Marcel Kittel won five stages aboard this Specialized S-Works Venge Disc - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Orbea launched this new Orca Aero at the Tour - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Peter Sagan won a stage on this brand new S-Works Tarmac before being kicked out - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Pierre Rolland and the rest of Cannondale-Drapac raced SuperSix bikes for the road stages - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Alberto Contador helped launch this new Trek Emonda - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Richie Porte raced aboard this redesigned BMC Teammachine SLR01 before crashing out - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Nairo Quintana left Dusseldorf on an XS Canyon Ultimate with a 54t big ring - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Cavendish tasted a lot of success on his Cervélo S5. - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Fabio Aru helped launch the new Argon 18 Gallium Pro - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Michael Matthews started the Tour on this unreleased Giant Propel Disc, and went on to win two stages on a current Giant Propel - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Matthews and his teammates used Fouriers Di2 junction box holders to keep the stem clean - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Cannondale-Drapac riders had disc wheels that could be used with rim- and disc-brake bikes - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Holy split down tube, Batman - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Tacx Neo electronic trainers can be used without being plugged in, which is a bonus for teams - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Orica-Scott's Giordana skinsuits had integrated number pockets - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Tony Martin ran a SRAM 1x drivetrain on his Canyon Speedmax — but with a normal eTap derailleur, not SRAM's clutch Force 1 model - Rob Arnold / Ride Media
After the 2016 Mont Ventoux Froome incident, Mavic showed up prepared this year - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Mavic had dropper posts on its neutral bikes, plus bikes with all three major pedal systems and bikes set up for the top GC riders - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Thomas Voeckler raced his last Tour de France... with a single bottle cage (as did Nacer Bouhanni) - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
John Degenkolb wore the Bontrager Ballista for the sprint stages of the race - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Lotto-Soudal raced in the new Lazer Bullet helmet with its slide-down central panel - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Cavendish had shoes decorated by his children - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Nike no longer sell cycling shoes, but Cavendish has a personal sponsorship - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Sidi shoe... covers - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Chris Froome and stage 1 winner Geraint Thomas raced in new Castelli skinsuits that had textured panels on the leading edges - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
This ISM saddle is made by Selle Italia, evidently - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Here's something you didn't see at bike races in the past - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Kittel won his five stages on 26mm tubulars - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Shimano launched a new PRO aero bar at the Tour - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
In addition to the flat top, the PRO bar has narrows drops, too - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
The Tour is always colourful - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Chris Froome won the Tour and the ugliest chainstay-guard competition - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Lotto-Soudal mechanics are cleaner than some chefs - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Bouhanni didn't win any sprints, but he did get to punch a fellow racer - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Chris Froome was presented with a yellow jersey edition Pinarello Dogma F10 for the final stage and has been riding the bike in the post-Tour criteriums - Russ Ellis/Team Sky
Simon Yates' white jersey edition Scott Addict - Kristof Ramon/Scott
Michael Matthews was presented with a green jersey edition Giant TCR and Propel - Cor Vos/Giant Bicycles
Several Team Sky riders were equipped with custom titanium 3D printed cockpits for the time trials - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Fabio Felline's Trek Speed with a Lightweight Autobahn rear wheel was branded up with Bontrager stickers - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Team Dimension Data had a customised Buffalo Bicycle for the Tour de France - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Tony Martin road a Canyon Aeroad CF SLX Disc during stage 4 of the race - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
MET launched the Trenta 3K Carbon helmet during stage 3 of the race - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Louis Meintjes rode the new Colnago V2-R for several stages - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Adam Hansen's unique crankset features 180mm crank arms - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
BMC Racing debuted the new Giro Vanquish helmet, with further details expected at Eurobike - Ben Delaney/Immediate Media
Danilo Wyss' bike featured a quick release seatpost, so Porte had a spare bike to use if a mechanical occurred - Ben Delaney/Immediate Media
Kask launched the new Valegro helmet at the race - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
In addition to some great racing, this year's Tour de France delivered a plethora of new and exciting bike tech. Here we look back at the highlights of gear we discovered on the ground, which raced from Germany through Belgium and Luxembourg before crossing all five mountain ranges of France and ending with the traditional procession into Paris.
Many brands use the Tour de France to showcase their latest and greatest products. It used to be that products raced by the pros would not be available to the rest of us until the following season, but more brands are shortening that window. Trek, in fact, has begun to sell new bikes and gear like the Emonda SLR and Velocis as soon as you see them at the Tour.
BikeRadar first spotted the new Specialized Tarmac, Merida Reacto and Trek Emonda at the Criterium du Dauphiné in June before all three bikes were publicly launched at the Tour.
BMC Racing debuted the new Giro Vanquish helmet, with further details expected at Eurobike - Ben Delaney/Immediate Media
It wasn’t just new bikes at the race. No fewer than five new helmets were launched during the race, with the headlines grabbed by new models from Giro and Kask.
Custom bikes and shoes have become commonplace too to celebrate team leaders, specific race wins, national champions, Olympic champions or purely as a marketing stunt from a bike or component manufacturer.
Chris Froome was presented with a yellow jersey edition Pinarello Dogma F10 for the final stage and has been riding the bike in the post-Tour criteriums - Russ Ellis/Team Sky
On the final stage of the race the four jersey winners were each presented with custom-finished bikes to celebrate their achievements on the Tour.
Chris Froome cemented his fourth Tour de France victory during the penultimate stage time trial in Marseille and while we haven’t seen an update to the Pinarello Bolide time trial bike for a couple of years now, Pinarello’s component wing MOST produced custom 3D printed titanium cockpits for several Team Sky riders.
After the 2016 Mont Ventoux Froome incident, Mavic showed up prepared this year - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
While the biggest race in the world of course displays the best components in the industry, there was still a fair share of tech hacks, and following Froome’s infamous running incident on Mont Ventoux in 2016, neutral support providers Mavic had bikes equipped with dropper posts to suit a variety of rider sizes.
You can catch up with all of our tech coverage from the Tour de France here and we’ve selected some of our highlights in the gallery above.
