- [Dan] The 2016 racing season is but a distant memory, but we have now had time
to reflect on what was an incredible 2016 in the World Tour. Matt Hayman's
incredible win at Paris-Roubaix. Steven Kruijswijk coming incredibly close,
agonizingly close to a win at the Giro d'Italia, and Peter Sagan performing
amazingly well all the way through the year as World Champion.
- [Simon] Indeed. But, while we appreciate that the riders themselves are super
important, what we really want to know about now are the bikes that took them
there. Like Matt Hayman didn't just win Paris-Roubaix, he won it on an Aero bike.
Yeah. So we have crunched through an awful lot of data, and we can now bring you the
definitive list of the Top Ten Most Successful Race Bikes of 2016.
- We can. But how exactly have we done it, I hear you ask? Well,
we have used mathematics. And we're rubbish at math, so we've enlisted the
help of a math genius named Daffyd Thomas, and together, we have come up with the
World Tour of Bikes. So all the World Tour races and their respective stages have
been put into a spreadsheet and points have been allocated.
- We suspect, though, that many of you, like us, don't necessarily agree with the
allocation of points in the UCI's World Tour. So, you'll be pleased to hear,
we've rewritten it. That's right. For example, races like Paris-Roubaix and the
Tour of Flanders, prestigious one-days, now get more GCN points than they would
UCI points. So the Tour de France overall is 100 GCN points, Paris-Roubaix is now 80
GCN points. But stage victories in the Tour de France get proportionately more
points. So you now only have to win five stages, only, in order to get the
equivalent points as the Tour de France overall itself.
- Impressive, and we haven't even finished just there. We've also got some more
incredibly complicated calculations, which mean that if you're a bike manufacturer
who only sponsors one World Tour team, you'll be allocated proportionately more
points than a manufacturer who sponsors three teams. Because, of course,
if you sponsor three World Tour teams, World Tour wins are going to come that
little bit easier.
There's only a small adjustment, the maximal differential in points is just
five per race, but it is important nonetheless.
- Right, then, Dan. I think it's time...
- It is.
- ...for the 10th most successful race bike of 2016. It is...
- The Lapierre Xelius SL, racking up 102 GCN points. This has taken stage wins at
the Criterium du Dauphine, as well as the Vuelta a Espana, but of course the big one
was Arnaud Demare's win at Milan-San Remo all the way back in March.
All told, this means they racked up enough points to get them just inside the Top
Ten. What we found interesting, though, was that Demare chose to use this model,
which is the lightweight version for Lapierre, as opposed to the Aircode,
which on paper is the faster model for a sprinter.
- In at number nine, it's the Ridley Helium SL with 114 GCN points.
Now, last year, the Helium SL finished 10th on our list of most successful bikes,
so it climbs one place this year. It won the Tour of Poland overall,
stages in Grand Tours, including Thomas De Gendt on Mont Ventoux although you could
be forgiven for forgetting that, given everything else that happened on
Mont Ventoux that day. Now, sadly, this is perhaps the last time we'll see
the Helium SL in the World Tour, but don't be dismayed for long,
it's because Ridley have developed a new even lighter Helium and that is going to
be launched, apparently, in 2017.
- Maybe the SSL.
- In at number eight, on 136 GCN points, is the Scott Addict, another featherweight
bike which is due a refresh anytime soon, given it was launched all the way back in
the summer of 2013. Hardly surprised, though, that it's made the Top Ten,
given the exploits of a certain Esteban Chaves, who had multiple victories this
year, and who knows what would have come had he held onto the pink jersey at the
end of the Giro d'Italia.
- Yeah.
- Number seven, it's the Cervelo S5 with 150
GCN points. Now, this bike has amassed an impressive array of results this year.
Mark Cavendish took four stages at the Tour de France, Stephen Cummings took one,
and also, another thing going in this bike's favor is the fact that Cervelo
stopped the riders using the super-light R5 in any race except Paris-Roubaix,
leaving them with just one choice, this, the aerodynamic S5. Meaning that all 10
victories this season were aboard this bike. I tell you what, Dan,
at least I mentioned this bike fares better in the GCN World Tour than the team
did in the UCI World Tour. I think that shows that ours is probably fairer.
- Definitely.
- In at number six, on 171 GCN points, is
the Specialized Venge Vias. So the second aero bike in the Top Ten,
after that Cervelo S5. Now, this is a very stage-specific bike,
which means it doesn't get used as much as most other bikes in the World Tour.
But, nevertheless, it's had a very successful year, including multiple stages
of the Grand Tour, ridden by the likes of Peter Sagan and Marcel Kittel.
Now, I think it's fair to say that this was adopted fairly slowly after its
release by the pro riders, but now, you can hardly keep them off it.
- Number five, it's the BMC Team Machine SLR01 with 198 points.
