CUBE

CUBE was founded by Marcus Pürner in 1993 in the northeast of Bavaria, Germany. Born out of the trend of the time coming over from America for off-road riding, it was an early European adopter of mountain biking. CUBE actually started off as a small local bike shop and distributor in Waldershof, but it didn’t take long for the team to decide that they could do a better job of creating bikes themselves.

From these small beginnings, CUBE has grown into one of the largest bike brands in Europe, seeing almost consistent 10% year-on-year growth since it was founded. The brand is sold in over 60 countries and more than 500,000 units are sold each year. With a product catalogue that covers every facet of cycling from pro road all the way to commuter and touring bikes, it is a brand known for its complete range.

CUBE manufactures most of its bikes in-house, and tests all of its frames to its own standards, as well as testing any components intended to be on the final spec sheet.

CUBE has its feet firmly in racing with continuous sponsorship of pro team Intermarché-Circus-Wanty since 2014. In 2021 the team stepped up from the second-division ranks to the WorldTour, and have a breakout star in the form of the Eritrean Biniam Girmay.

CUBE began its sponsorship of the Intermarché-Circus-Wanty team in 2014, with the team enjoying increasing success since rising to the WorldTour in 2021. 

Biniam Girmay is the team's big star, producing stunning moments and milestones for African cycling when he won the 2022 Gent-Wevelgem and a stage at that year's Giro d'Italia. 

Zoe Backstedt won the junior cyclo-cross world title in 2022 on a CUBE 'cross bike, at a time when she was riding for the Tormans team.

CUBE is a German manufacturer of bikes and equipment, based in the Fichtel Mountains of northeastern Bavaria.

Racing

Results

Race Results

Itzulia Basque Country stage 4: Louis Meintjes wins from breakaway with peloton neutralised following major crash

Louis Meintjes (Intermarché-Wanty) won stage 4 of 

 with a solo breakaway. The win was overshadowed by a massive crash on a sweeping right-hand bend that caught out most of the pre-race contenders with 36km to go. 

 (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates) were two of the riders who were the worst off, with both riders leaving the race in ambulances, while 

 (Soudal-QuickStep) also abandoned the race but were able to leave in their team cars. 

Without any ambulances remaining to follow the race, both the breakaway of six riders and the peloton were stopped for a full hour as the race organisers determined how to proceed with the remainder of the stage. 

Vingegaard, Evenepoel and Roglič involved in serious crash at Itzulia Basque Country

Ultimately, the decision was made to allow the breakaway to contest the stage while the peloton was neutralised for the remainder of the day. That unorthodox choice left Meintjes to fight for the stage win against Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies), Karel Vacek (Burgos-BH), Reuben Thompson (Groupama-FDJ) and Joseba López (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA).

Once the breakaway began to race again, the six riders kept the pace controlled as they warmed up after the long break and potentially to decide if they were to continue racing themselves, regardless of the official race decision. 

Vacek was the first to make a move as the breakaway hit the steepest slopes of the final climb, which topped out at 10km to go. Vacek was joined by Meintjes and Thompson. He attacked again with 1km to go on the climb, which got rid of Thompson, before Meintjes returned the favour and gapped Vacek over the top. From there, Meintjes kept the pace on and powered his way to stage victory. 

“It's not the way you want to win, Meintjes said after the stage. "I felt good and if there was a chance for the breakaway I would have been ready to fight for the stage, but it takes a bit of the pleasure out of it. It’s maybe a victory but it does really feel like it. You want it to be fair for everyone."

Volta ao Algarve: Gerben Thijssen wins stage 1 in bunch sprint

) collected his second victory of the season, taking out the opening stage of the Volta ao Algarve in a bunch sprint.

As was the case when this exact same finish in Lagos was used last year, there appeared to be some finish line confusion, with Thijssen stopping pedalling on a white road marking 10 metres shy of the actual finish line.

Still, his burst of finishing speed had allowed him enough of an advantage to hold on for victory as he cruised home ahead of the advancing Marijn van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost).

