Hidden SRAM wireless TT shifters, wild shoe covers and more as teams break out the go-fast gear
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Pozzovivo's bike was deliberately parked with the drive side against the wall(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
FDJ's Lapierre Aerostorms were painted with an elongated French flag design on the top tube(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
The team ride Guercotti Eclipse TT bikes, with colour coded Ursus wheels, FSA crank, Shimano Dura-Ace gearing and Time pedals(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
Poland's CCC Sprandi Polkowice team have got orange covered. Even their base layers were orange(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
Campagnolo's Bora Ultra carbon TT crank is still an impressive thing(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
his pair of Movistar team Canyon Speedmax machines show markedly different rider positions, and the hidden front brake(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
Movistar's Canyon Speedmax still has a down tube mounted external Campagnolo EPS battery(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
The Plasma displays a perfectly neat cockpit, with Di2 wires routed in to the risers, and no cables or junction box on show(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
This pair of IAM Cycling Scott Plasmas were fitted with different rear tubulars - a 23mm on the left and 25mm on the right(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
This IAM Cycling Scott Plasma was topped with a Prologo Zero TT saddle with CPC grip material. The team mount their Di2 control boxes to the top of the seatpost, and this saddle also shows many riders' favourite post race drink(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
Giant's Trinitys had very busy left chainstays, with the rear brake, external Di2 battery, rider race chip and speed sensor(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
The frame says it's a 2016 prototype model(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
The fork has a definite Ridley Noah Fast look to it, with a carbon V-brake behind, and some less than ideal down tube cable routing(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
We wouldn't recommend resting a pile of Canyon Speedmax machines on their delicate Campy bar end shifters(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media Giro d Italia time trial tech gallery Lapierre's Aerostorm has a neat cockpit design, although this particular bike sports a lot of riser spacers(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
Team sponsor Garmin supplies the Virb action camera, which was used during the TTT(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
The Cannondale Garmin riders formed a congratulatory huddle together as soon as they arrived back from the TTT(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
Tom Danielson rolls up to the team car after finishing the team time trial(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
Cannondale Garmin brought this all-black Slice RS TT bike in addition to their usual green, white and black livery(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
An IAM Cycling Scott Plasma with external Shimano Di2 battery mounted under the saddle(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
The CXR 60T is an up-to-date modern rim at 27mm wide(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
Mavic's CXR 80T and CXR 60T wheels on the roof of a Katusha team car(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
Katusha's Canyon Speedmax machines had their brake pad wheel guides trimmed away; we're unsure why(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
Giant Alpecin mount their Di2 control units beneath the saddle, in this case, less neatly(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
As well as a minimalist electrical tape bar covering on this bike, the Giant Alpecin team also wrapped all of their risers with tape to cover the tiny gaps(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
This angle shows the integrated design of the bar, and thick foam arm rests(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
The wireless rear deraileur looks to be fully finished and very unfussy, with the removable battery at the rear(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
AG2R's Domenico Pozzovivo had what looks to be Walser Bar 5 bars that incorporate armrests into the base bar. SRAM wireless shifters are visible beneath the bar tape on both the base bar and the extensions. The buttons look to be independent of the brake levers, and round in shape, possibly following the outline of a watch-style battery(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
Pozzovivo also had SRAM's wireless groupset on two Focus Izalco Chrono TT machines. This looks to be the wireless receiver box, here mounted to a Garmin-type bracket on one of the TT extensions(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
But it was still possible to grab a look at the wireless rear derailleur(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
The AG2R riders wore these unusually textured overshoes in their quest for speed in the team time trial(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
AG2R's Domenico Pozzovivo's regular Focus Izalco Max road bike was equipped with SRAM's wireless groupset(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
Okay, so not strictly race tech, but a giant pink Mack truck full of speakers isn't something we see every day(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
Pozzovivo has an extremely low time trial position(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
The wireless SRAM satellite shifters are visible here in profile(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
Nippo Vini Fantini's De Rosas were decked out with mechanical Campagnolo groupsets, but had a slightly fussy cable routing(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
PRO's Aerofuel time trial saddle on a Giant Alpecin team bike(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
Another Etixx team bike's Specialized Sitero saddle showing the Di2 control box mounted beneath it(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
Power2Max provide Etixx Quick Step with power meters, here fitted to an FSA K-Force Light crank, and 55t TT chain ring(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
ljo Keisse's road bike has a long negative rise stem, K-Edge Garmin mount, bar tape right up to the Di2 sprint shifters squeezed up against it, and a top tube sticker in memory of former team mate Wouter Weyland, who tragically died in the 2011 Giro(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
The Specialized Sitero TT saddle was a very popular choice(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
Specialized stopped making this TTS saddle in 2014. But it's still the TT perch of choice for at least one Etixx-QuickStep team rider(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
Australian time trial champion, and Team Sky's leader for this Giro, Richie Porte favours electrical tape only on his extension bars(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
Team Sky always draw a crowd. A team helper has to lift a Pinarello Bolide TT bike over the throng to load on to a team car(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
Eugenio Alafacio of Trek Factory Racing really didn't want to see his heart rate during the Giro's opening TTT(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
BMC's Phillipe Gilbert chooses Fizik's Volta R1 saddle for daily duties(Image credit: Robin Wilmott/Immediate Media)
The Giro d'Italia opened this year with a team time trial, and the world's best teams rolled to the start line with the fastest possible gear their sponsors could provide. Most notable was the somewhat-masked appearance of SRAM's wireless time-trial shifters for its not-yet-released electronic group. SRAM-sponsored AG2R La Mondiale had Focus Izalco Chrono bikes with shift buttons on the extensions and base bar wrapped underneath the bar tape.
SRAM declined to comment on the shifters, but we were able to photograph them from several angles. It appears they could function in the same way as the SRAM electronic road shifters, with a single button being used on each side — left shifts the rear derailleur up, right shifts the rear derailleur down and both buttons pressed at the same time moves the front derailleur.
AG2R's Domenico Pozzovivo had bespoke time-trial bars on his Focus Izalco Chrono that provided him an ultra-low position. Pozzovivo, who won stage 3 of the Giro del Trentinto using SRAM electric, crashed out of the Giro on stage 3. Pozzovivo previously told Cyclingnews that he likes electric shifting. "When you get used to it, it feels easier than mechanical gears," Pozzovivo told Cyclingnews.
Wires from four SRAM shifters feed into this junction box, which may communicate wirelessly with the derailleurs
For a detailed look at the bikes and gear of the Giro d'Italia team time trial, look through the gallery above.
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