Cofidis’ racers mark the re-entry of Orbea bikes to the top of the pro peloton. The brand used to be under Euskatel riders until the team disappeared. Now they’re back, and they brought out the big guns for the individual TT.
Above, one team member pulls his bike from the stands just before stage two, but it was the team pits before stage one’s time trial where we got all the good photos and info…
The team raced an all-new Ordu TT/triathlon bike for stage one, and there just happened to be one left hanging in the stands when we rolled past the bus. Behind it are the current model Ordus used as backup bikes…the rest of the new ones were out for course recon.
We’re just a few days away from Orbea letting loose all the tech details of the new frame, but it’s apparent this isn’t just a minor spec and cosmetic update. It’s tight, and it’s done away with the angular, bent stays. The new bike looks much sleeker even if we do lose the stealth fighter jet aesthetic. Up front, the new fork opens up very wide to reduce turbulence between it and the wheel and tire. Stay tuned for the full breakdown soon.
The team bikes were outfitted with virtually all FSA components save for the Di2 shifting. These new Vision Trimax brakes got their first use in pro-level competition that day. Grabbing the levers, they felt strong even with TT-style bar end brake levers. The cable release lever folds upward to ready the calipers for use, tucking in nicely with the shape of the brakes.
Also on the TT bikes were a new version of the -20º rise stem originally made for 29er bikes. Like the Syntace stems we saw used on a road bike, FSA’s sponsored riders liked the way it dropped the front end of the bike, so the brand extended the sizing from the original 90mm all the way out to 130mm.
Over on the road bikes, they also made a special longer version of their Vision Metron aero stem. Normally it maxes out at 130mm, but Nacer Bouhanni wanted it longer, so they made him a 140mm.
Then they decorated it and his bike with a boxing glove logo since duked it out in the ring in a former life.
As far as we know (based on what they’d tell us and our own observations), the Orca road bikes were unchanged for most of the team. However, Bouhanni’s got a little extra carbon laid into the BB and headtube to make it even stiffer.
The blue bit with the number is the rider’s timing chip. It wasn’t used on the TT bikes, just the regular road bikes.
Florian Senechal also likes a really, really long stem.
There were a LOT of teams running SRM power meters, and a few running Pioneer and Power2Max units, too. But SRM won the numbers game by our count.