Jordi Meeus (Bora-Hansgrohe) grabbed the final spot on the podium as Arnaud Démare, whose Arkéa-Samsic team had taken the reins in the finale, had to settle for fifth.

“Last year I didn’t have such good start season, so this year it was so important to get good start,” said Thijssen, who won the Trofeo Palma in Mallorca at the end of January.

“Two wins already is quite unbelievable, and at this level. It proves I worked really hard this winter, and it’s nice when the hard work pays off."

There were splits in the field following a late kicker and descent in the final couple of kilometres, but those time gaps were neutralised in terms of the general classification. That would indicate that, despite Arkéa's work on the climb, the splits were caused by a crash on the descent, with  Marco Haller seen on the deck. 

A windy day, but a calm day, until the finale

The opening stage of the 2024 Volta ao Algarve ran 200.8km from Portimão to Lagos. The two towns are scarcely 15km apart but the route delved inland for two early climbs and then down the Atlantic coast before the run-in to Lagos.

The day’s breakaway was made up of seven riders, six of which came from the third-division Portuguese teams. The odd one out was the WorldTour’s Tobias Bayer (Alpecin-Deceuninck), and he was duly the last man standing, attacking his companions just over 50km out.

Their advantage had never grown above five minutes, and Bayer himself was calmly wound in with 22km go. Despite a constant background threat of crosswinds, and despite a crash that saw Visma Lease A Bike’s big names — Sepp Kuss, Wout Van Aert, Tiesj Benoot — briefly held up, it was a calm run-in to the finish.

Things hotted up on a short incline inside the final 3km, where Démare’s teammates looked to rip things up. They caused some damage to the bunch and to Intermarché, but Thijssen was present and correct with a teammate. 

"The little kicker with 2km to go was quite hard for me," Thijssen admitted, "but I knew if I could get to the top of that, I could be in a good position to win."

Arkéa led the race into the home straight but things soon became chaotic as riders looked to open up from range. Instead of following his own lead-out man, Thijssen stuck religiously to the back wheel of Démare, which threatened to box him in. However, he opened up on the right-hand side, then expertly threaded his way through a gap to hit the front in the centre of the road, and never looked back.

He cruised out in front, sitting up early as the wrong white line came along, but the turn of speed had already proven to be emphatic.

For more of the latest racing news and results, visit the 

Surf Coast Classic: Biniam Girmay sprints to victory

) triumphed in a close bunch sprint at the Surf Coast Classic to claim his first victory of the season.

The Eritrean rider delivered a strong kick in the sprint finish to edge out 

With little to worry the fast men, the day was always expected to end in a bunch sprint and it stuck to that script with the day’s five-man breakaway easily chased back before the sprint teams burst into life for the finish.

Building on his strong early-season form at the recent 

, where he twice finished in the top three, Girmay proved to be the strongest in the sprint to the line.

Tour Down Under pro bike: Biniam Girmay’s Cube Litening Aero C:68X

After a three-year hiatus, the race returned for only its second edition, with many of the riders who started the Tour Down Under making the short journey along the southern coast of Australia to take to the start line. 

For many, the aim was to become only the second-ever winner of the race and to add their name alongside Sam Bennett to the list of winners. The Irishman triumphed in a sprint in the inaugural edition back in 2020 and it was expected to play out in a similar fashion once again on a 158.6km route that contained little to worry the fast men.

Many of the sprint teams will have been relieved at the start of the day by the absence of Sam Welsford and his Bora-Hansgrohe team who dominated the sprints at the Tour Down Under. His absence opened up a bigger opportunity but before the fast men could grasp it, they first needed to reel in the day’s breakaway, and it was a strong one.

The fight for the breakaway started on the challenging uphill drag to Dean Marsh, which provided the biggest obstacle of the day and was tackled immediately from the start. Lidl-Trek were the main protagonists early in the race and that was rewarded when 

 escaped up the road. The Lidl-Trek duo were joined by 

 (ARA Skip Capital) who, at only 19 years of age, was the youngest rider in the breakaway and 18 years Mollema’s junior.

