Tour Down Under pro bike: Álvaro Hodeg’s Colnago V4Rs

A proven winner at WorldTour level, UAE Team Emirates’ bike has received a minor update for 2024 with new ENVE wheel hubs

12:02, Sunday 21st January 2024

Tom Hallam-Gravells

Online Production Editor

The Colnago V4Rs was on show at the Tour Down Under

UAE Team Emirates
- Nationality United Arab Emirates
- Founded 2017
- Team Principal Mauro Gianetti
- UCI Code UAD
- Bike Sponsor Colnago
Alvaro Hodeg
- Team UAE Team Emirates
- Nationality Colombia
- Age 27
- UCI Wins 16
- Height 1.86m
Tour Down Under
- Dates 16 Jan - 21 Jan
- Race Length 824 kms
- Race Category Elite Men
Colnago
One of the most iconic Italian bike brands, Colnago has supplied bikes to some of the best riders in the world, including Eddy Merckx and Tadej Pogačar.
Shimano
Shimano is a bike component manufacturer based in Osaka, Japan. The company is one of the industry’s most popular manufacturers and it makes up around three-quarters of the bicycle component market by value.
Prologo
Founded in Italy in 2006, Prologo is a market-leading manufacturer of saddles and other bicycle accessories.
ENVE Composites
ENVE Composites is based in the United States and specialises in wheels and components across all of the cycling disciplines.

Few bikes have enjoyed as much success as the Colnago V4Rs in recent times. Ably piloted by some of the sport’s biggest stars, most notably Tadej Pogačar, it’s a Monument winner, has taken multiple Grand Tour stage wins and has victories from many other races on its palmarès.

Now heading into a new season, the bike made its season debut at the Tour Down Under this week where Isaac Del Toro rode it to a surprise victory on stage 2 in only the second day of WorldTour racing in his young career. The young Mexican was ably supported over the following stages by a strong team, including Álvaro Hodeg whose V4Rs we got our hands on at the race.

Here’s a closer look at the bike and Hodeg’s build for the race.

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

Colnago V4Rs: a Monument machine

The Colnago V4Rs officially broke cover at the end of 2022, just in time for the 2023 season, but it was already a seasoned WorldTour veteran by that point. Like many new bikes, it was thoroughly tested by UAE Team Emirates throughout 2022 when it was simply identifiable as a prototype. It was most notably raced at the 2022 Tour de France where Pogačar’s hopes of securing a third consecutive title were halted by Jumbo-Visma’s Jonas Vingegaard. Anyone superstitious may question why he’d swapped from the V3Rs - a bike that helped to deliver his two Tour de France titles and the V4Rs superseded.

The V4Rs cuts a similar silhouette to the V3Rs but outperforms it in almost every way

Those reasons became much clearer upon the V4Rs’ official launch when Colnago revealed that the bike was better than the V3Rs in virtually every possible way. It was lighter, more aerodynamic - with watt savings approaching nearly 30, according to the Italian brand - and outperformed its predecessor in virtually every metric. Despite this, a further Tour de France title has proved elusive for UAE Team Emirates, but that doesn’t mean that it hasn’t excelled. Far from it.

Instead of conquering the Grand Tours, the V4Rs took over the Monuments in 2023. The first to fall was the Tour of Flanders before Pogačar secured a third successive Il Lombardia title, becoming only the third rider to achieve the feat after Alfredo Binda and Fausto Coppi.

The V4Rs has already enjoyed success this season

Now, heading into 2024, Colnago will hope that its bike can carry on that success, starting at the Tour Down Under where it's already taken a victory at the hands of Del Toro.

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

New ENVE hubs

While most of the bike hasn’t changed much from 2023, there is a subtle new difference hidden within the ENVE wheels. Just a week before the action got underway in Adelaide, the American brand unveiled its new Innerdrive hubs which will be used in all of its premium road wheels, including the SES 4.5 version used by Hodeg at the Tour Down Under.

Hidden within the ENVE SES 4.5 wheels are new hubs

It’s a significant change that could have a big impact on performance, with ENVE claiming that the hubs are 60g lighter than their predecessors while also delivering better bearing efficiency and longevity.

The hubs have already been used by the team in 2023

There is a slight caveat here, though, as the hubs were tested by the team throughout 2023. So, they’re not technically new, but they are officially new.

Read more: ENVE bikes enter pro peloton with TotalEnergies partnership

Carbon-Ti rotors saves weight

The rest of the bike was built up with familiar components, including Shimano’s popular Dura-Ace groupset. There were no surprises in terms of set-up, with the Colombian pairing 54/40t crankset with an 11-34t cassette - that’s the default option for most riders that very few are straying from.

The bike had Shimano's Dura-Ace groupset

Things strayed from the script a little with the Carbon-Ti disc rotors which offer a weight saving over the stock Dura-Ace options. We're only talking a matter of grams, but every little helps.

The disc rotors shed some weight

Read more: Pro bike: João Almeida’s Colnago V4Rs for the Vuelta a España

Trusty Continental tyres

Elsewhere, the ENVE SES 4.5 wheels were teamed with Continental Grand Prix 5000 TT tyres in a 28mm width. Like the drivetrain set-up, 28mm is on-trend and the only bikes we encountered that diverted from this were those that used Specialized’s Turbo Cotton 26mm option.

ENVE also provided the handlebars

Up front the ENVE SES handlebar provided a predictably smooth look thanks to its full integration, something that is now a given at WorldTour level. It was joined by a K-Edge computer mount. K-Edge works with a lot of WorldTour teams, mainly supplying chain catchers, but they offer other components too.