[music] Interviewer: We are in Belgium, and as you
can see, the weather is absolutely appalling, but this is kind of what makes these races
so special. The atmosphere, the cobbles, the terrain, it's just the hardest challenge you
could possibly take on in cycling. We decided to take a closer look at the tech the teams
will be using to make that challenge just a little bit easier.
[music] Here we are, and we're really lucky to be
joined by Lexi, the Bora–Hansgrohe mechanic. We have Lukas Pöstlberger's bike with us.
We're just talking to Lexi about the differences in the bike for the classics. You're telling
me one of the main differences is the junction box here underneath the stem a second ago.
What would you change the classics in this respect?
Lexi: We have special KH holders with one little plate, that we have more space. Normally,
you have the rubber over the stem. This rubber don't allow use of big stickers. With the
sectors, you need big stickers. Sometimes it's two or three layers of stickers, especially
for ruby. With this, we have here more space to glue them. That's one different to the
normal bikes under this season, but we will use them all over year. The wheels is different.
The tires. Sometimes the chainrings. That's all. [laughs]
Interviewer: Depends which way the wind is blowing.
Lexi: [laughs] Yes, that's true. That's true, which direction you'll go. [laughs]
Interviewer: You're telling me there's a bit more work involved in gluing the tubulars
for the classics? Lexi: Yes, we need more layers of glue. We
have a little bit more milk inside, more sealing milk. That's some minutes more work. Especially,
the gluing takes two or three days more that they really get dry and you need this for
the classics. Interviewer: I was just talking to Lexi, and
another really interesting detail is the tubulars that Bora will be using. These are the S-Works
Hell of the North. They're 28 mil in size for these races. They do go up to a 32 mil
for ruby, but the team would normally just use 28 mil, maybe 30 with the Tarmac frame.
The Tarmac frame will only fit with 30 mil tires. You can go large with the 32s on the
Roubaix, but for these races, they don't feel that's necessary. The cobbles aren't as bad
as ruby, so they opt for the 28 mils. Hell of the North will give a lot more grip, and
it will also give more puncture protection. They'll only use these tires for these races.
Another interesting point that Lexi noted was that the wheel-set is the same for the
whole season, but they'll only actually save these wheel-sets for the classics just to
save the mechanics a bit more work and time when they're gluing the tubs. They put more
glue on the tubs as Lexi said earlier. They don't want to repeat this process again and
again throughout the year, so they'll save these wheel-sets in the service course to
have about 60 wheels, which they'll use during March and April for these classics.
Then for the rest of the year, they're saving the service course and will only bring them
out again for the gravel stages, the Giro, or any specific race, which would be a bit
more classic-orientated throughout the year. The rest of the time they're nicely tucked
up in the service course ready to come out for Het Nieuwsblad.
Here we are with Gianni Moscon's Pinarello K10, which he will be using this opening weekend
with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne on Sunday. Gianni has
opted for the K10, which has a slacker headtube angle and fork rake ensuring better handling
of the K10 on any type of roads. It also has wider tire clearance compatible with up to
28 mil-width tires, perfect for the classics. I love the seat post clamp on this frame.
It's a three-bolt system, which I think would keep the seat post certainly in place. Something
that is so important when you're smashing your bike over the toughest cobbles the classics
have to throw at you. Gianni has also opted for the shifters here on his bars just on
the tops. Smart choice in my opinion. When you're on the cobbles, especially in a race
situation, it can be hard to change gear. They don't seem to fit down on your thumb
and change gears, it's so handy, I think. INEOS are using Continental tires this year.
Gianni's gone for 25 mil-width, which is different to the 28 mil-width mostly seen from other
riders today. Maybe he feels he doesn't quite need 28s or simply prefers the 25s. The mechanics
have done a great job with these elite bottle cages, in my opinion. It's hard to see, but
they've glued a thin bit of sandpaper on the cages.
You don't want to lose your burdens in the classics when it can be so hard to take a
fill from the roadside or a team car. Riders would definitely appreciate this bit of extra
insurance from a lost bottle I think. Clever little hat on the bottle cages.
[music] I'm over at the Trek–Segafredo, mechanics tracks, and these are the bikes
that they're going to be using in the cobbled classics, so they're all on the Trek Madone
for the cobbled classics, which is cool because it's an arrow bike and it shows how times
have changed in the last few years, but it's got the IsoSpeed Decoupler, the suspension,
the seat post, which means that you've still got that comfort on the cobbles and also to
add comfort, they're using 28-mil tires. What's cool about these is I've not seen them
before. These are Pirelli P Zeros but they're tubular. At the moment, mortals like us can't
get the tubular version, only the clincher one, but that's really cool. Hopefully, that'll
be coming soon. Then some of the cool details that are just for the cobbles are these bottle
cages from Bontrager. They're called the Bat Cage. They're made from recycled plastic,
and they're different from the normal lightweight cages that they normally use in that they
hold the bottles, or they said to hold the bottles really firmly. Nothing's coming out,
which is important. When you're bouncing around over the cobbles.
It's easy to lose a bottle with a standard cage, and the chainset is awesome on this
bike, it's Trek–Segafredo. They're sponsored by SRAM's. They're using SRAM RED AXS with
this big useful chainset, but this is a special one. It's a 54-41-tooth chainset, which is
much bigger than the standard one that you or I can buy and then that's combined on the
back with a 10-33 12-speed cassette. Having that big 33 on the back there, and
then the chainrings on the front means that the overall spread of gears is absolutely
massive and much bigger than what we've seen on 11-speed drivetrains in the past.