With plenty of firepower to call upon, the breakaway’s lead gradually increased beyond the two-minute barrier as they tackled the rolling farmland roads that made up the majority of the day’s route, before falling just short of three minutes with 90 of the 158.6km still remaining.

At that point, there were rumblings of a chase brewing and the breakaway’s slim hopes gradually faded along with their gap. The gap quickly dropped to below two minutes and, driven on by Jayco-AlUla, Ineos Grenadiers, Israel-Premier Tech and Intermarché-Wanty, was soon below one minute as attention turned to the final 30km and a sprint finish.

The breakaway’s hopes were dented further when Marriage and Eaves dropped back, although the remaining trio fought on and were only caught inside the final 10km, at which point all attention turned to the finish.

In the finish, it was Girmay who stepped up to edge out Viviani and Strong in the kick to the line as he took a confidence-boosting early-season victory.

Tech

News

Tech News

Tour Down Under tech gallery: New bikes, shoes and custom components

After months of watching riders toil around muddy fields in pursuit of a runners-up spot behind Mathieu van der Poel in cyclo-cross, cycling returned to smooth tarmac this week as the 

 kickstarted the men’s WorldTour season. 

The first major race of the season is always a hotbed for the latest and coolest tech, with teams showing off their best equipment.

While it’s been fairly quiet over the last few months in the tech world compared to previous seasons, there was still plenty on show in Australia and we scoured the peloton over the first few stages to see what new and interesting tech goodies we could find.

Tour Down Under pro bike: Filippo Ganna’s Pinarello Dogma F

AG2R have arguably had the busiest winter of all as they gained new title sponsors in the form of Decathlon, which has brought its Van Rysel range of bikes on-board too. That’s bad news for BMC, with the Swiss brand dropping away from WorldTour level, but it’s a long-awaited return for Decathlon to pro cycling. 

s bike of choice for 2024 will be the Van Rysel RCR Pro, which made its WorldTour bow on the opening stage of the Tour Down Under. It hasn’t enjoyed too much success at the race so far, but there’s plenty of time to set that record straight.

Alongside their new bikes, the team is also sporting new wheels in 2024 from Swiss Side. In the latest example of cross-sport collaboration, the brand has drawn on its F1 aerodynamics expertise to design its range of HADRON Ultimate wheels in collaboration with DT Swiss.

Striking bike designs and custom components

While the Van Rysel RCR Pro looks fast, it also looks good, although it struggles to compete with some of the more eye-catching designs in the peloton. First up in the race for the best-looking bike is 

 Ultimate, with its striking purple colourway. It's a simple design but that doesn't take away from what is a great look, and the paintwork only gets better the closer you get to the bike.

The Ultimate is Canyon’s lightweight climbing bike and 

’s, pictured above, had some interesting custom tech, including these 

 Race Plus bottle cages which perfectly accent the colourway.

At the front of the bike, secured under the handlebar, the bike also had a 3D-printed mount which houses Osborne’s 

 Filante also caught our eye with its marble-effect design. More impressively than the attention-grabbing design, each colourway is unique. This is achieved through the process of applying the paintwork, although the differences are only subtle, so you may struggle to spot the differences between each bike.

’s bike for 2024. The American team has always been one of the bravest outfits when it comes to designing their bikes and kit and they’ve lived up to that billing once again with their 2024 offering which is hard to miss. It won’t be liked by everyone, but there’s no denying that they sure know how to go all-out.

If you’ve put so much effort into your bike’s designs, you might as well go the full hog. That was clearly the team’s thinking with these pink valve caps from Muc-Off. They’re only discreet but add another layer to the bike’s eye-catching design.

In sharp contrast to EF Education-EasyPost, 

 have gone to the complete opposite end of the scale with their valves which don’t stand out at all. That’s not because they’re dull or have regular colouring, but because there aren’t any valves at all. It’s not a magic trick but a unique design by Newmen, who provides the team’s wheels. Rather than using a common presta valve, a schrader version is hidden within the wheel. The only giveaway is a small flap that covers the hole through which the valve can be accessed. It’s not new tech and has been around on the brand’s wheels for a couple of years, but it’s still unique within the WorldTour peloton.

