Grip tape, clincher tires and old-school turbo trainers on display before team time trial stage.
World Champion Alejandro Valverde warms up before the start of stage 2 of the Tour de France. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comJumbo-Visma’s Tony Martin helped deliver a stage 2 Team Time Trial win. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comMartin often runs grip tape on his handlebars and saddle during time trials. Here, a mechanic rolls Martin’s bike out of the truck with tape over the saddle. Martin did his pre-race reconnaissance with the covering over the grip tape. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comMartin’s saddle was wrapped in some sort of gauze before the stage. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comOnce the pre-ride was over, mechanics removed the gauze to reveal a coarse grip tape. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comThe grip material helps Martin maintain a steady position during his ride. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comThe only catch with this method: If Martin moves around too much on his saddle, he can cause abrasions on sensitive tissue. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comMartin also runs the same grip tape on his handlebars. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comTony Martin. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comRohan Dennis (Bahrain-Merida) rode with a prototype Prologo saddle during stage 2. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comRohan Dennis used a prototype Prologo saddle called the Dimension TT during stage 2 of the Tour de France. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comThe saddle, like others in the Prologo lineup, features grippy nubs that help a rider maintain a steady position on the saddle. But this new saddle is also wider at the tip for greater stability in an aggressive TT position. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comVincenzo Nibali sported a Prologo saddle with custom colors to match Bahrain-Merida’s team colors. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comUAE-Team Emirates sprinter Alexander Kristoff used a clincher front tire nad a tubular rear tire for the time trail. He’s also running the new Stages Dash computer. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comTrek-Segafredo riders were sporting K-Edge chain catchers, like this one spotted on Toms Skujins’s bike. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comA quick spit-shine makes for a pretty bike. A Sunweb mechanic buffs up a rider’s bike after it returns from the recon ride. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comYou never know who you’ll see in the team cars. Erik Zabel rolled through the team paddock in a Katusha-Alpecin car before the start. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comUAE-Emirates climber Dan Martin has GC ambitions, but for the moment, he’ll have to live through the first week of sprints, time trials, and generally rolling stages before hitting the mountains to nab his chance for glory. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comBora-Hansgrohe riders prepped for the stage by laying low on the team bus as soigneurs prepped aero water bottles and made last minute tweaks to bikes. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comYou always know when Peter Sagan is coming because the crowd starts roaring. Sagan rolled into the team paddock in a team car, perhaps to avoid the throngs in the tight paddock space. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comSagan narrowly missed out on a stage win and yellow jersey during a stage 1 sprint that he lost by millimeters. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comClean and new equals fast. A team mechanic carries bikes to check-in rather than rolling them on the ground. Perhaps an idealistic precaution, but if nothing else, the bikes will look pristine at the starting line. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comEF-Education First’s Tejay van Garderen helped his team to a strong 6th place finish during the stage 2 Team Time Trial. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comJust about every rider has some sort of grippy material on his extensions and wing bars to keep his hands planted. Note the sprint shifter button tucked on the wing bar here. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comHere’s another sprint shifter, this one positioned on the inside of a wing bar rather than the bottom. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comK-Edge is one of the most ubiquitous accessory pieces throughout the peloton. This one is mounted to a Cervelo cockpit; note the carbon edge of the extension arm, which appears to have been trimmed. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comThere wasn’t much in the way of new tech in the pits of stage 2, but it did seem that clincher tires were popping up everywhere. Here’s a Vittoria Corsa Speed Graphene 2.0 Tubeless-Ready tire mounted to a Campagnolo wheel on a UAE-Team Emirates Colnago. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comVincenzo Nibali’s GC aspirations don’t work into full swing until the course hits the mountains. But first he had to survive the stage 2 team time trial. Check out those purple Sidi kicks! Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comIt’s not unusual to see oblong-shaped water bottles on TT bikes. Team Movistar took a different tack with this slender version of a more traditional round water bottle. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comTeam Movistar ran Continental tubeless-ready tires on the front wheels of riders’ bikes. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comWhile Movistar’s front wheels were equipped with tubeless tires, the rear wheels were still set up with tubulars. That’s probably because Campagnolo does not yet offer a disc wheel in a clincher version. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comGet up close and personal with Alejandro Valverde’s time trial cockpit. His 2019 team trial went significantly better than his 2017 individual time trial, which saw him crash out of the Tour de France in Dusseldorf, Germany. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comNiki Terpstra chats with fans before the start of stage 2. A crash earlier this season has meant a quiet few months for Terpstra, who focused his training on a strong return in time for the Tour. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comGreg Van Avermaet nabbed the polka dot jersey during stage one and was all but assured to retain it after stage 2. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comThe caravan rolled through the team paddock around noon and the freebies started flying. Pens, cycling caps, snacks, and other promo goodies had fans clambering. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comEddy Merckx wasn’t the only celebrated Belgian cyclist in attendance in Brussels. Tom Boonen made an appearance too. Boonen is from Mol, Belgium, near Antwerp. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comSometimes the easiest solution is the right one. In this case, Cannondale mechanics simply used electrical tape to keep a Di2 wire in place. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comNot only is Tom Scully’s bike equipped with rim brakes, it’s also equipped with Ultegra rim brakes instead of the top of the line Dura-Ace stoppers. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comMore grip, more better. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comTom Scully’s extensions were outfitted with a customized tube of carbon on which a computer mount could be affixed. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comPeter Sagan’s Specialized Diverge gravel bike was on display in the Bora-Hansgrohe pit. We’re not entirely sure why. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comThe warm-up areas were dominated by Elite, Tacx, and Wahoo trainers. Team CCC warmed up on Elite trainers. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comAG2R riders were also on Elite trainers, but not the fancy smart trainers Team CCC was treated to. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comNot to be outdone, Team Sunweb riders not only had Elite smart trainers at their disposal, they also had stands with tablets to keep them informed and entertained. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comBora-Hansgrohe riders got their legs moving on Tacx smart trainers. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comTrek-Segafredo partners with CycleOps for its warm-up needs. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.comTeam Ineos riders got breezy with Wahoo Kickr trainers and Headwind fans. Photo: Dan Cavallari | VeloNews.com
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