Watch any WorldTour highway race and each member of a professional crew shall be carrying the identical equipment and driving the identical bike, or at the least a small choice of prime spec fashions from the identical model.
On the Paris Olympics, you’ll have the ability to spot cyclists from the identical nation by their similar clothes; Castelli is a long-time accomplice of the Italian biking crew, for instance, and Czech model Kalas provides British Biking’s crew clothes.
On the observe, the British Biking team-issue equipment extends to the Hope x Lotus observe bike. All members of the observe crew, no matter self-discipline, will trip the identical bike, with variations in handlebars to cater for the wants of the completely different occasions.
Street riders use their commerce crew bikes within the Olympic highway race and time trial
(Picture credit score: Getty Photographs)
So why, once they line up at first of the highway race and the time trial, will UK riders be on a hotch-potch of bikes in several colours and from completely different manufacturers, with completely different wheels, tyres, groupsets and different parts? Their helmets and footwear will differ too.
“The Olympic laws permit riders to trip completely different manufacturers of motorcycle,” says Ellie Stott, communications supervisor for the Nice Britain Biking Staff.
All of the riders on the crew are skilled athletes, who spend the vast majority of their yr driving for his or her commerce crew. They’ll have lined 1000’s of miles on their bikes in coaching and WorldTour competitors and know them inside out. Professional riders are notoriously choosy about their bikes’ set-up too.
Swapping to a special bike for one occasion, which falls within the center – or at the least in the direction of the tail finish – of the skilled race season can be problematic, because the riders wouldn’t have time to coach and develop accustomed to a special machine.
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There can be further questions to deal with as effectively: would a uniform Olympic bike be outfitted with the identical groupset for all riders, for instance? Once more, there’d be a studying curve in that case. Likewise saddle, tyres and the host of different small components that make up a race bike – parts that riders are comfy with and for which they know the boundaries.
“So it is smart for riders to trip their very own bikes. Likewise, they’ll use the identical helmet as they’d use when driving for his or her commerce crew, simply with out the crew branding,” says Stott.
Tom Pidcock was carrying a Lazer helmet, somewhat than Kask, when he gained gold within the XC MTB occasion
(Picture credit score: Getty Photographs)
That might not be true throughout all disciplines although. On the Paris Olympics, Tom Pidcock was carrying a Lazer helmet when he gained the XC MTB competitors, somewhat than one from Kask, which sponsors the Ineos Grenadiers highway crew.
On the excessive finish, Kask’s emphasis is on highway helmets (aside from the $600 full-face Defender). Pidcock seems to have a non-exclusive deal for highway driving solely and we would count on him to revert to a Kask helmet for the Olympic highway race. Usually in XC MTB and cyclocross competitions, he wears a Crimson Bull helmet, which is a branded Lazer lid.
Once more, with footwear, a rider can have a pair equipped by their crew sponsor that they’re comfy driving in; usually shoe manufacturers can have a singular customized final for footwear to suit a single sponsored professional rider.
What logos may be displayed by Staff GB riders and different Olympic athletes is ruled by Rule 40. It is fairly advanced and covers every part from sponsor logos to tweets, however is designed to make sure that the British Olympic Affiliation captures income to fund its grassroots actions.
Spot the Spesh – Specialised supplied its riders with vivid yellow bikes on the Rio Olympics in 2016
(Picture credit score: Future)
Bike manufacturers see the chance to advertise their bikes too. On the Rio Olympics in 2016, all of the riders on Specialised bikes, no matter their nation, had been driving vivid yellow Tarmacs. Different manufacturers have supplied their sponsored riders with colourful bikes too, though on the similar time some riders have been on bikes of their commonplace crew colours.
Van der Poel rode his Canyon Aeroad to 2023 World Championships victory in Glasgow
(Picture credit score: Getty Photographs)
It’s not simply on the Olympics that riders trip their commerce crew bikes when competing for his or her nation both. Mathieu van der Poel gained the world highway race championships in 2023 driving a Canyon Aeroad, the identical bike as he rides within the WorldTour.
Once more, different members of the Dutch nationwide crew had been driving bikes from a wide range of different manufacturers, matching the gear they’d trip with their commerce groups.
Alternative on the observe too
Staff GB will all trip the Hope x Lotus observe bike in Paris, however this is not necessary
(Picture credit score: Alex Whitehead/SWpix)
We talked about above that every one the members of the British Biking observe crew can be driving the identical Hope x Lotus observe bike. Stott factors out that right here too there’s room for various bikes for use.
“All of our observe riders will use the Hope-Lotus Paris bike however that’s not necessary within the regs. We’ve had riders utilizing different bikes at earlier Video games,” she says.
Another nations whose observe groups aren’t resourced in addition to Staff GB will see a spread of various bikes utilized by their groups.
However provided that the Hope x Lotus observe bike is taken into account state-of-the-art in a contest the place margins are razor skinny and there’s a continuing tech arms race, it is smart for riders to choose to trip it over options.
The Japanese V-IZU observe bike retails for over £100,000
(Picture credit score: Future (Andy Jones))
There’s additionally the little matter of the price of Olympic-level observe bikes. The Hope x Lotus carbon bike may be purchased for £25,000. Staff GB can be debuting the 3D printed UKSI-BC1, which is priced at £55,000 plus VAT.
Different Olympic observe bikes are equally costly. You should purchase the Japanese crew’s V-Izu TCM-2 for a bit over £100,000, for instance. That’s loads of money for a person rider to pony up for a shot at a medal.
