Best bike tech and designs at the Tour de France Femmes

All eyes are on the roads of France this week as the best riders in the women’s peloton battle it out in the second edition of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.

Only the strongest riders will be in with a chance of winning the famous yellow jersey, but they’ll also be relying on the hottest and best new bike tech.

We sent Manon Lloyd over to France to check out the bikes that will help power the world’s best riders over the eight days of racing.

A bike worthy of a world champion

Where else could we start than defending Tour de France champion Annemiek van Vleuten? The Movistar rider has been untouchable at recent Grand Tours, winning the last six in a row, and will be hoping to extend that to an unbelievable seventh victory.

For some of the stages, she’ll be joined in her efforts by the Canyon Aeroad CFR, the German brand’s flagship aero bike. It’s one of the fastest bikes in the pro peloton and Van Vleuten’s also happens to have one of the coolest designs thanks to the rainbow colourway on the forks and top tube, a nod to the Dutchwoman’s World Championship success last season. Striking a nice balance, the rest of the bike is matte black, so it isn’t too bling.

Of course, a cool design won’t be enough to secure success out on the road, and for that Van Vleuten can rely on premium components, including Zipp’s 353 NSW wheelset, their lightest tubeless offering.

If it’s as fast as it looks - and it looks seriously fast - Van Vleuten will be flying along the roads of France. Not that she needs any help.

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Van Vleuten is the current road race world champion.

Orbea’s all-out climbing bike

From a pure aero machine to the purest climbing bike in the peloton, next up is Ceratizit-WNT’s new Orbea Orca. It was only unveiled last Thursday, turning plenty of heads in the process.

What makes it so special? Orbea has ignored the rest of the cycling industry to create a bike without any aerodynamic credentials. You heard that right. In a cycling world where every bike is more aero than ever before, Orbea has gone in the complete opposite direction, instead going more lightweight.

The Spanish brand wanted to create the best climbing bike possible and, according to its research, lightweight still trumps aerodynamics. It believes that adding extra aerodynamic features would be detrimental to the bike’s climbing performance, so it hasn’t.

We can’t wait to see the bike in action in the mountains.

Standing out from the crowd

Last week, Canyon-SRAM unveiled a new kit especially for the Tour de France Femmes, and their bikes have a new colourway to go with it.

The team have never been afraid to stand out from the crowd and they’ll certainly do that with their eye-catching orange, pink and yellow bikes. They’re also a commentator’s dream - it won’t be hard to spot the team’s riders - and we’re big fans too.

The designs are inspired by Zwift, sponsors of both the team and the race, and every part of the look is taken care of, including some very fancy on-theme Oakley sunglasses.

Canyon-SRAM have always led the way in the fashion stakes, and they may once again have the coolest bikes in the peloton.

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Canyon-SRAM's new orange design is inspired by Zwift.

…or is this the coolest?

We may have stuck our necks out too soon, as the Lifeplus-Wahoo bike is also seriously cool, sporting a striking pink and blue colourway. It’s so good that it may even rival Canyon-SRAM’s offering.

Like their rivals, they also have a new team kit especially for the race as a part of their ‘#EmbraceEveryMoment’ campaign, which “aims to inspire the next generation of female riders and cycling fans”.

The team has also adopted the Lifeplus Foundation as their lead charity for the race, adding the charity’s logo to the new jersey. Through its work, the Lifeplus Foundation raises money to improve the living conditions and provide clean water for the Bishop Sulumeti Girls Secondary School in Western Kenya.

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Lifeplus-Wahoo have a new kit and bike design.

New everything for Lidl-Trek

Okay, we’re going to have to backtrack again, as Lidl-Trek surely win the battle for the coolest bikes in the pro peloton.

The team have taken on new co-sponsors, Lidl, and that’s led to a completely new look throughout the whole team. The kits, cars and even their trucks have all been revamped. None of them compare to the team’s custom-painted bikes, though.

As a part of Trek’s ‘Project One’ initiative, each rider had the opportunity to customise their bike’s design, and the results are seriously cool. Our favourite is Elisa Balsamo’s, which we’re reliably informed is inspired by unicorns.

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Elisa Longo Borghini has a unique mirror-effect colourway.

Fellow Italian Elisa Longo Borghini has opted for a mirror effect and it’s so good that you can actually see your reflection. We’re sure there will be plenty of riders looking at their own reflection as they enviously glance at Longo Borghini’s bike.

We got our hands on Mads Pedersen’s bike ahead of the men’s Tour de France to learn a little more about Project One, and you can check that out below.