. One such warm up is the Critérium du Dauphiné, a one week stage race in central France.

Last year we saw the first pictures of the new Trek Madone here, and this year the talk of the town is the new BMC prototype that's broken cover. We've got a separate story just for that if you want to nerd out on all the juicy details, but roaming the paddock at Chambon sur Lac, I spotted plenty more noteworthy tech. The BMC wasn't the only prototype, with something brand new from Ridley too, and the same Look prototype I spotted at the Tour of Flanders earlier in the year.

Without further ado, then, here is all I've snapped, papped, and gleaned from the start of the Dauphiné. Every custom paint job, aero mod, sponsor incorrect piece of gear and plenty more besides. 

At Lotto-Dstny a never before seen, seemingly all round road bike was spotted (Image credit: Will Jones)

Not so deep as the Noah, nor as spindly as the Helium (Image credit: Will Jones)

It certainly blended in better with the team bikes than the new BMC, as you'll see shortly  (Image credit: Will Jones)

A relatively deep BB, but nothing like those seen on aero bikes (Image credit: Will Jones)

A fresh head tube, and fork too by the looks of things (Image credit: Will Jones)

Victor Campenaerts returned to racing on stage one, having recovered from a broken back. He clearly hasn't lost a great deal of muscle mass... (Image credit: Will Jones)

Gold chains all round for Lotto-Dstny  (Image credit: Will Jones)

Something about this bike is not like the others... (Image credit: Will Jones)

Is it the bars? No, they just have hoods swept in as normal (Image credit: Will Jones)

Can you spot it here, as the team car drives past? (Image credit: Will Jones)

Yep, it's the extremely subtle and hard to spot trademark enormous chainring. Only 58t here, with a 44t inner ring, smaller than the insane 62t monster setup he used at Opening Weekend this year; no classified hub this time though (Image credit: Will Jones)

Is this tech? No, but it's dead cute, and why Victor is a firm fan favourite (Image credit: Will Jones)

The other big scoop of the day was the brand new BMC prototypes seen at AG2R (Image credit: Will Jones)

The good thing about prototypes is that you can test them out and see what doesn't work. In this case the down tube bottle  rests on the seat tube bottle, rather than the bottom of its cage (Image credit: Will Jones)

Clearly Red Bull have had some input. Given the F1 connection it could be wind tunnel, carbon expertise, both, or more (Image credit: Will Jones)

The dropouts are very neat, with no axle exposed (Image credit: Will Jones)

A high BB box, as has become the norm for aero bikes (Image credit: Will Jones)

As ever, a one piece cockpit is fitted (Image credit: Will Jones)

The forks are pretty wild to behold. Tyre clearance doesn't seem as wide as you'd think, but the wide legs are very reminiscent of the Hope x Lotus track bike of the last Olympics (Image credit: Will Jones)

The prototype of Ben O'Connor was notable for being the only team bike equipped with the new £4.5k Super Record groupset (Image credit: Will Jones)

The rear derailleur has had a total overhaul to account for the standalone battery design (Image credit: Will Jones)

As has the front derailleur, though the batteries aren't interchangeable as they are with SRAM systems  (Image credit: Will Jones)

O'Connor has an older power meter fitted, as despite the giant price tag of the new groupset, there's no power meter option as yet (Image credit: Will Jones)

Over at EF Education-Easypost rider's bottles are marked up. 60, I suspect, denotes the carb content, while X is likely just plain water (Image credit: Will Jones)

An FSA crankset deviates from the Dura-Ace build up (Image credit: Will Jones)

Again, not strictly tech, but team issue bucket hats are cool, and I want one - My DM's are open, EF! (Image credit: Will Jones)

Despite the 'LAB71' paint on all the team bikes, each rider is still using the Hi-MOD version of the new Cannondale Supersix (Image credit: Will Jones)

Richard Carapaz has more than one custom bike with him for the Dauphiné. Here, it's his national champions bike... (Image credit: Will Jones)

...complete with Ecuadorian crests on the forks...  (Image credit: Will Jones)

...and here is his gold bike, for being Olympic champion (Image credit: Will Jones)

Gold pen marks Carapaz' saddle height, but that's not an Olympic affectation; every bike uses gold pen (Image credit: Will Jones)

A last minute crankset swap for a Movistar rider (Image credit: Will Jones)

Enric Mas has a superlight version of the new Canyon Ultimate, with next to no paint at all besides the shadows of the Canyon lettering (Image credit: Will Jones)

His hubs were seen with blue stickers, which didn't feature on any other team wheels. The reason for this remains a mystery for now (Image credit: Will Jones)

Satellite blips tucked under the hoods for shifting while sprinting (Image credit: Will Jones)

