Rear mounted front brakes are almost standard on TT bikes these days(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
We spotted these prototype Vittoria Corsa Evo CX 25mm tubulars mounted on some prototype Shimano rims. According to our sources they'll be released mid next year(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
The (supposedly) 4:1 base bar on the Treks was annoying some people, as it appears to break UCI rules. But it's approved.(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
A Radioshack Trek Speed Concept on the roof(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Liquigas Cannondales waiting for front wheels(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Liquigas had their road bikes to warm up on(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
A peek inside Garmin-Barracuda's truck(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Garmin-Barracuda's array of Cervelo P4s - spare bikes. They rode to victory on the P5(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Garmin-Barracuda's warmup area with LeMond fitness turbo trainers(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
The BMC Speed Machine, a very nice bike(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Farnese Vini-Selle Italia have relatively old-school Mcipollini TT bikes(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Farnese Vini-Selle Italia's warmup machines(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Vision Metron crank(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Zip ties, the mechanic's best friend(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Larsson's cockpit(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Tidy(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
The cabling on Vision's Metron groupset fits in well with standard stems(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
A Movistar Pinarello Graal with Campagnolo EPS gets prepped(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Campy tech lab electronic shifters(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
A Sky mechanic gives a bike the final once over(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Team Sky's Pinarello Graals just back from a pre-race recce(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Lampre rode the Wilier Twinfoil TT bike(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Which team did these bikes belong to? Answers on a postcard(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Vacansoleil during training(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
GreenEdge do some washing while waiting for the riders(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Final tweaks to a Katusha Canyon Speedmax CF Evo(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
It was all happening in the Katusha area(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Katusha's Canyon Speedmax CF Evo machines - all lined up and ready to be ridden to second place(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Euskaltel had some nice Orbeas on display but not the riders to put them to best use(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Vittoria have good racing tyres for any situation(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Cockpit area, very compact(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Campagnolo EPS rear derailleur on this Movistar Pinarello(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Campagnolo EPS front derailleur and battery(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Close up of the Campy tech lab electronic shifters(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Gustav Erik Larsson's Vacansoleil Bianchi, complete with Vision Metron TT groupset(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
FSA K-Force front brakes(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Larsson's seatpost(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Lotto's mechanics had to get a bit creative here(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Campagnolo EPS front derailleur, also no different from the norm(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Campagnolo EPS rear derailleur, no different from the norm(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
The Campagnolo EPS battery is standard - and big(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
The shifters return to centre after you change(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Here's a set of standard Campagnolo TT shifters(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Bart De Clercq's Ridley Dean, fitted with Campagnolo EPS time trial shifting (Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Wanted: some riders to warm up(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
NetApp's Simplon TT bike(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Seat post mount on NetApp's Simplon(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
The cockpit on this NetApp Simplon TT bike(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
A Rabobank mechanic touches up a Giant(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
A few different rim depths for the Rabo riders(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
OK it's not exactly neat but it works. Cabling for Campagnolo's electronic TT set(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Campy Tech Lab shifters for the cowhorns(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
FSA K-Force rear brakes(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Vision Metron rear derailleur(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Vision Metron front derailleur(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Vision Metron shifters(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Gustav Erik Larsson's Vacansoleil Bianchi, complete with Vision Metron TT groupset(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Katusha's warmup fleet of Canyon road bikes(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Saxo Bank team area, Specialized Shivs at the ready(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Specialized Shivs mounted atop the Saxo Bank cars(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Team Sky's Jaguar Sportbrake XF team car(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Where's everybody gone?(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
An FDJ rider heads out on his Lapierre(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Campy Tech Lab TT shifters(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Campy Tech Lab shifters for the cowhorns(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Rabobank are riding these Giants, still a very fast bike(Image credit: Jeff Jones)
Campagnolo EPS electronic shifting may have taken years to get to market but already we're seeing the technology being applied to time trial shifters.
Case in point, stage 4 of the Giro d'Italia, a 33km team time trial starting and finishing in Verona. Although many teams were riding with Dura-Ace Di2 electronic shifting, a couple - namely Lotto-Belisol and Movistar - were sporting Campagnolo EPS shifting on a few of their bikes, with fully functional return-to-centre shifters on the extensions and satellite shifters on the cowhorns.
As you can see from our photos, team mechanics have had to get a bit creative with cabling through the handlebars, but it's clear that we're not far away from seeing full production versions of these shifters.
The second piece of new kit we came across was the Vision Metron time trial groupset on Gustav Erik Larsson's Vacansoleil Bianchi. That's shifters, levers, derailleurs and cranks all under the Vision Metron brand (brake calipers were FSA K-Force by the same company). It looked interesting but alas, it wasn't ridden during the stage as there just wasn't the time to set it up properly. Hopefully we'll see it working in future races.
There was plenty to see from the team time trial in Verona. Just click on the image gallery to see it all.
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