Australia’s Tour Down Under. It’s the kick off to the WorldTour season and a chance to view what’s new in the world of road tech. Here, we have a gallery of the 2016 bikes of the 18 WorldTour teams.
There isn’t a whole lot of change at the start of the 2016 season, a few new colours here and there, and the subtle swap of saddle or wheels sprinkled in.
The biggest change is Katusha’s move to SRAM and associated Zipp components. Having come from Mavic wheels and tyres, the Russian team now is on Continental rubber. Riders in this team are already using the new eTap wireless shifting, as are Ag2r.
As SRAM currently don’t offer direct-mount rim brakes, Katusha are re-using Shimano Dura-Ace brakes from the past season on its Canyon Aeroad bikes.
Swiss team IAM Cycling moves from cockpit sponsor Ritchey to Scott’s own Syncros. New WorldTour entrant, Dimension Data has made a similar change, switching from 3T to Enve bar and stem combination to match its Cervelo bikes.
Word is that both Ettix-Quick Step and Tinkoff will not be riding FSA groupsets for 2016. Instead, both Specialized-sponsored teams are seen using far more complete Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groups rather then last year's FSA/Shimano smorgasboard.
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Sponsored by Campagnolo, Astana appears to have replaced the Specialized S-Works SRM cranks with the Italian-company’s own. Fellow Campagnolo sponsored team Lotto-Soudal, who are on Ridley bikes, have swapped from San-Marco to Selle Italia saddles.
To make your own comparisons, view the full 2015 WorldTour round-up here. For on-going coverage from the 2016 Santos Tour Down Under, visit our hub page.
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