UAE Team Emirates' Colnago C60's always catch the eye - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Edvald Boasson Hagen has a custom painted Cervelo S5 commemorating his Norwegian national championship - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Boasson Hagen's frame features the Norwegian flag inside the stays and forks, as well as under the top tube - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
The Cervelo S5 also has lion on the outside of the fork representing the eternal king of Norway - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Team Dimension Data is equipped with Tacx Deva bottle cages - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Boasson Hagen generally runs 54T outer chainrings for sprint stages - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
ENVE offers its 4.5 SES wheelsets with an ENVE, DT Swiss or Chris King hubs - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
DT Swiss 240 hubs on display for Dimension Data - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Chris King ceramic hubs with ceramic bearings on the ENVE 4.5 SES wheels - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Like many Pro Continental and Continental level teams, Wanty-Groupe Gobert run mechanical groupsets - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Despite having a neat race number mount from K3 Holders, the Cannondale-Drapac mechanics still use cable ties for added security - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Talansky runs a 53/39T FSA chainrings, Cannondale's SISL cranks and a SRM power meter - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
A good percentage of WorldTour pros run Ultegra cassettes to keep costs down, and occasionally to add weight to bikes that come in under the UCI weight limit - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Only some of the BMC Racing team have been given the latest Teammachine SLR01 framesets, launched officially last week in Switzerland - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
The new frameset has slightly wider rear stays, so the geometry remains the same between disc and caliper versions - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
The Teammachine SLR01 also features a new stem, with the fastening bolts to the rear of the face plate - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Internal rear brake cable routing keeps the bike looking clean - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Giant's Contact SLR components were used by Tom Dumoulin during last month's Giro d'Italia victory - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Arnaud Demare's stage 2 winning new Lapierre Aircode - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Arnaud Demare runs PRO aero handlebars, which were equipped with a climbing switch on a hilly stage 1 - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
BH bikes for French Pro Continental outfit Direct Energie - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Adrien Petit of Direct Energie has a custom painted BH G6 - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
A handful of Katusha-Alpecin riders were running Zipp's new 'whale fin inspired' 454 NSW - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
The Zipp 454 NSW's silicone carbide brake track - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Alexander Kristoff's saddle has seen better days - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Smiley Colombian Esteban Chaves promotes the Esteban Chaves Foundation on his head tube - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
No prizes for guessing whose cranks these are - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Simon Gerrans rode the Scott Addict for stage 1, while his Orica-Scott teammates opted for the aero Foil model - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Alberto Contador rode stage 1 of the race on the new Trek Emonda - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Limar has produced a customised helmet for the Sardinian Fabio Aru - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Fabio Aru also has a custom painted Argon18 Gallium frameset - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Fabio Aru checks out his new bike - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
The Giant TCR Advanced SL0 is now a Giro d'Italia winning machine - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Sonny Colbrelli of Bahrain-Merida is rumoured to be riding the latest Merida Reacto and has wrapped the frame in black and white stickers to keep the details obscured - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Alejandro Valverde has a custom painted Canyon Ultimate commemorating 100 WorldTour victories and four-time UCI WorldTour championships - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Valverde's nickname is 'El Bala' or The Bullet - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Bontrager's Ballista aero helmet - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Haimar Zubeldia (Trek-Segafredo) wears the new Bontrager helmet, seen for the first time at the race - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Dan Martin is riding the race on what we suspect to be the 2018 Specialized Tarmac - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Cannondale-Drapac uses Tacx Neo trainers for warm-ups and warm-downs - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Irish national champion Nicolas Roche wears Oakley Jawbreakers customised by Optiek van Gorp - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Fouriers produces a Shimano Di2 junction box mount that sits below the stem without the need for cable ties or rubber bands and doubles up as a spacer - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Dimension Data runs ROTOR cranksets, power meters and out-front mounts - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