 Litening Aero C:68X bike proved to be a treasure-trove for new tech. Beyond the wheels, it also sported what appeared to be new 

 Keo Blade pedals. The main giveaway is the metal plating where the foot meets the pedals, which is now split into three sections but only consists of one on the current model. Along the side of the pedal, where a cap used to cover the outer end of the axle, there is now a smooth edge.

 in the form of what we believe are an as-yet unreleased set of 

. The knitted-construction, which makes them unique within Bontrager’s shoe line-up, should make them lightweight, suggesting that they’ll be angled more towards climbing. An ‘RSL’ logo is emblazoned on the tongue, which is the name used for many other products within Bontrager’s range, including for certain wheels and handlebars.

Lidl-Trek rider spotted using unreleased Bontrager shoes at Tour Down Under

Returning to Intermarché, whose Cube steeds lured plenty of our attention, partly thanks to the mighty stem we encountered on 

’s bike. Designed in-house by Cube specifically for the Litening Aero C:68X, the stem, named the ICR Aero Cockpit System, is as wide as the top tube and almost as deep. You’ll struggle to find a more colossal stem in pro racing.

, we found these K-Guard chain catchers on their 

 Dogma F bikes. Chain catchers aren’t new but have become increasingly popular over recent seasons and most teams now use them. As the name suggests, they offer an extra level of protection against the risk of a chain dropping off the inside of the chain rings.

The UCI has strict rules that have to be adhered to, so it was no surprise when 

’s latest Oltre bike fell foul of them in 2022 thanks to its Air Deflector wings. Attached to the head tube, these were essentially aero fairings which are banned from the pro peloton. Luckily the Italian brand was prepared for such a situation and removed them, but there are still noticeably bumps left on either side of the head tube which presumably provide some aero advantage, like on the 

We’ll end with a reminder that you can have the best tech in the world but if your bike isn’t set up correctly, you’re going to run into problems. This was expertly displayed by 

 who recruited a tape measure to check that his 

 V4Rs was set-up to his liking, much to the amusement of the team’s mechanics.

GCN's Alex Paton was also out in Adelaide for the Tour Down Under. Check out his video below for more of the hottest tech from the first race of the WorldTour season.

Pro Bikes

It’s been a case of ‘so close yet so far’ over the first two stages of the Tour Down Under for 

. The Eritrean star started the race with a runners-up spot before dropping to fourth on 

 as he once again came up agonisingly short.

 rider so far, there will be plenty of opportunities to top the podium over the remaining stages. Leg power alone won’t be enough to triumph though, and Girmay will be partly relying on his Cube Litening Aero C:68X bike.

We caught a glimpse of the bike and his build ahead of stage 1, and there are some interesting features hidden within.

Tour Down Under pro bike: Sam Welsford’s stage 1-winning Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL8

While some brands have strayed into superbike territory, Cube is currently sticking to dedicated aero and climbing bikes, with Girmay’s Litening Aero C:68X falling into the former category.

It’s a traditional aero bike that sticks to a tried-and-test formula consisting of deep tube profiles, aggressive geometry and chunky seat and chain stays. This chunky theme also extends to the junction between the head tube and seat tube, plus the stem which is one of the bulkiest we’ve seen. Bigger tubes result in more weight but that doesn’t matter here as the Aero, as the name suggests, is all about being as aerodynamic as possible.

These tube profiles and the overall design, Cube says, were formed using Computer Fluid Dynamics and real-world tunnel testing. The result, according to Cube, is a “30% reduction in drag”. That makes the bike sound fast and, while we can’t verify those numbers, it certainly looks fast, especially when it’s in the hands of Girmay.

Chunkier tubes don’t always make a bike more aerodynamic, though, which has spurred a trend for narrower head tubes. Cube has hopped aboard this trend too and the head tube is noticeably thin, especially compared to the rest of the tubes on the bike.

When looking at the bike, it’s hard not to be drawn to the aforementioned integrated bar and stem. Clearly sticking to the idea that bigger tubes are better, the latter is as wide as the top tube and almost as deep. It really catches the eye, that is if your attention hasn’t already been arrested by the fluorescent bar tape - the team’s bikes aren’t difficult to pick out in the pro peloton.