[music] The new, the 2020 Movistar are being sponsored
by SRAM. Since eternity, they've been sponsored by Campagnolo. We've got SRAM RED AXS on their
bikes. This is going to be for the whole season, but interestingly, different from the Trek–Segafredo
bikes we've seen previously, they don't have that bigger chainset on there. They've got
the standard 50-37 AXS chainrings on there. The same that we can all commercially buy,
and that's the same theme throughout the rest of the bike.
It's just a pretty standard setup for the cobbles. Nothing really different or special
on here. We've got some nice Blip shifters underneath the tops on the bars here. This
is actually Jürgen Roelandts's bike, but something that has caught my eye that I've
not seen before are these new Zipp wheels. They appear to be the same Zipp wheels, but
they've now got updated graphics on them. Tell you what, let us know what you think.
We'll put a poll that you can link through to the app, hot or not on the New Zipp graphics.
Tire width is also pretty standard. They are using 25-millimeter Continental Pro Limited
and that's quite interesting but these are the early season cobble races, Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne,
Het Nieuwsblad. When you get on the really severe cobbles of Paris–Roubaix, it'd be
interesting to see if they use something wider. My guess is they will.
[music] You may notice that we've just gone from the
snow to the relative warmth of a lovely warehouse, and that is because we are in Israel's Start-up
Nation's service course. The service course does provide a massive advantage in the Belgium
classics to any team. You're essential to all the races and you have an easy and obviously
warmth environment to maintain the bikes, get the bikes ready, and provide any changes
to equipment for all the upcoming races because these races do come really fast, one after
the other. There's just many in one month and such a short space of time. You really
do need an organized environment to prepare the equipment and the bikes for the tests
ahead. [music]
Here, I'm standing by some cardboard boxes, which doesn't look very exciting, but the
contents are, this is the entire bottle supply of bidons that the team will be using for
the classics campaign. If anyone likes a bidon as a bit of memorabilia or likes to follow
a race and pick up any of the bidons thrown by the riders, I think they'd like to have
a look at all these bottles. This is just one box, 200 bottles. These riders are thirsty,
I tell you. Who knows? This could be André Greipel's bottle later in the year. Here we
are with Eric from Israel Start-up Nation. Eric, what is the biggest challenge of the
classics campaign for the mechanics? Eric: Before classic, we all time have a little
bit more work because we need to change almost all tires because we need to be sure all is
good in this one important race and, of course, we need to check everything in the bike.
Interviewer: How many tires and wheels do you have to change just for people at home?
Just for a number, how many? Eric: Depends, because before this race, we
already glue for everybody new. Every rider have three bikes in this race, this is a lot
of work. Interviewer: [chuckles] We're talking upwards
of 50 tubulars. Over the years, have you got better at doing the tubulars? What's your
record time for doing a tubular tour wheel? Eric: For the glue?
Interviewer: Yes. Eric: Depends how much time you have because
normally we prepare also before some tires. We already put one or two-layer glue in the
tire and if we need to change this, this is like 5-10 minutes.
Interviewer: Five or 10 minutes? It would take me all day for one wheel. [chuckles]
Thanks Eric for sharing all the information of the classic campaign with us. Really appreciate
your time. Eric: Yes, thank you very much. Thanks.
[music] Interviewer: I'm lucky to have the bike of
Susanne Andersen here. She's a Norwegian rider, riding for the women's team, Sunweb. I'm told
by the mechanic here, that all the women on the squad will be using Ass Savers this weekend.
It's a simple bit of tech, but I think a great idea. Anything used to protect yourself from
the harsh conditions. This one is especially sturdy, and used to provide plenty of protection,
in my opinion. One thing I really love is this number holder.
Made and provided by Cervelo, it's designed to provide that bit of extra protection from
saddle slippage on the cobbles. Cobbles are so harsh and really push the equipment to
the max, so to have this for a little bit of extra peace of mind is brilliant. I love
the quick releases on the Cervelo's thru axle. Disc brakes are great, but can make it tricky
to get a quick wheel change during races. This one allows the rider to whip out their
own wheel without waiting for a mechanic and an Allen key.
Cervelo are using this Thumper pump throughout the Classics, and also the rest of the season.
Numbers that have crunched at Team HQ and taking into account a rider's weight, race
terrain, and weather conditions, an accurate tire pressure can be given for each individual
rider. Mechanics then use the Thumper pump at races to inflate the tires to a very precise
pressure. It's USB rechargeable and super compact, making it easier to pump up lots
of different riders' wheels. Talking of wheels, all the squad will use
Continental tubulars, on this Classics campaign they have opted for 28-mil width in the Roubaix
version. These tubs provide a lot more puncture protection and also grip on these brutal Classics
routes. I just love the look of this bike. It's a super sleek design and looks made for
sprinting and riding fast. I'm told the forks have added stiffness this year, too, so that
bodes well for Susanne. Fingers crossed for her this Classics campaign.
Hope you've enjoyed this look at some cobbled classic tech here on the ground in Belgium.
Myself and Conor are going to go and make some more videos now but to be honest, first
I'm just going to warm up and go have a hot chocolate because I'm absolutely freezing.
It's been raining all day. [00:12:58] [END OF AUDIO]