Tour de France pro bike: Ben O'Connor’s Prototype BMC X Red Bull

Ben O'Connor is back at the Tour de France hoping to crack the top-10 at the race and maybe even a podium, and he’s doing it atop a new prototype BMC bike.

It broke cover at the Critérium du Dauphiné at the beginning of June but back then it was unbranded. It’s now made a return at the Tour de France with BMC branding but beyond that we still know little about the as-yet unreleased bike.

There are some clues about the design including a RedBull Advanced Technologies logo on the down tube. BMC announced a partnership with the F1 giants last year and we’re excited to learn how this has impacted the design and aerodynamics of the new bike, presuming the logo isn’t an outlier.

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Will F1 technology trickle down to the new BMC bike?

The bike is specced with Campagnolo’s Super Record Wireless groupset, although AG2R Citroën Team have stuck to older Super Record chainrings. That’s because the 54/39 chainrings that the team uses aren't currently available for the wireless groupset.

Up front there’s a new cockpit which has a sleek, fully integrated design with a custom computer mount for O’Connor’s Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT, a small detail which is likely to improve aerodynamics.

We're big fans of 3D technology and O’Connor’s 3D-printed Fizik Antares Versus Evo is a real eye-catcher. Conventional saddles usually have foam or padding with an external leather cover but the Antares Versus Evo has a one-piece 3D-printed construction.

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O'Connor's 3D, carbon-printed saddle.

Arguably the most surprising part of the bike is the 26mm Pirelli P ZERO™ Race tyres. Ten years ago these would be considered wide but by modern standards 26mm is narrow with most teams running 28mm. It’s also a tubed setup rather than tubeless which is sure to please many.

That’s all we currently know about BMC’s new prototype bike but we’ll provide a full breakdown once it's officially unveiled.

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BMC X Red Bull

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