This bar tape adorns the handlebars which, as is expected on a WorldTour bike, benefit from full integration with no cables in sight. If we’re being honest, there would be no excuses if the cables weren’t integrated considering the size of the stem.

If you can pull your eyes away from the frontal area of the bike, there’s also a nifty piece of tech to be found on the Newmen SL R.65 wheels in the form of the valves…or lack of. On first inspection, there doesn’t appear to be any but don’t be deceived as they are there, they’re just hidden inside the wheel. The main giveaway is a small flap that covers the hole where the valves hide, except it’s a Schrader valve rather than the usual Presta version. While it’s unique to the WorldTour peloton, the tech has been around for a couple of years now and is inspired, unsurprisingly, by aerodynamics.

That’s the unique tech out of the way, but the rest of the build follows modern trends, starting with the Shimano Dura-Ace groupset. Take a walk around the WorldTour peloton and you’ll struggle to find many bikes that aren’t adorned with Shimano drivetrains. That’s because the Japanese brand provides groupsets for 14 of the 18 WorldTour teams and Intermarché-Wanty is one of them.

Girmay’s specific set-up also conformed to current norms, with his 54/40t chainset by far the most popular option in the pro peloton, as is the 11-34t cassette he paired it with.

Sporting a 28mm width, the bike’s Continental Grand Prix 5000 tyres were also on-trend while Girmay’s saddle of choice was the Prologo Dimension Tri.

Features

Tech Features

2024 Men's WorldTour bikes: A guide to the bikes, groupsets, and tech of the top-tier teams

 is set to deliver another year of unforgettable racing.

Like at the beginning of every season, there will be a short period of familiarisation as teams emerge from their winter hibernations with new riders, kit and, for some, names – It will take us a while, for example, to get used to 

Luckily, there is much more consistency in the realms of 

, where teams only tend to make major changes every few seasons when their current brand partnerships come to an end. 2024 is no different, with most teams riding the same bikes, groupsets and wheels as the previous season, although there are some notable changes.

Here’s a complete guide to all of the bikes, groupsets, wheels and tyres that every team at Men’s WorldTour level will use during the 2024 season.

Tech partnerships can change at any time, so we’ll keep this guide updated as and when any more new partnerships are announced.

Best men's WorldTour bikes of 2023: Which brand won the most races?

WorldTour bike sponsorship changes for 2024

, the bike brand transfer merry-go-round isn’t quite as intense, so there’s always a degree of stability and familiarity. Most teams sign multi-year deals with their selected brands, so the opportunity to swap to a different one only comes around every few seasons - unless a team is willing to break a partnership off early, but that can lead to some public spats, as Lotto Dstny found out in 2023.

Ridley hits back at Lotto Dstny ‘disloyalty’ over early ending of partnership

Luckily, there doesn’t appear to be any such animosity between 

 called an end to their 22-year partnership ahead of the 2024 season

, which also sponsors fellow WorldTour team Astana Qazaqstan. Groupama-FDJ are one of only two men’s WorldTour that swapped bike sponsors for 2024.

 joined them on this list after switching to Decathlon-owned Van Rysel bikes from BMC. AG2R have been partnered with 

 since 2021 and the Swiss brand has been an ever-present in the WorldTour peloton for over a decade.

Lapierre and Groupama-FDJ split after 22 years of collaboration

Elsewhere, there are no changes. That means that the two most successful teams, UAE Team Emirates and Visma-Lease a Bike, will continue to ride 

 bikes, respectively. Ineos Grenadiers’ long-standing partnership with 

 have been joined by Wilier in the list of brands which sponsor more than one team. Canyon is partnered with Alpecin-Deceuninck and Movistar, while Specialized is a long-term partner of Soudal Quick-Step and Bora-Hansgrohe.

Shimano dominance continues, Campagnolo clings to WorldTour status

While Canyon and Specialized win the popularity stakes for bikes, 

 completely eclipses it on the groupset front. The Japanese manufacturer has dominated the WorldTour peloton for a number of years now and it only appears to be getting stronger.

