Pro teams break out the aero gear for sprinters' Classic, plus some surprises
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The entire LottoNL-Jumbo team raced on identically specced Bianchi Oltre XR4 (Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Adam Blythe has become known for his custom Nike branded cycling shoes(Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Stybar's bike was also equipped with Tacx Tao bottle cages, a more secure cage for the brutal cobbles of Paris-Roubaix(Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Quick-Step Floors has been using Bang and Olufsen headphones in conjunction with its radio system this season (Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Jakobsen was one of several riders to wear overshoes for the wet race(Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Another look at Ian Stannard's Pinarello Dogma K10 suspension system (Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Mixed braking systems in the peloton had raised some concerns from riders in regard to safety (Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Aqua Blue Sport uses Catlike helmets(Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Stannard also runs satellite shifters on his handlebar drops(Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Ian Stannard's Pinarello was equipped with handmade, 27mm FMB Paris-Roubaix tubular tyres (Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Maxime Vantomme can slam that stem(Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
At least 150mm by our measurement on this negative-rise stem (Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
A magnet was taped onto a Team Sky backup bike for ostensible use with a Shimano meter, but the full team is racing on Stages meters(Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Team Sky has meters provided by Shimano and Stages, but the team is all racing on Stages meters (Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
At Scheldeprijs, riders used a mix of bikes, from aero to endurance. Ian Stannard has a Dogma K-10 with suspension (Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
The electronic controller for the suspension resides inside the down tube(Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Fabio Jakobsen won the race on a rim brake S-Works Tarmac SL6 (Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Stybar's Roubaix features the 'Future Shock' handlebar suspension system from Specialized (Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
The Specialized Roubaix Stybar was equipped with direct mount brakes, a model not yet available to consumers (Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Team mechanics are still preparing the bikes until minutes ahead of the race start(Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Quick-Step Floors raced on a mix of rim brake and disc brake equipped Tarmac, Venge and Roubaix framesets(Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Zdenek Stybar had additional brake levers on the tops of his handlebars, branded as Specialized (Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Lotto Soudal riders mixed it up at the race with some of the team on Ridley Noah SL and others on Helium SLX framesets(Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
French Pro Continental outfit Vital Concept Cycling Club used the aerodynamic Orbea Orca Aero frameset for the race (Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Interestingly, Boasson Hagen's bike is still running Shimano Dura-Ace 9000 series components, despite R9100 series components being available for nearly two years(Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Edvald Boasson Hagen raced on a Cervelo R3, as he did last weekend at the Tour of Flanders(Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Some riders use the Specialized Power saddle and mask the Specialized 'S' to keep sponsors happy(Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
EF-Drapac had a mix of rim and disc brake bikes, meaning both options were needed as spares on the team car (Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Cofidis uses Michelin Power tubular tyres (Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
The MOST Talon is Team Sky's integrated cockpit system option from the Italian brand (Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Shimano's neutral service staff was also prepared for the disc brake equipped bikes in the race(Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
It isn't Paris-Roubiax quite yet... but it's coming(Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Pinarello's MOST stem has teardrop spacers to match(Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Elite cages are good, but Elite cages with griptape are better (Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Willems riders get their own bottles(Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
No need to label bottles for each rider when their faces are on there (Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
EF Drapac is racing Cannondale's unannounced aero disc bike(Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
A few EF-Drapac riders had Vision integrated bars(Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Other EF-Drapac riders use separate stems and bars to dial in their fit(Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Is the aero benefit of an aero bar negated by mounting a Garmin on the stem? Potentially (Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Cannondale has clearly put its aero disc bike out there, but is still refusing to talk about it (Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Team Sunweb is riding nearly exclusively Giant products(Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Sometimes simple is best (Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Sunweb has a mix of Shimano and Pioneer meters (Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Giant supplies Sunweb with frames, saddles, stems, bars, wheels and more. But the computer is not Giant (Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
