WorldTour team bike guide 2020
Who's riding what in the WorldTour? Now with the addition of the peloton's indoor cycling setups
Welcome to the Cyclingnews round-up of the 2020 men's WorldTour teams and the tech they are using this season.
The growth of the WorldTour from 18 to 19 teams saw space for even more bike tech to feature. We saw all the new tech at the Tour Down Under in January, as well as a glimpse into the Classics tech at Opening Weekend before racing was halted due to the coronavirus, and while racing is on hold for the time being, teams are taking to indoor cycling tech in order to keep up fitness and exposure.
Below, we'll provide details of the changes seen as 2019 became 2020, and we'll give an overview of the cycling tech that each team is using, including their riders' indoor cycling 'pain caves'.
Every year, due to contracts coming to an end and new sponsors coming in to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the WorldTour stage, professional cycling teams and their sponsors frequently part ways and form new partnerships.
It's sometimes hard to keep track of who's now sponsored by who, and which equipment cycling teams are using.
For some, these partnerships are organised well in advance, but in other cases, teams face a last-gasp scramble to attract sponsorship in order to survive, let alone kit out their riders for the season ahead.
It's not uncommon to see a carousel of change as teams and suppliers find new opportunities and form agreements elsewhere. For example, ahead of the 2019 season, three big bike brands enjoyed a merry-go-round of team sponsorship changes. BMC Racing morphed into CCC Team and switched from BMC bikes to Giant. Team Sunweb, in turn, switched out their Giant bikes for Cervélo, leaving Dimension Data to ride aboard BMC to complete the triangle.
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2020 WorldTour sponsorship changes
With the news that Endura had ceased sponsorship of Movistar, a void was left in the Spanish outfit's clothing department, ahead of the news that Italian company Alé would supply the team with kit from 2020 onwards. Movistar continue to ride aboard Canyon bikes for a sixth year, although their use of Campagnolo groupsets ceased for the first time in 37 years, with SRAM providing the team with a disc-only fleet for the 2020 season.
The much-documented merge between Katusha and Israel Cycling Academy saw Canyon step away, dropping its total of sponsored WorldTour teams to just one. Alongside its focus on the Alpecin-Fenix ProTeam outfit of Mathieu van der Poel and its title sponsorship of the Canyon-SRAM women's team, it also followed Nairo Quintana in his move from Movistar to the Arkéa–Samsic ProTeam.
The newly structured Israel Start-Up Nation – home to both André Greipel and Dan Martin – are aboard Factor Bikes. The British bike brand's agreement with AG2R La Mondiale came to a close at the end of the 2018 season, commencing a 12-month hiatus from the WorldTour as it switched focus to supplying bikes to the Pro Continental outfit Roompot-Charles along with women's UCI team Parkhotel Valkenburg. Roompot-Charles folding at the end of the 2019 season freed up the Norfolk-based company to step back up to the WorldTour.
Following the surprising decision by Team Ineos to use Lightweight wheels at the Tour de France, it was perhaps a surprise to see no equipment changes there ahead of the 2020 season. Egan Bernal's Tour de France win is clearly good for the sponsors' return on investment, and Team Ineos have continue aboard Pinarello bikes this season, with Shimano providing the groupsets and wheels.
That said, during the UCI Road World Championships in Yorkshire, a number of Team Ineos riders were seen using new wheels from a company called Princeton CarbonWorks, whose wheels are distinctive by their sinusoidal (wavy) rim profile. It seems Ineos have struck a deal to use these wheels in time trials for the 2020 season.
A team that made big changes was Bahrain McLaren. Mark Cavendish's new team switched out their Fulcrum wheels in favour of Vision, and moved away from Sportful clothing in favour of former pro Yanto Barker's brand, Le Col.
Astana's three-year deal with Argon 18 finished at the end of the 2019 season, and was not renewed, so for 2020, while the Kazakh team will continue using Corima wheels, Wilier now provides the framesets.
Finally, with Cofidis stepping up to the WorldTour, and their original two-year deal with Kuota expiring at the end of 2019, the change in tier led to a change in bike sponsor. De Rosa, who previously supplied Israel Cycling Academy, made like their former team by climbing up to the WorldTour, but in Cofidis colours for 2020.
Indoor cycling tech
With racing on pause for 2020, WorldTour riders have fast adapted to the world of indoor cycling.
Alpecin-Fenix organised the Ronde van Zwift, in which the team took on dedicated eRacing teams such as Canyon ZCC and Kalas. Mitchelton-Scott have been running organised Zwift rides, and with the cancellation of the Tour of Flanders, there was even a Lockdown Edition run on Rouvy, won by CCC Team's Greg Van Avermaet.
Sponsors have invested heavily in kitting their riders out with the best turbo trainers to ensure their riders can not only train, but also utilise their form to race on platforms such as Zwift and Rouvy. Cyclingnews recently had a bit of fun by rating the peloton's pain caves.
Scroll down for the full round-up of who's on what for 2020.
