56t chainring on the Australian national champion's 45cm bike
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The fastest Aussie on two wheels: Richie Porte's Pinarello Bolide(Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
The Bolide's Di2 shift buttons function just like Shimano's (Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
Shimano has a few different Di2 configurations for extension shifting. Some have two buttons on each. This set-up is similar to the sprint shifters, with one button on either side controlling shifting in one direction on the rear derailleur(Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
While a Garmin might not be aero, most riders prefer having data. A minimalist K-Edge TT mount holds Porte's on(Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
Mechanics mark all rider saddles for repeatable reference points when measuring(Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
Continental is a common tubular at the Tour de France. While 25mm is a common width for road stages, 22m is still fairly normal for time trials (Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
The Bolide's horizontal dropouts feature a fine-tune fore-aft adjustment (Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
Integrated brakes tuck smoothly into the frame(Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
56/44 rings on 167.5mm cranks(Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
Porte rides a 45cm frame(Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
Team Sky is using Stages power meters for the second year. We have seen a few two-sided prototypes, but most riders use the left-only meter(Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
The integrated Bolide bars and stem combined with the hidden brake make for a very clean front end(Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
The perspective from Porte's Pinarello perch (Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
Richie Porte is one strong cog in the Team Sky's 2015 Tour de France machine, and he started this year's race aboard a custom-painted Pinarello Bolide in recognition of his Australian national time trial championship win.
Standing 172cm (5ft 8in), Porte rides a bike with extreme numbers. For instance, the cranks are a a short 167.5mm on his 45cm frame, but the chainrings are a hearty 56/44t combination. His Stages power meter can probably report some impressive numbers, too, but Team Sky isn't sharing those.
We weighed his bike at 8.39kg (18.5lb) — that does not count the rather sizable GPS transponder that riders are required to mount on their bikes this year.
The 2015 Tour started with a 13.8km time trial in Utrecht, Holland, where Porte didn't manage the top 10 ahead of three weeks serving as Chris Froome's super domestique.
Click through the gallery above for a closer look.
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