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Time trial tech at the Tour of California - Gallery

By Ben Delaney

published 17 May 2018

Glamour meets necessity for European pros in California

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Bookwalter opted for 50mm wheels while van Garderen went 75(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Former Paris-Roubaix winner Mat Hayman gets his playlist going outside Mitchelton-Scott's rented camper van(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Who needs a wheel block when you've got cardboard?(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Sometimes, the simple solutions are the most effective, like paint marker for saddle height(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Lachlan Morton was one of many riders pushing a 55t big ring(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

ENVE's massive integrated stem nestles down on top of normal spacers(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Dimension Data mounts the riders' Di2 junction port in an unconventional spot (Image credit: Ben Delaney)

No bar tape, just the tiniest bit of electrical tap to keep the Di2 wire tucked out of the way(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Sunweb's Mike Teunissen was one of the few riders racing the TT on a road bike. The sprinter finished 106th of 116 riders(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Elite's Power Mag trainers are popular for pro warm-ups. They aren't fancy or expensive, but they do the trick, and they are light and easy to transport(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

ENVE isn't yet ready to talk about the disc, but the wide weave looks like TeXtreme(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

While the ENVE prototype disc is tubeless, Dimension Data raced on clinchers(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

BMC's Ian Sherburne has dialed in a bike or two in his many years with the squad(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Cannondale has emphatically pushed its SuperSlice disc bikes, but no other teams have followed suit for time trials(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Bora's Maciej Bodnar, a former ATOC TT winner, warms up with his Wahoo Elemnt Bolt(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Bodnar had a wide strip of smooth tape covering a stitched-on patch of grip tape, which a mechanic removed after his warm-up(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Many time trialists like to have extra traction on their saddles, since they often ride forward on the nose(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

After Bodnar's warm-up, the Roval 64 comes off(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

And the new Roval 321 Disc goes on. The Shiv TT's horizontal dropouts make wheel changes a little trickier(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

ENVE has a tubeless disc in prototype form(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Blank rings are fairly common for time-trial days, as riders and mechanics reach for non-standard options(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

For instance, who makes this outer ring? Your guess is as good as ours(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Mat Hayman ran an old-school SRM on his Scott(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

But, like with the rest of the Euro teams, Kittel travels in a different class of vehicle when on the west side of the Atlantic(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

The back of Axeon's race van is a multi-purpose space(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

While the WorldTour riders have skinsuits with built-in number pockets, the Axeon boys pin on their race numbers like the rest of us(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Here you can see the integrated number pouch of ATOC stage 1 winner Fernando Gaviria (Image credit: Ben Delaney)

AG2R La Mondiale uses oversized CeramicSpeed pulleys on its Factor TT bikes(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

The Elite Drivo smart trainer is novel in that is doesn't have to be plugged in(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

What kind of gear bags have dedicated 'EYEWEAR' pouches? Oakley bags, of course(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Holowesko's T.J. Eisenhart warms up on his Feedback Sports Omnium rollers(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Grand Tour sprinter Marcel Kittel does his same warm-up regardless of race location(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

In Europe, three-time world champion Peter Sagan and his Bora squad have a massive bus. In California? A rented camper and a 10x10 pop-up tent(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

A shade tent for Ian Stanndard to warm up under, or a drying rack for staff clothing? Yes(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Mat Hayman signs on(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Oakley's new ARO7 lids were in use by Katusha and Dimension Data(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Team follow cars came in all shapes and sizes for the time trial, as many teams relied on friends and family as well as staff(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Trek-Segafredo's Kiel Reijnen looks on while his Toyota Prius follow car gets stickered up(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Keil Reijnen's back-up bike in the hatchback wouldn't make for the fastest of bike changes(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

In Europe, Quick Step has massive busses and team trucks, and riders are swarmed by fans. In California, the team rents campers and trucks, and riders make do in a low-key environment(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Being an American team, Education First has wrapped team vehicles for US races(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