One Giant Propel — in rim-brake dressing — snuck into Scheldeprijs(Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Quick-Step had four of its seven riders on disc brakes (Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Configurable sprint shifters are one of the perks of Shimano Di2(Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
The Power saddle is so popular that several companies have released similar models(Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
The Specialized Power is a popular saddle, in and outside of Specialized-sponsored teams(Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
1x for professional racing? Aqua Blue Sport is making the case (Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Most riders had an 11-36 cassette for the pan-flat Scheldeprijs paired with a 54t ring(Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
3T also makes its own cassette, which goes way down to a 9t cog(Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Changing chainrings means swapping out the chain and often the cassette, too(Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Wanty-Group Gobert's Timothy Dupont races a 52cm bike with a 130mm stem(Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Wanty is also racing with Stages this year (Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
tube detail on a otherwise all stock Super X for Katie Keough(Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
The hard angles of CCC's frames match the stems, at least on the down tube (Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
32cm-wide handlebars for Jan-Willem van Schip (Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
United Health Care raced on 60mm Dura-Ace wheels, which wasn't surprising, but also on 28mm Maxxis tubulars, which was(Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
The riders like the speed in corners and the grip in the wet of the unannounced 28mm tubulars, said UHC mechanic David Sagat (Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
A closer look at the 28mm Maxxis tubular (Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Did you know Shimano makes bikes?(Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Shimano does not make bikes. But the Japanese company does provide neutral support for some pro races, with its mechanical and Di2 groups labeled on the neutral bikes (Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Quick Step riders are using Specialized's 4iiii-made power meter(Image credit: Ben Delaney & Josh Evans)
Handlebars just 32cm wide, negative stems at least 150mm long, single-ring bikes and Power or power-look-alike saddles were among the tech highlights of the 2018 Scheldeprijs — the windswept, midweek sprinters' classic that falls between the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.
Put on by the organizers of the Tour of Flanders, the Wednesday race has historically showcased a bizarre blend of bike gear as some teams go all aero for the sprint win, while others use the event for last-minute race testing of cobbles gear ahead of Paris-Roubaix.
This year, the race began in Holland, and featured an extra helping of crosswinds across the ocean-facing dykes, but only one cobbled section on the finishing circuits near Schoten, Belgium.
It isn't Paris-Roubaix quite, yet... but it's coming
BikeRadar visited each team at the start to see who was riding what. You'll have to click through the gallery for the full picture, but let us give you a few highlights here.
Team Sky was on Stages power meters. The British super squad was provided meters by both Shimano and Stages at the beginning of the season, but all the riders at Scheldeprijs were on Stages LR meters.
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Aqua Blue Sport rolled up to the start as the one squad on 1x drivetrains. Most riders used a 54t big ring with an 11-36 cassette, but some had a 44t ring and 3T's cassette that features a 9t small cog.
Mixed braking systems in the peloton had raised some concerns from riders in regard to safety
EF Education First-Drapac riders raced on Cannondale's unannounced aero disc bikes, rumoured to be called the SystemSix. The SystemSix features internal cable routing through the head tube, a disc brake-only design and all the expected features of an aero road frame, including truncated tubing and lowered seatstays.
At last weekend's Tour of Flanders, notably not a single rider competed in the race with disc brakes, to our knowledge. For Scheldeprijs, alongside Aqua Blue Sport who raced aboard its disc-only 3T Strada and EF-Drapac's new Cannondales, Quick-Step Floors had a mix of disc-equipped Specialized Tarmac and Venge framesets.
Zdenek Stybar had additional brake levers on the tops of his handlebars, branded as Specialized
Zdenek Stybar (Quick-Step Floors) and Ian Stannard (Team Sky) were among several riders to race on what appeared to be their final, or close-to, Paris-Roubaix specced bikes.
Adaptations included additional brake levers on the handlebar tops, electronic rear suspension and a rim brake S-Works Roubaix, which is not available as a consumer model.
At Scheldeprijs, riders used a mix of bikes, from aero to endurance. Ian Stannard has a Dogma K-10 with suspension
