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Gallery: USA Pro Challenge time trial tech

published 24 August 2013

Teams cobble together varied set-ups for uphill time trial

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Bet you can't guess which brand of wheels the Bontrager Cycling Team uses(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

Danielson used a Rotor Flow crank with aero (round) rings and an SRM(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

Tom Danielson's Cervélo P5(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

Ritchey's arm pads offer convenient access to the Allen bolts for quick adjustment(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

Another UnitedHealthcare perch option(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

Adamo saddles are quite popular among triathletes, and, increasingly, time trialists(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

Who is this UnitedHealthcare rider named Prototype?(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

And yet another UnitedHealthcare Rotor crank, a 3D with an SRM and standard noQ rings(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

Another UnitedHealthcare Rotor Flow crank, this one with aero, round 'noQ' rings(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

Danielson's saddle is double slammed - the saddle sits far back on the clamp, and the clamp sits far back on the fore/aft-adjustable seatpost(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

Electro-hydro power plant: Danielson's cockpit features Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 electronic shifting and Magura's hydraulic brakes(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

Sean Mazich (Jelly Belly) has seen some wear to his bike and body(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

Team Cannondale is one of the top teams in the world…(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

With its scooped neck and super-thin back and arms, the Team Sky skinsuit is hard to miss(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

Team Sky's Ritchie Porte in a Rapha-branded but not Rapha-produced skinsuit(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

When top pro teams cross the Atlantic to race in North America, they typically don't bring all their time trial bikes — and they certainly don't bring their team busses. So, temporary arrangements are made(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

After Jelly Belly riders returned from a pre-ride of the course, mechanics kept track of their wheel preference. US national champion Freddy Rodriguez is riding Mad Fiber wheels, as he has an individual sponsorship(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

Like every pro bike racer, Mazich has hit the deck(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

Mazich had his arm rests wrapped with extra pads to cushion sore arms(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

Although Rotor now has a power meter, this Rotor Flow crank has an SRM power meter, plus Rotor's oval Q rings(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

Ritchey provides bars and saddles for UnitedHealthcare(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

Preferences for bar and extension bends are as varied as rider physiques(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

A side-profile view of the Stages power meter(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

The Stages power meter uses strain gages on the inside of the left crank. The meter adds less than 20g to the otherwise standard crank(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

Team Novo Nordisk is the one team at USA Pro Challenge using Stages power meters, which mount on the left crank(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

The Colnago aerobar isn't drilled for internal routing, so mechanics taped the Shimano Di2 wiring underneath(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

Team Novo Nordisk with the integrated Colnago aero stem. If spacers weren't used, the stem would sit flush with the top tube(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

With the Look Ergostem, Calabria plunged his aerobars towards his front wheel(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

Calabria used a Look Ergostem to effectively reduce his 130mm head tube to 80mm(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

Most Novo Nordisk riders were on Colnago time trial rigs, but Fabio Calabria rode a modified road bike(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

Team BMC of race leader Tejay van Garderen used a mix of road and time trial bikes for the stage 5 uphill time trial(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

Unlike van Garderen's custom molded 3T bar, this is the stock version of the 3T bar and integrated BMC bayonet fork(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

A few BMC riders opted for clip-on aerobars on their road bikes(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

UnitedHealthcare riders used a mix of ENVE wheels, Ritchey cockpits, Rotor cranks and prototype and triathlon saddles(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

The uphill time trial bike of Craig Lewis (Champion System)(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

Champion System riders rode road bikes with clip-on bars, but they all used TT lids(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

The other van Garderen in yellow. While his son rode a Time Machine to maintain his race lead, father Marcel van Garderen was in a Mavic support car(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

Another BMC rider uses a 3T SRM PowerControl mount(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

Even computer mounts vary. Here, an SRM PowerControl 7 sits on a $10 zip-tie style mount(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

Stephen Cummings' stem. 150mm in length with a -17 drop(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

Even within those using clip-ons there was a variance in styles and preferences(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

…but the USA Pro Challenge is not the Tour de France, and sometimes you just have to make do(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)

Uphill time trials always prompt the question, road bike or time trial bike?

Pro bike: Tejay van Garderen’s BMC TM01 Time Machine

For stage 5 of the USA Pro Challenge, riders raced up a short, the 10mi/16.1km course that climbed roughly 1,500ft.

All the GC contenders ran full time-trial set-ups, opting for aerodynamic benefit over weight reduction.

But many riders just used road bikes with clip-on aerobars. With the top European teams operating out of rented busses and trucks instead of their own fleet, some bikes didn’t make the transatlantic flight.

Further, with time trialing being an inherently uncomfortable venture, riders and mechanics modified their bikes in a variety of ways, from stacking extra padding onto arm rests and wrapping them with electrical tape, to running nose-less saddles.

Click through the gallery at above right for a detailed look at the bikes used for the stage 5 uphill time trial of the USA Pro Challenge.