The winning bikes of Marianne Vos and Jan Tratnik are pretty stock, but there are unreleased parts on them
(Image credit: Will Jones)
While the dying embers of the first race of the 2024 classics season still glow, and before I hit publish on the usual tech gallery and other such pieces from what is always a hectic weekend, I thought I'd bring you the first of what seems like many winning Visma-Lease a Bike bikes.
On a grey but mercifully dry Belgian day, Jan Tratnik beat the rest of the pack at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on a bike that is genuinely rather... normal. The only noteworthy difference from what we've seen on the team's bikes in 'regular' racing is the switch to 30mm tyres.
This was swiftly followed by Marianne Vos taking the victory in the women's race, aboard an equally unremarkable Cérvelo (if a superbike of this calibre can be considered unremarkable). Genuine classics bikes are fewer and farther between, and Tratnik's bike, besides the spit and mud, is more or less as it would be for the entirety of the season, from what I can tell.
Vos' bike, too, was devoid of the usual classics flourishes. No special tyres, save for wider rubber. No alloy bars, no tools taped to the seatpost; save that for Roubaix, things aren't that hectic just yet.
Hidden away in plain sight on both bikes, though, is an unseen SRAM front derailleur, suspected to be the new SRAM Red. Tratnik, too, had an as-yet-unseen set of Reserve wheels on his bike. Given Visma has access to a suite of wheel options from Reserve these are easily missed.
Without further ado, though, here are the winning bikes, snapped in five minutes while the victors did their press duties, and before the commissaires whisked them away.
Jan Tratnik's bike
The new pant for the season is a little more eye catcing than that of the 2023 Cervélo S5 (Image credit: Will Jones)
A Fizik Antares, far forward on the rails, but as the clamps are so far apart there isn't much room for adjustment (Image credit: Will Jones)
A lightweight computer mount. It appears to be made of injection moulded plastic. (Image credit: Will Jones)
While it wasn't wet, it is still February in Belgium, so the bikes are always going to pick up some muck. This reserve wheel says "49", which doesn't currently exist in Reserve's range. (Image credit: Will Jones)
The team would have had access to the grippier, more puncture resistant Vittoria Corsa Pro Control tyres, but every riders was on the 'normal' Corsa Pro model (Image credit: Will Jones)
A 54/41t chainset didn't stop Tratnik getting over the bergs with ease. This looks to be a new SRAM Red front derailleur, too, though the rest of the groupset is as we'd expect (Image credit: Will Jones)
Given his victory we suspect he rarely used the largest rear sprocket, save for scooting through the press area at the finish (Image credit: Will Jones)
The strip of latex tube on the fork houses the race transponder, now handed back to the organisers (Image credit: Will Jones)
The drops on Tratnik's bars have a neo-classic, rounded shape, unlike many modern bars, with a very long drop section (Image credit: Will Jones)
The red tag is from the race officials, showing it needs to be checked still (Image credit: Will Jones)
The S5's Y-shaped stem is still eye-catching, a couple of years after its release (Image credit: Will Jones)
Given there's spit on the bars I think it's safe to say Tratnik was going full gas (Image credit: Will Jones)
Are these new Reserve wheels? The brand current offers a 40/44 wheelset, but not a 42. Is this another "one wheelset to rule them all" play? Along with the deeper "49" rear it looks like a new wheelset with differing profiles front/rear. (Image credit: Will Jones)
Levers not turned in, very much compliant with the new UCI regulations on lever angle (Image credit: Will Jones)
Marianne Vos' bike
Without a keen eye you'd be hard pressed to tell the two winner's bikes apart (Image credit: Will Jones)
Green paint on Vos' tubeless valve lockrings. Perhaps so her mechanics know when it was last topped up with sealant. Vos was also on the usual 40/44 Reserve wheelset. (Image credit: Will Jones)
Instead of a bonded on race number, Vos' is held on with nothing more fancy than a simple elastic band. (Image credit: Will Jones)
The Rear wheel is thoroughly tucked in under the seat tube, and Vos is also running what looks to be a new SRAM Red front derailleur. (Image credit: Will Jones)
Smaller chainrings for Vos, a 50/37t setup in this case (Image credit: Will Jones)
A Fizik Argo saddle is Vos' perch of choice (Image credit: Will Jones)
The head tube of the S5 is more like that of many time trial bikes, acting more like a hinge than a tube-in-a-tube arrangement. (Image credit: Will Jones)
Hand drawn race notes, which seemed more common in the women's peloton (Image credit: Will Jones)
Here's that elastic band again - It doesn't look hugely stable it must be said, but it is still attached (Image credit: Will Jones)
While the front derailleur is something we've not seen before, the rear is standard SRAM Red (Image credit: Will Jones)
Aero pedals; every little helps, though Vos's winning margin was more than a hair on the line (Image credit: Will Jones)
Here's another look at the S5's headtube arrangement (Image credit: Will Jones)
Vos' hoods were ever so slightly angled in, but not by much (Image credit: Will Jones)
Her bars though had a slightly bulbous end to them in the drops, which we suspect is to help her feel more locked in (Image credit: Will Jones)
Get unlimited access to all of our coverage of the Spring Classics- including reporting, breaking news and analysis from Strade Bianche, Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and more. Find out more.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Will joined the Cyclingnews team as a reviews writer in 2022, having previously written for Cyclist, BikeRadar and Advntr. He’s tried his hand at most cycling disciplines, from the standard mix of road, gravel, and mountain bike, to the more unusual like bike polo and tracklocross. He’s made his own bike frames, covered tech news from the biggest races on the planet, and published countless premium galleries thanks to his excellent photographic eye. Also, given he doesn’t ever ride indoors he’s become a real expert on foul-weather riding gear. His collection of bikes is a real smorgasbord, with everything from vintage-style steel tourers through to superlight flat bar hill climb machines.