The new Cervelo R5 was first spotted at the Dubai Tour earlier this year in obscuring black and white livery. This is the latest R5 in the Dimension Data team colours - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Alberto Contador has been running Continental Competition tubular tyres at the race, the only Trek-Segafredo rider to do so - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Contador's third bike is his custom painted Trek Project One Madone - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Siskevicius of Delko Marseille Provence was running a low and long Ritchey stem aboard his KTM Revelator - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
The KTM Revelator features a neat seat post clamp mechanism - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
SRAM Red eTap components for Delko Marseille Provence - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Zefal Pulse carbon bottle cages were on display - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Apparently BMC has worn the same jersey for the past seven seasons - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Alexander Kristoff and Rick Zabel had disc versions of the Canyon Aeroad as spare bikes - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
The bikes were running 160mm rotors on the front and 140mm on the rear, the generally agreed standard among the peloton - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Internal hydraulic cable routing on the Canyon Aeroad disc - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Michael Morkov was the only rider on stage 2 to race with disc brakes - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Chris Froome's custom finished Pinarello Dogma F10 - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Elite launched new bottles at the Giro d'Italia last month - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Nacer Bouhanni's name adorns his Vision wheels aboard the Orbea Orca - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
LottoNL-Jumbo ran a mix of Shimano Dura-Ace 9000 and 9100 series wheelsets - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Bryan Coquard of Direct Energie's Hutchinson tubular tyres - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Chris Froome appears to be wearing an update of the Sidi Shot, which he debuted at the Dauphine last year. Extra perforations perhaps point to a lighter weight, hot weather version - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Christian Knees wears custom painted Lake CX 402 shoes - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Knees' custom shoes feature a camoflouge blue design to complement the Team Sky colours - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Alberto Contador shows off his new Bontrager helmet to Irish national champion Nicolas Roche - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Ian Boswell is the only rider in the race to wear Rapha shoes. Boswell also opts for Speedplay pedals - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Ben Swift talks his former teammates through his UAE Team Emirates Colnago C60 - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
A race with prestige in its own right, Criterium du Dauphine winners have built a reputation of subsequently winning the Tour the following month. Chris Froome, Bradley Wiggins, Greg LeMond, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain have all done the Criterium du Dauphine/Tour de France double to name just a few.
The race has also become a hotbed for new tech, as it offers riders an opportunity to test equipment in a race scenario ahead of the biggest event of the season. New frames, components and apparel have all been spotted here in recent years, generally showcasing products that will be available to the general public in the following season.
2017 sees the 69th edition of the race and a stellar line-up including three-time winner Chris Froome, two-time winner Alejandro Valverde, more former winners in Andrew Talansky and Janez Brajkovic, as well as Dan Martin, Richie Porte, Romain Bardet and Alberto Contador who have all podiumed at the race. Esteban Chaves, Simon Yates and an array of sprinters were also on the start line in Saint-Étienne in what should be a thrilling week.
Both Contador and Martin began the race on previously unseen framesets from Trek and Specialized respectively. The Trek Emonda SLR bears the UCI approved frame code that correlates with the 2018 Emonda, while Martin's new Specialized points towards the unreleased Specialized Tarmac. Both framesets look as if they will also be released in disc versions, although the caliper versions being raced by the pair each have direct mount brakes.
Dan Martin is riding the race on what we suspect to be the 2018 Specialized Tarmac - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
As well as the headlining bikes from the component giants Trek and Specialized, new frames were seen underneath Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida) and Arnaud Demare (FDJ), whom are riding new aero frames from Merida and Lapierre.
Trek-Segafredo also appears to be wearing a new Bontrager helmet. Cyclingnews reached out to Bontrager for a comment and although confirming the team are wearing new helmets, were unable to provide any further information until its official release.
Reigning champion of the event, Chris Froome was the first rider to wear the Sidi Shot shoes at the race last year. This year, Froome seems to be wearing an updated version of the shoe that feature more perforations on the upper suggesting a lighter weight option for climbing or hotter temperatures.
The usual arrays of custom products are also on show at the race. Irish national champion Nicolas Roche (BMC Racing) is wearing Oakley Jawbreakers in Irish colours, custom painted by Optiek Van Gorp. Christian Knees (Team Sky) had a pair of custom Lake shoes, while the Astana team leader Fabio Aru had an eye-catching red Argon18 Gallium frameset.
Valverde, Adrien Petit (Direct Energie), Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Dimension Data) and Contador all also had custom painted frames on display at the race.
Click or swipe through the extensive gallery above to take a look on all that was on show at the week-long stage race in France.