Fourteen of the 18 men's WorldTour teams used the Dura-Ace groupset in 2023 and that number hasn't budged in 2024, although its line-up has changed with Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale hopping aboard from Campagnolo while Bora-Hansgrohe have headed to SRAM.

Mechanical Shimano 105 goes 12-speed and is disc-brake only

 sponsored three teams in 2023 but that is up to four with the addition of Bora. Among the other SRAM-sponsored teams are Visma-Lease a Bike, Lidl-Trek and Movistar. Despite its inferior numbers, SRAM boasts a flawless Grand Tour record in 2023, teaming up with Jumbo-Visma to win the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta a España.

’s stay at WorldTour level came to an end after AG2R made the switch to Shimano as a part of its partnership with Van Rysel. The historic Italian brand is also absent from the 

Why will Campagnolo be absent from WorldTour level in 2024? GCN Tech Show

Canyon’s bikes have topped the podium at multiple Monuments and Grand Tours over the last few seasons, usually at the hands of either 

. Last year’s palmarès included wins at both Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix, before Philipsen topped off a four-stage haul with the green jersey at the Tour de France.

All of those victories came atop the aero-focussed Aeroad, but the team also uses the lightweight Ultimate for climbing stages.

Ollie Bridgewood’s new Canyon Aeroad CFR in Alpecin-Deceuninck team colours

Few bike brands have as much pedigree within the sport as 

. Its Celeste colourway has become a fan favourite but, beyond the looks, the Italian brand’s bikes have teamed up with some of the biggest names in cycling’s history, including Fausto Coppi.

After Jayco-AlUla jumped to Giant for 2022, Bianchi was briefly left without a home in the WorldTour, but it made a comeback with 

Bianchi launches updated 6.6kg Specialissima road bike

 will be hoping that the Manx Missile can make history by breaking the record for Tour de France stages win in 2024. He’ll attempt to do it atop a 

 bike. Italian brand Wilier and the Kazakh team have been working together since 2020. 

Last season there was some confusion over the team's wheel sponsor with both Corima and HED wheelsets making an appearance, but this year the team has switched to Vision.

Mark Cavendish's Wilier Filante SLR: New pedals, saddle, and wheels for 2024

 since the team’s inception in 2017 and it doesn’t look like that will change anytime soon. The pair extended the partnership into 2022 to an undisclosed time, only stating that it is a “multi-year partnership”. As a minimum, the team will race Merida bikes during the 2024 season, when it will be hoping to build on its 12 WorldTour wins in 2023.

 who added another achievement to the Merida palmarès late in the season when he won the Gravel World Championships atop a then-unreleased 

Bahrain Victorious pro bike: Jack Haig’s Merida Reacto

headlines in late 2023 when they signed Primož Roglič from Jumbo-Visma

. The Slovenian will head up their GC ambitions at the Tour de France where he’ll hope to depose former teammate Jonas Vingegaard.

With a new team comes a new bike in the form of the 

. Released in August of 2023, it’s the latest version of Specialized’s do-it-all superbike. Unlike other brands, Specialized doesn’t offer dedicated climbing and aero bikes, instead packing everything into one machine.

The team also stole the tech headlines over the winter through their 

, which may have been influenced by the arrival of Roglič, who has been using the American brand's groupsets over the last few seasons.

Sam Welsford’s Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL8

’ long, 15-year wait for a Tour de France victory to an end in 2023. He delivered the victory atop the 

 795 Blade RS which only broke cover at Eurobike in June, although the team had been riding it since swapping over from De Rosa at the beginning of the season.

Having only linked up for the 2023 season, it appears that it’s already been a 

 partnership for Cofidis, but can it propel them to more victories in 2024?

Bryan Coquard's Look 795 Blade RS: Cofidis’ Do-It-All Superbike

AG2R Citroën is one of the rare teams to switch bike brands for 2024 after Decathlon jumped on-board as co-title sponsors, bringing 

. The team previously rode Decathlon bikes between 2000 and 2007.