Team | Frames | Groupsets | Turbo Trainers | Wheels | Finishing Kit |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
AG2R La Mondiale | Eddy Merckx | Shimano, Rotor | Elite | Mavic | Deda Elementi |
Astana Pro Team | Wilier | Shimano | Tacx | Corima | Wilier, Prologo, CeramicSpeed |
Bahrain-McLaren | Merida | Shimano | Elite | Vision | Prologo, FSA, Vision |
Bora-Hansgrohe | Specialized | Shimano | Wahoo | Roval | Specialized, PRO |
CCC Team | Giant | Shimano | Elite | Cadex | Giant, Cadex |
Cofidis | De Rosa | Campagnolo | Elite | Fulcrum | Selle Italia, Vision |
Deceuninck-QuickStep | Specialized | Shimano | Tacx | Roval | Specialized, PRO |
EF Pro Cycling | Cannondale | Shimano | Tacx | Vision | Vision |
Groupama-FDJ | Lapierre | Shimano | Elite | Shimano | PRO, Prologo |
Team Ineos | Pinarello | Shimano | Wahoo | Shimano | MOST |
Israel Start-Up Nation | Factor Bikes | Shimano | Tacx | Black Inc | Black Inc, CeramicSpeed, Selle Italia |
Team Jumbo-Visma | Bianchi | Shimano | Tacx | Shimano | FSA, Vision, Fizik |
Lotto Soudal | Ridley | Campagnolo | Tacx | Campagnolo | Deda Elementi, Selle Italia, C-Bear |
Mitchelton-Scott | Scott | Shimano | Tacx | Shimano | Syncros |
Movistar Team | Canyon | SRAM | Elite | Zipp | Canyon, Fizik |
NTT Pro Cycling Team | BMC | Shimano, Rotor | Tacx | ENVE | Selle Italia, ENVE, BMC |
Team Sunweb | Cervelo | Shimano | Elite | Shimano | PRO |
Trek-Segafredo | Trek | SRAM | Tacx | Bontrager | Bontrager |
UAE Team Emirates | Colnago | Campagnolo | Elite | Campagnolo | Deda Elementi |
New bike tech in 2020
When it comes to new bike launches, 2019 was the year of conformity, with a range of manufacturers all seeming to converge on particular design features for their lightweight climbing bike offerings.
While the BMC Teammachine and Specialized Tarmac were early adopters of the dropped seat stay and aerodynamic carbon tubing, 2019 saw similar silhouettes launched by a number of other brands, with the Cannondale SuperSix EVO, Focus Izalco Max, Orbea Orca, Scott Addict RC and Wilier 0 SLR all coming to similar conclusions after wind-tunnel testing.
For 2020, it looks as though Giant has stuck to its guns, though. The new Giant TCR looks to be more evolution than revolution.
In keeping with its traditional three-year product cycle, we're expecting the Specialized Tarmac will receive a refresh for 2020, too, although at this stage the team at Specialized remain tight-lipped. The Trek Emonda also hasn't seen wholesale change since 2018, so we're expecting the American giant to retain its hyper-lightweight frame design, but with a keener eye on aerodynamics.
Talking of aerodynamics, rumours are rife of a new Canyon Aeroad after Mathieu van der Poel was seen riding an as-yet-unreleased Aeroad at the Primus Classic and Gooikse Pijl. Details are currently sparse, but we'll be sure to bring you more as they become available.
2020 pro bike galleries
- Annemiek van Vleuten's world champion Scott Addict RC disc - Gallery
- Mikkel Bjerg's Colnago Concept - Gallery
- Richie Porte's Trek Emonda – Gallery
- Sam Bennett's Down Under edition Specialized Allez Sprint Disc – Gallery
- André Greipel's Factor One – Gallery
- Rohan Dennis' Pinarello Dogma F12 XLight - Gallery
- Luke Durbridge's Scott Addict RC - Gallery
- Mark Cavendish's Merida Reacto Disc Team - Gallery
- Greg Van Avermaet's golden Giant TCR Disc - Gallery
- Niki Terpstra's cobble-crushing Wilier Cento10 Pro Disc - Gallery
- Jasper Stuyven's race-winning Trek Madone SLR Disc - Gallery
- John Degenkolb's Ridley Noah Fast Disc - Gallery
- Tiesj Benoot's Cervelo R5 - Gallery
- Alex Dowsett's Factor O2 VAM Disc - Gallery
- Shane Archbold's Specialized Venge - Gallery
- Romain Bardet's Eddy Merckx Stockeu69 – Gallery
- Sam Bennett's Specialized Venge - Gallery
- Dylan van Baarle's Pinarello Dogma F12 XLight
WorldTour kit
Josh is Associate Editor of Cyclingnews – leading our content on the best bikes, kit and the latest breaking tech stories from the pro peloton. He has been with us since the summer of 2019 and throughout that time he's covered everything from buyer's guides and deals to the latest tech news and reviews.
On the bike, Josh has been riding and racing for over 15 years. He started out racing cross country in his teens back when 26-inch wheels and triple chainsets were still mainstream, but he found favour in road racing in his early 20s, racing at a local and national level for Somerset-based Team Tor 2000. These days he rides indoors for convenience and fitness, and outdoors for fun on road, gravel, 'cross and cross-country bikes, the latter usually with his two dogs in tow.