Now, with just one team in the World Tour, it's a great performance in the BMC.
Especially when you think that one of their key riders, Richie Porte,
won just one World Tour race this year. The rest is largely down to the
performance of one Greg Van Avermaet, overall at Tirreno-Adriatico,
the GP Montreal, and of course, a stage win at the Tour de France.
But having said that, it is a well-rounded team, and it has been a solid and
consistent year for them.
- Just off the podium, in at number four, is the Canyon Ultimate CF SLX,
on 366 points, which is a huge leap of 168 over the BMC Team Machine.
This bike has of course won a Grand Tour this year in the form of the Vuelta,
as well as multiple Grand Tour stages, and there's no doubt that this was a great
year to be the sponsor of both Mobistar and Katusha. And interestingly,
if we delve a little deeper into the result, what we find is that this has won
more mountain stages this year than any other bike. That's right,
if you take just the toughest stages of 2016, you will find that the Canyon
Ultimate CF SLX is the climbing bike of the year.
- That is a great stat, that, isn't it?
- Thanks, mate.
- Doesn't explain your performance, but it's a great stat.
- In at number three and climbing four places from last year's list,
in part a result of netting one of the biggest prizes in pro cycling,
Paris-Roubaix, it is of course the Scott Foil. Now, it's also vying for the prize
of the most versatile bike, as a result of Mat Hayman crushing it on the cobbles.
But, it has also performed under the likes of Caleb Ewan and Oliver Naesen from Orica
and IAM Cycling, respectively, to incidentally, Dan, make this the most
successful bike in one-day races.
- Oh, great fact.
- Yeah, mate, right back at you with the facts.
- In the runner-up slot, position number two, and climbing one place since 2015,
is the Pinarello Dogma F8. How much of a surprise is this? Not that much,
really. When you look into the results you will find it was actually the best
stage-race bike of 2016, albeit by only 1 point.
- Good fact there.
- And that wasn't just down to Chris Froome riding it, don't forget that
Geraint Thomas won Pyrenees overall this year. And, it's been very good in one-day
races, too. Wout Poels and Michal Kwiatkowski both took very big wins.
So like the Foil before it, this is one very versatile aero bike.
- In number one, the most successful race bike in 2016 is the Specialized Tarmac.
That's right, for the second year running, the lightweight bike from the Big S
dominates our list, with a frankly staggering 661 GCN points. That's six
times more points than our 10th most successful bike. Now, it's perhaps not too
much of a surprise, given the likes of Peter Sagan, Alberto Contador,
and Vincenzo Nibali all use this bike, and collectively, their Palmares is frankly
staggering. Now while it's not aerodynamic nor indeed is it the lightest bike,
although with World Tour-level components you can get it close to if not below the
World Tour weight limit, it does beg the question, Dan, maybe aerodynamics and
light weight aren't the only things that win bike races.
- Oh, my word. What a question.
- Yeah.
- Well, we won't ponder on that for too long, because we've got another burning
question that we need to tackle. So certain brands, I'm thinking BMC and
Pinarello, really only have one model for their riders to use throughout the season
on all types of terrain, which means any victories are going to be very much
concentrated on that one particular model. Whereas other brands,
like Specialized and Giant, have up to three models for their riders to choose
for different types of terrain, and so their victories are going to be slightly
more spread out. And that begs the question, then, who has been the most
successful manufacturer of bikes for 2016? Well we've got the results of that, too.
In fifth place, it is BMC.
- Fourth place goes to Canyon.
- Third place goes to Pinarello.
- Second place is Scott.
- And no surprise, really, at number one, given that they had the Venge Vias at
number six and the Tarmac at number one, it is of course Specialized.
- Well, there we go. We have got so many more cool stats and data to show you that
we thought if you asked for it in the comments section down below,
that we would go into things a little bit deeper in a live video.
And perhaps we may even get an appearance from our resident math genius
himself...well, I do use that term "genius" loosely. It might be that he just
seems clever given that he has to work with a load of ex-pro cyclists,
but, you know.
- I think we'll have to rope him in, to explain, if I'm perfectly honest.
- Yeah, complex algorithm might not cut the mustard for some of you guys.
- No. We'd love to hear your thoughts on this, too. Do you agree with our Top Ten?
What's been your favorite bike of 2016, even if it wasn't amongst the most
successful. Leave your thoughts in the comments section down below.
- Yeah. Make sure as well that you subscribe to GCN, if, for nothing else,
other than you being at the perfect place for the 2017 season,
which we will be covering in all sorts of different ways very soon indeed.
- Yeah. We've got a couple more videos after you've done that to watch right now.
First up is a tour around Chris Froome's pro bike, a Pinarello.
- Yeah. Or Vincenzo Nibali's Specialized Tarmac, which is certainly one of the most
beautiful, as well as successful.
- Yeah. You'll find them down here.
- Yeah.