Disc brakes and clincher tyres in use so far, but will he switch to rim brakes for the mountains?
(Image credit: Josh Croxton)
After the first week of racing at the Tour de France, one of the major headlines is just how dominant Tadej Pogačar looks to be.
With a powerful time trial on stage 1, a storming ride on the cobbles of stage 5, and back-to-back wins on stage 6 and then stage 7 atop La Super Planche des Belles Filles, it appears he is unbeatable on any terrain.
The two-time Tour de France winner has a new bike this summer, the Colnago Prototipo, which he's used for each and every road stage so far.
The quite-literally named Prototipo is, according to Colnago, actually one of five moulds being tested by the team. With rider feedback, it will eventually narrow the five down to a single final construction that will be made available to the public, presumably as a V4RS to replace the V3RS, the brand's existing lightweight semi-aero race bike.
During both of his 2020 and 2021 victories at the Tour, the V3RS was Pogačar's bike of choice, but notably, he had two different versions available.
In 2020, for the most part, he rode a rim brake model, only switching to disc brakes on the flatter days. In 2021, that script was flipped, and he primarily rode with discs, but the rim brake bike came out to play in the high mountains.
Cyclingnews understands that in 2022, thanks to the advancements of this new bike, the Slovenian will use the disc brake equipped Prototipo on all available stages. If that turns out to be the case and he continues his dominance to take a third consecutive yellow, this will be the first Tour in history to be won purely on discs.
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Ahead of the Grand Départ, we were lucky enough to get up close and personal with the new bike, and naturally, we got the camera out to bring you the details. So grab a coffee, scroll down and join us for a detailed look at the bike that's currently dominating the race.
The Colnago Prototipo, assumed to become the Colnago V4RS once it's launched officially. Here it's in UAE Team Emirates' usual colours, but Pogačar has since switched to a similar version with yellow logos, to commemorate his time in yellow. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
One notable design feature is the sunken down tube, helping the bottle sit more snug against the frame. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Its shallow tubes with aero profiles confirm this to be an all-rounder; a lightweight, semi-aero race bike that can do it all. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
The aerodynamic shaping to these tube and the junctions is neat and subtle. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
For avoidance of any doubt, this is the very bike that Pogačar is racing, while the UCI sticker confirms it to be a prototype. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
A separate sticker on the rear of the fork confirms that this too is a prototype product. Teams are allowed to use prototypes, but their use is subject to stringent UCI approval, and they must be made available for sale within 12 months. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Cyclingnews understands that this bike is only available with disc brakes. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Tyre clearance for the Prototipo is also unconfirmed, but there appears to be a good amount of space available between the fork legs. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
There's a good gap here too. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Pogačar's bike is fitted here with 26c tyres. Given the gaps, we'd guess there's space for 28c tyres easily, perhaps more. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
The bottom bracket is threaded, and fitted here with a Campagnolo Ultra Torque BB. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
The seatpost is held using a wedge clamp, which can be accessed from the top tube just in front of the seatpost itself. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
The seatpost also has a D-shape to it for increased vibration absorption and aerodynamics. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Up front, the head tube is fairly shallow, but there's a clear truncated aerofoil shape to it. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Here you can see the top race of the headset is notched into the head tube slightly. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Like the rest of his team, Pogačar's bike is fitted with Campagnolo Super Record EPS 12 groupset. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Campagnolo also supplies the wheels. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Campagnolo's Bora Ultra WTO 45 tubeless wheels were fitted when we caught up with the bike. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
WTO stands for Wind Tunnel Optimized, and they have an internal rim width of 19mm. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
The wheels were shod with Pirelli's P Zero Race tyres. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
However, instead of using tubeless, Pogačar's bike was fitted with Pirelli's lightweight TPU inner tubes. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Pogačar's pedalsystem of choice is courtesy of Look, courtesy of its lightweight Keo Blade Carbon, with ceramic bearings. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
The bottles and cages are also lightweight. The cages are the Elite Leggero Carbon, which weigh in at 17g each, while the Elite Fly bottles are 54g each. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
The Deda Alanera one-piece cockpit is marked up with 'Richard Mille' the luxury watchmaker that sponsors the team. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Mounted to the front is the SRM PC8 cycling computer. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
The PC8 originally launched in 2013, but it remains one of the only computers that focusses solely on the data, rather than maps or smart integration. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
That's paired with SRM's Origin power meter. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Josh is Associate Editor of Cyclingnews – leading our content on the best bikes, kit and the latest breaking tech stories from the pro peloton. He has been with us since the summer of 2019 and throughout that time he's covered everything from buyer's guides and deals to the latest tech news and reviews.
On the bike, Josh has been riding and racing for over 15 years. He started out racing cross country in his teens back when 26-inch wheels and triple chainsets were still mainstream, but he found favour in road racing in his early 20s, racing at a local and national level for Somerset-based Team Tor 2000. These days he rides indoors for convenience and fitness, and outdoors for fun on road, gravel, 'cross and cross-country bikes, the latter usually with his two dogs in tow.