Oddly, Mas chooses not to use the top-end Look Keo Blade pedals, instead opting for the Keo 2 Max Carbon model (Image credit: Will Jones)

A quick check of the tyre pressure makes sure the bike is race ready before the start of the stage (Image credit: Will Jones)

Another rider also sported a lighter paint scheme, just mot quite so minimal (Image credit: Will Jones)

Here's essentially all the paint used on Mas' bike; a few dashes of white (Image credit: Will Jones)

A Fizik Argo saddle is the perch of choice for Mas (Image credit: Will Jones)

Open bolt recesses aren't aero, but it's nothing a bit of electrical tape can't fix (Image credit: Will Jones)

Other Movistar riders opted for the Aeroad, despite the lumpy profile for stage one and in general (Image credit: Will Jones)

I don't think I've ever seen SRAM blips here, where Giulio Ciccone runs his, presumably to enable shifting with his little or ring fingers during extended periods in the drops (Image credit: Will Jones)

Given how Covid impacted the recent Giro d'Italia, we saw most teams masking up (Image credit: Will Jones)

Cycling doesn't get any more euro than this (Image credit: Will Jones)

Alaphilippe not running tubeless here, but curiously his team bikes had different valves. Perhaps one of his spare bikes was using latex tubes... (Image credit: Will Jones)

...and the other simple butyl? (Image credit: Will Jones)

One of his spare bikes also uses old 11sp chainrings, which is a common mod (Image credit: Will Jones)

Posh pulley wheels were on show on some Intermarche-Wanty-Circus bikes (Image credit: Will Jones)

While some riders opt for a rundown of the stage profile, other simply like to be told when and what to eat and drink (Image credit: Will Jones)

Rotor chainsets stray away from the Shimano build (Image credit: Will Jones)

The paint is much better in real life, but this gives you an idea of the textured finish beneath the gloss varnish (Image credit: Will Jones)

Here a rider has the classic stage info to refer to (Image credit: Will Jones)

Instructions as to how to tighten the seatpost for even the most forgetful of mechanics (Image credit: Will Jones)

Astana have swapped to HED for their wheels, but there's still a fair few old Corima's kicking about (Image credit: Will Jones)

The Wilier 0 SLR features this slightly odd bulge under the top tube, to hold the seatpost wedge (Image credit: Will Jones)

Some riders like stats, some like maps (Image credit: Will Jones)

As per the Cube bikes above, the pain on the Astana Willier bikes is something to behold (Image credit: Will Jones)

The rain held off for most of the day, but eventually the heavens opened (Image credit: Will Jones)

Although these cranks are on a prototype Look, they are much less frensh (Image credit: Will Jones)

The third prototype on show, though we've seen this new look Look before (Image credit: Will Jones)

Atilla Valta gets national champs forks on his Cervélo (Image credit: Will Jones)

Stage one winner Christophe Laporte doesn't run any spacers under his cockpit... (Image credit: Will Jones)

...but Tour de France winner, and last years Dauphiné winner Jonas Vingegaard does (Image credit: Will Jones)

Here's a better look at the headtube of the S5 (Image credit: Will Jones)

Happy coffee cups keep the team in good spirits (Image credit: Will Jones)

Race number 1 for the winner of last year's race (Image credit: Will Jones)

Matteo Trentin was sporting superlight disc rotors with carbon spiders (Image credit: Will Jones)

We got to see first hand how the silver paint on the Colnago V4Rs is applied when we went behind the scenes at the Colnago factory (Image credit: Will Jones)

Only Yates'spare bike was rocking the carbon chainrings we also saw at the Tour of Flanders (Image credit: Will Jones)

The ramps and flats are riveted into the carbon  (Image credit: Will Jones)

The teeth are still metal; carbon doesn't cope so well with abrasion (Image credit: Will Jones)

The seat clamp on the Dogma's of Team Ineos are titanium (Image credit: Will Jones)

Bernal is in action, with clear evidence of collarbone surgery on both sides (Image credit: Will Jones)

A yellow stripe and a pink stripe for a Tour and a Giro (Image credit: Will Jones)

Arkea-Samsic's handlebars on their Bianchis have been under scrutiny since Hugo Hofstetter snapped two pairs in one race (Image credit: Will Jones)

All the Total Energies team bikes were running 11sp chainrings (Image credit: Will Jones)

A cryptic '4', in Sharpie on the new Vittoria Corsa Pro tyres at the DSM area (Image credit: Will Jones)

Another paint job that looks great in the sun (Image credit: Will Jones)

Unlike the rest of his team, Ryan Mullen of Bora Hansgrohe uses a Pro Vibe Evo cockpit (Image credit: Will Jones)

This appears to be a brand new cockpit from Specialized, much deeper in profile than the only one-piece in it's lineup, the Alpinist SL (Image credit: Will Jones)

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