It was a rest day for the Tour de France peloton on Monday as they recovered from what had been a brutal first week of racing. Yet there was no rest for the wicked for top photographer Chris Auld.
No, instead of putting his feet up in Tignes, Chris was busy doing the rounds, checking out some of the top bikes at this year’s race.
For his troubles, he got up close and personal with the rigs of Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe), Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo), Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious), Michael Matthews (Team BikeExchange), Stefan Kung (Groupama-FDJ), Thomas de Gendt (Lotto-Soudal), Warren Barguil (Arkea-Samsic) and current Tour yellow jersey wearer Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates).
Because we all love browsing through endless galleries of shiny bikes, we’ve compiled all the images from Mr Auld into a mega-gallery below. Enjoy!
Bikes of the Tour de France 2021
Tadej Pogacar’s Colnago V3Rs
Get yellow, wear yellow, ride yellow. The best thing about wearing the Tour’s maillot jaune is the fact you get a special yellow bike to ride to celebrate your superioity.
UAE Team Emirates’s Tadej Pogacar has embraced that with his special Colnago V3Rs bike that he earned after taking yellow following his imperious performance on Stage 8 to Le Grand-Bornand.
Rather than a full sunshine look, the good people at Colnago have decided a subtle approach is best with a yellow rear triangle, top tube, fork and decals complimenting the black frame.
We like it, if we’re honest, especially as the bike is finished with 12-speed Campagnolo Super Record EPS and Campagnolo Bora Ultra WTO wheels, the right choice for this Italian masterpiece.
Geraint Thomas’s Pinarello Dogma F
The Welsh 2018 Tour winner has suffered misfortune at this year’s race having crashed and popped a shoulder on Stage 3. He has battled on but lost significant time as the injuries took their toll, ruling him out of contention for the overall victory.
Still, at least he gets to race the brand new Pinarello Dogma F around France for another two weeks. An update on the Dogma F14, the F is lighter, more aero and benefits from more refined handling.
This is the bike Thomas has been racing throughout the Tour save for the Lightweight wheels that are swapped in for the race’s mountain stages.
As is well known, the Ineos Grenadiers are the only team left in the men’s WorldTour riding exclusively on rim brakes although expect this to change with the start of the 2022 season.
Peter Sagan’s Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL7
A recent straw poll of the Cyclist office saw ‘disruption’ come out as the most over used term in professional cycling at the moment, to the point that it is now used in ways that do not fit its definition. Try some originality for once, please.
We may be missing something but how can Peter Sagan‘s bike or a Bahrain Victorious’s jersey cause disruption? Is it secretly a burst water main?
Anyway, here’s Sagan’s S-Works Tarmac SL7 which he has been using at this year’s Tour. A fairly standard affair, all things considered, except for the satellite shifters Sagan prefers built into the bar’s drops and the beefy 140mm stem.
It’s also worth noting that like the rest of the Bora-Hansgrohe team, Sagan is also racing clinchers.
So far, cycling’s ultimate rockstar has been quiet in this race. Let’s hope that changes soon.
Michael Matthews’s Bianchi Oltre XR4
A bike fit for a man they call ‘Bling’. Only Michael Matthews could get away with a Bianchi Oltre XR4 that mixes black, celeste and iridescent decals.
With a sprint stage on Tuesday to Valence, the Australian has opted for the aero Bianchi Oltre XR4 instead of the new Bianchi Specialissima with a set of Shimano Dura-Ace C60 wheels for added watts.
Interestingly Matthews is also among those in the peloton favouring slightly bigger chainrings for sprint stages, here opting for a 54/42 ratio as opposed to the standard 53/39 set up.
Matej Mohoric’s Merida Reacto
These Slovenians are very good at racing bikes, aren’t they? Not just Pogacar and Primoz Roglic but Matej Mohoric, too, who on Stage 7 to Le Cruesot became the latest rider to take a stage at all three Grand Tours with a spectacular tactical performance.
It was the Merida Reacto above that he used on that day, the aero option from the big Taiwanese brand that has Grand Tour stages and Monuments among its own palmares.
A big pat on the back to the Bahrain team mechanics, by the way. That bar tape is wrapped to perfection.
Mads Pedersen’s Trek Madone
Poor Mads Pedersen has had rotten luck at this year’s Tour as one of the many riders to have crashed on multiple occasions. The continuous kisses with the tarmac have all but cancelled out the 2019 World Champion’s chances of contesting for sprint stage wins.
That’s a shame because his Trek Madone looks mean and absolutely primed for a big stage victory. From the gloss red paint work to the chunky 54t big ring, this bike screams speed and we are big fans here at Cyclist.
In fact, the only improvement that could be made is reference to his previous stint in the rainbow jersey somewhere on the frame.
Thomas De Gendt’s Ridley Helium SLX
Breakaway king Thomas De Gendt is struggling at this year’s Tour. Despite laying down record power numbers on Stage 7, he was still dropped towards the beginning of the stage. It’s proving so tough that the much-loved Belgian is even considering calling time on his career.
We hope not, as De Gendt has brought us such joy throughout his career. And beautiful bikes like the one above, too.
The maroon paint, the clean lines of the Helium SLX, the full Campagnolo Super Record groupset, the perfect spoke pattern of those Campag Bora wheels – this is close to perfection people.
Warren Barguil’s Canyon Aeroad CFR
The former French champion Barguil will be looking for opportunties as the race heads to the mountains in the final two weeks and he may do so on an aero bike.
That’s right, if you’ve been watching closely, you will notice Barguil is more than happy to use the aero Aeroad race bike in the high mountains as opposed to swapping onto the lightweight Ultimate option. No surpise considering these can come in at 7kg fully built.
Stefan Kung’s Lapierre Aircode DRS
King Kung was so unlucky on the Stage 5 time-trial to Laval. He was the best of the rest behind supersonic Pogacar and will rue the missed opportunity of a first Tour stage win.
Hopefully Kung can make amends later in the race and strike from a breakaway. And if he does so, it will be aboard the Lapierre Aircorde, one of the peloton’s more unique lookinng bikes.
It’s all about the angles here, and we applaud Lapierre’s pursuit of originality.