That move brought to an end the team's three-year partnership with BMC who will be absent from WorldTour level for the first time in over a decade. The team's switch to Shimano also means that Campagnolo is without a WorldTour team for 2024.

Having previously worked with the now Jayco-AlUla team, 

 in 2021 and the partnership was extended by an extra two years at the beginning of 2023. Along with its Foil, Addict and Plasma bikes, the team also uses finishing kit from Scott’s in-house Syncros brand, including saddles and cockpits. 

This was extended to include time-trial wheels

 in 2023 after Syncros released its Capital SL wheelset.

Which WorldTour pro bike is the lightest and which is the heaviest? 

WorldTour bikes represent the crème de la crème of bike tech and the pinnacle of performance-driven design. Even though every manufacturer is looking to achieve the same goal of making the fastest and lightest bikes some get closer to the UCI’s 6.8kg minimum weight limit than others. Lucky for us, 

 took his trusty scales with him to the Santos 

 to find out exactly how much the bikes of the WorldTour weigh.

Interestingly the theme across all the team bikes weighed was that they were considerably heavier than you might expect. Out of the 18 bikes weighed only one came in at under 7kg and that was only by a handful of grams.

Lightweight bikes steal the show in new tech at Eurobike 2023

This shows a complete shift from five years ago when bikes would consistently come in below the 6.8kg minimum limit and needed to have weights added around the bottom bracket or inside the seat post to bring them up to the required weight.

There are a few technological considerations that have in part contributed to this across-the-board increase in weight, such as disc brakes and non-tubular tyres. There has also been a trend to focus on other areas of a bike's performance, for example, aerodynamic optimisation has put less emphasis on the weight of a bike.

Read on to find out exactly which team is rolling on the lightest bike in the peloton. 

The difference of nearly a whole kilo between the lightest and heaviest WorldTour bikes sounds like a lot but does that translate into a meaningful disadvantage out on the road?

 has been crunching some numbers and calculated the difference this would present to a 70kg rider on the 

Why the all-rounder superbike could be a disadvantage: GCN Tech Show

Although the results are not earth-shattering to us mere mortals, it is enough to change the results of a race quite dramatically. For the same power, the heavier bike would complete the climb 26 seconds slower than the lightest one. That could easily make the difference between winning or losing on the climb.

This equates to a four-watt difference, which throughout a single climb is not a significant increase in output. However, if you zoom out over a stage with multiple climbs or a whole Grand Tour, the total additional energy expenditure is something that will add up.

Bora-Hansgrohe claim the crown as EF Education-EasyPost top the scales

Scoping his way around the team buses at the Tour Down Under, Alex was able to get a weight for each of the men's WorldTeams in attendance. Remember, these are not the claimed weights by the manufacturers, but the true weights which the teams were racing in Australia. Without further ado, here is the list from lightest to heaviest! 

Groupama-FDJ / Wilier Filante SLR / 7.08kg

Soudal Quick-Step / Specialized SL8 / 7.17kg

Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale / Van Rysel RSR / 7.45kg 

Alpecin-Deceuninck / Canyon Ultimate / 7.48kg 

Visma-Lease a Bike / Cervélo S5 / 7.59kg

It is important to note that, for some of these teams, Alex weighed the aero bikes, which are naturally heavier than the climbing bikes. For example, EF Education-EasyPost also stock the lighter Cannondale SuperSix EVO in their fleet. 

Could teams get the weight of their bikes down to 6.8kg?

A number of teams have strayed away from having a dedicated aero and lightweight bike, instead opting to use an all-rounder bike that blurs the difference between these categories. These sit at the mid-seven kilo mark highlighting a measurable disadvantage when compared to teams that can hop on a super light bike for mountainous stages. The question is, could these teams put their bikes on a diet to bring them closer to the elusive 6.8kg limit?

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Top CUBE Stories

2024 Men's WorldTour bikes: A guide to the bikes, groupsets, and tech of the top-tier teams

Which WorldTour pro bike is the lightest and which is the heaviest?

Tour Down Under bikes: New colourways and components

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