LottoNL-Jumbo also makes do with rental equipment - and just-purchased fans - for US events(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Belgian national champ Oliver Naesen is a very fast sprinter, but not the fastest time trialist. He finished last on the day, eight minutes down on van Garderen(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Lawson Craddock donned an ice vest before his 4th-place ride. And yes, sign in at the Amgen Tour of California is on a surf board(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

To mount a GoPro, of course(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Miguel Bryon had an extended rail for a backwards-facing GoPro(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

While many riders have pro K-Edge mounts, others use Garmin's rubber-band mount. Here, a mechanic wraps an Edge leash around the arm pad, just in case(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Lachlan Morton's computer mount uses Garmin's rubber bands, zip ties and electrical tape(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Holowesko's Giro Hammerhead time trial helmets don't get rider names - just sizes(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

You know you're on a pro team when the chamois cream is transported by the tub-load(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

New skinsuits with the tags still on get tucked next to the ever-popular Cokes(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Hagens Berman Axeon's William Barta has his SRAM eTap junction tucked between his pads(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Why is this Holowesko BMC partially disasembled? (Image credit: Ben Delaney)

GoPro didn't use SeaSuckers, but the action-cam company had cameras seemingly everywhere(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Each rider's name plate was attached with SeaSuckers(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Craddock's mechanic gave his tires a careful cleaning just before he took off(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Education First was the only team to race on disc-brake time trial bikes(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

CycleOps dressed up its Hammer smart trainers for Trek-Segafredo(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Peter Sagan waits while his bike gets the UCI check(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Peter Sagan raced on all manner of Specialized product, including the Power meter, but not the brand-new Roval 321 Disc(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Peter Sagan pairs his Elemnt Bolt to his Power cranks(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

SeaSucker attachments were everywhere at the Amgen Tour of California(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

The suction-cup company has a variety of bike racks, including these full-scale team racks(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

SRAM's bar-end eTap shifters, about as close as you can get them(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Barta opts for Specialized's triathlon perch(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

55-tooth rings were common for the 40-plus-minute time trial(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Rally keeps track of which rider goes when, followed by which driver and which mechanic, if any(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Rally has a colorful stable of road bikes(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Robin Carpenter's Diamondback road bike(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Not the usual bike found around team pits on time trial day(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

UnitedHealthcare has been racing 28mm prototypes for most of the road races this year(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Bora is racing on Specialized Power meters(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

BMC had a good day in the ATOC time trial: Tejay van Garderen and Patrick Bevin went 1-2 on the stage, and Joey Rosskopf got to fly the stars and stripes on his skinsuit(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

BMC's Brent Bookwalter raced the time trial without a power meter(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

And another example of a SeaSucker mount(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

A different sort of Rally car(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

And the H26 set-up of the 6'4" / 193cm Nils Politt(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Tacx's aero bottles are popular for pro TTs(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

But storing normal bottles during warm-up requires a little creativity(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Axeon's Mikkel Bjerg was the team's sole rider on Zipp's humpback-inspired 858 NSW (Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Axeon's Ian Garrison was by no means the only rider warming up with his phone(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Katush'a Canyon H26 cockpit can be stacked up like lego(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Ergon has a different take on handlebar 'tape'(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

Big rings mean derailleur adjustments(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

A Katusha Canyon H26 in a lower position(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

BMC's van Garderen raced on feel, not power data, to take the win(Image credit: Ben Delaney)

This article originally appeared on BikeRadar.

At the Amgen Tour of California, many of the world's very best teams assembled for the start of Wednesday's time trial in a hodge podge of rented vehicles, with follow vehicles ranging from wrapped team cars to pick-up trucks.

The actual cycling gear was mostly straight-forward professional grade, but there was still a fair amount of quirky solutions to be found.

BikeRadar wandered the team pits and loitered behind the starting house for a close look at all the riders' gear.

Suction cups, protruding camera booms, ice vests and plenty of electrical-tape and cardboard solutions were to be found.

Click or swipe through the gallery above for a look inside the gear of stage 4 of the Tour of California.