Why don’t workers members all expertise the equivalent bike on the Olympics?
Watch any WorldTour freeway race and every member of an expert workers shall be carrying the equivalent bundle and driving the equivalent bike, or on the very least a small assortment of excessive spec fashions from the equivalent mannequin.
On the Paris Olympics, you’ll be succesful to identify cyclists from the equivalent nation by their an equivalent garments; Castelli is a long-time confederate of the Italian biking workers, for example, and Czech mannequin Kalas offers British Biking’s workers garments.
On the monitor, the British Biking team-issue bundle extends to the Hope x Lotus monitor bike. All members of the monitor workers, regardless of self-discipline, will expertise the equivalent bike, with variations in handlebars to cater for the desires of the completely completely different events.
Avenue riders use their commerce workers bikes throughout the Olympic freeway race and time trial
(Image credit score rating: Getty Images)
So why, after they line up at first of the freeway race and the time trial, will UK riders be on a hotch-potch of bikes in quite a few colors and from completely completely different producers, with completely completely different wheels, tyres, groupsets and completely different parts? Their helmets and footwear will differ too.
“The Olympic legal guidelines allow riders to expertise completely completely different producers of motorcycle,” says Ellie Stott, communications supervisor for the Good Britain Biking Crew.
All the riders on the workers are expert athletes, who spend the overwhelming majority of their 12 months driving for his or her commerce workers. They’ll have lined tons of of miles on their bikes in teaching and WorldTour rivals and know them inside out. Skilled riders are notoriously picky about their bikes’ set-up too.
Swapping to a particular bike for one event, which falls throughout the heart – or on the very least in route of the tail end – of the expert race season could possibly be problematic, as a result of the riders wouldn’t have time to teach and develop accustomed to a particular machine.
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There could possibly be additional inquiries to take care of as properly: would a uniform Olympic bike be equipped with the equivalent groupset for all riders, for example? As soon as extra, there’d be a learning curve if that’s the case. Likewise saddle, tyres and the host of various small parts that make up a race bike – parts that riders are comfortable with and for which they know the boundaries.
“So it’s wise for riders to expertise their very personal bikes. Likewise, they’ll use the equivalent helmet as they’d use when driving for his or her commerce workers, merely with out the workers branding,” says Stott.
Tom Pidcock was carrying a Lazer helmet, fairly than Kask, when he acquired gold throughout the XC MTB event
(Image credit score rating: Getty Images)
That won’t be true all through all disciplines though. On the Paris Olympics, Tom Pidcock was carrying a Lazer helmet when he acquired the XC MTB rivals, fairly than one from Kask, which sponsors the Ineos Grenadiers freeway workers.
On the extreme end, Kask’s emphasis is on freeway helmets (except for the $600 full-face Defender). Pidcock appears to be to have a non-exclusive deal for freeway driving solely and we’d depend on him to revert to a Kask helmet for the Olympic freeway race. Often in XC MTB and cyclocross competitions, he wears a Pink Bull helmet, which is a branded Lazer lid.
As soon as extra, with footwear, a rider may have a pair supplied by their workers sponsor that they’re comfortable driving in; often shoe producers may have a novel custom-made last for footwear to swimsuit a single sponsored skilled rider.
What logos can be displayed by Crew GB riders and completely different Olympic athletes is dominated by Rule 40. It’s pretty superior and covers each little factor from sponsor logos to tweets, nonetheless is designed to make it possible for the British Olympic Affiliation captures revenue to fund its grassroots actions.
Spot the Spesh – Specialised provided its riders with vibrant yellow bikes on the Rio Olympics in 2016
(Image credit score rating: Future)
Bike producers see the possibility to promote their bikes too. On the Rio Olympics in 2016, the entire riders on Specialised bikes, regardless of their nation, have been driving vibrant yellow Tarmacs. Totally different producers have provided their sponsored riders with vibrant bikes too, although on the same time some riders have been on bikes of their regular workers colors.
Van der Poel rode his Canyon Aeroad to 2023 World Championships victory in Glasgow
(Image credit score rating: Getty Images)
It’s not merely on the Olympics that riders expertise their commerce workers bikes when competing for his or her nation each. Mathieu van der Poel acquired the world freeway race championships in 2023 driving a Canyon Aeroad, the equivalent bike as he rides throughout the WorldTour.
As soon as extra, completely different members of the Dutch nationwide workers have been driving bikes from various completely different producers, matching the instruments they’d expertise with their commerce teams.
Different on the monitor too
Crew GB will all expertise the Hope x Lotus monitor bike in Paris, nonetheless this isn’t compulsory
(Image credit score rating: Alex Whitehead/SWpix)
We talked about above that all the members of the British Biking monitor workers could possibly be driving the equivalent Hope x Lotus monitor bike. Stott components out that proper right here too there’s room for varied bikes to be used.
“All of our monitor riders will use the Hope-Lotus Paris bike nonetheless that’s optional throughout the regs. We’ve had riders using completely different bikes at earlier Video video games,” she says.
One other nations whose monitor teams aren’t resourced along with Crew GB will see a ramification of varied bikes utilized by their teams.
Nevertheless supplied that the Hope x Lotus monitor bike is taken under consideration state-of-the-art in a contest the place margins are razor skinny and there’s a steady tech arms race, it’s wise for riders to decide on to expertise it over alternate choices.
The Japanese V-IZU monitor bike retails for over £100,000
(Image credit score rating: Future (Andy Jones))
There’s moreover the little matter of the value of Olympic-level monitor bikes. The Hope x Lotus carbon bike can be bought for £25,000. Crew GB may be debuting the 3D printed UKSI-BC1, which is priced at £55,000 plus VAT.
Totally different Olympic monitor bikes are equally pricey. You can purchase the Japanese workers’s V-Izu TCM-2 for a little bit of over £100,000, for example. That’s fairly some huge cash for an individual rider to pony up for a shot at a medal.
