Campagnolo, the iconic Italian groupset manufacturer, isn’t sponsoring a WorldTour professional team in 2024.
Perhaps the writing was on the wall for Campagnolo already, given its dwindling WorldTour presence in recent years.
Last season, for example, Campagnolo sponsored only one team – AG2R Citroën – down from four in 2021 (all four now use Shimano groupsets).
Nevertheless, Campagnolo’s ousting from the WorldTour is a worrying outcome for a brand steeped in racing history – a far cry from the status it used to enjoy.
As digital writer Jack Evans predicted in our road tech trends for 2024, could we, in fact, be saying arrivederci to Campagnolo’s days as one of the Big Three groupset manufacturers?
I certainly hope not. As a long-time Campagnolo user, I think it’s a big shame the Italian brand finds itself in this situation.
In the absence of any formal statement from Campagnolo or the pro teams involved, though, many questions remain.
Do Campagnolo’s groupsets and components simply perform worse than those from Shimano or SRAM? Or are there financial or commercial reasons driving Campagnolo’s exit from the WorldTour?
Perhaps most critically, though, what does Campagnolo need to do to recapture its status as the groupset manufacturer of choice for elite racers and amateur riders alike?
Let’s find out.
Super Record Wireless is not a proven performer yet
In 2023, Campagnolo released Super Record Wireless, its first wireless electronic groupset.
This was a seismic announcement for Campagnolo, which until that point was the only member of the Big Three with its electronic groupset (Super Record 12 EPS) still fully wired.
However, Super Record Wireless proved quite the divisive update, with the brand removing its revered thumb shifter and introducing a new shifting logic.
While we’re still yet to receive a groupset for a long-term review, my first ride impressions were mostly positive.
Super Record Wireless retains the brand’s class-leading braking, and the shifting was quick and precise.
That said, I was unsure of the updated lever ergonomics, particularly the sharp cut-out on the underside of the shifter.
Is the overall performance of Super Record Wireless comparable to Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 R9200 and SRAM Red eTap AXS, though? My initial feeling is it is.
Given this, I don’t believe Campagnolo has disappeared from the upper echelon of professional racing due to performance reasons.
After all, it’s worth remembering it’s only a few years since Tadej Pogačar blitzed the 2021 Tour de France – winning the general, mountains and young rider classifications (and three stages along the way) – using a Colnago V3Rs equipped with Campagnolo Super Record 12 EPS.
Why is Campagnolo out of the WorldTour?
Whether or not Super Record Wireless is a top performer is secondary, though – no matter how good a product is, if the money’s not there, it’s unlikely to get a platform in professional racing.
It appears Campagnolo simply cannot compete financially with the behemoths that are Shimano and SRAM.
Beyond the pro peloton, the vast majority of bikes sold to amateur riders are now specced with Shimano or SRAM because the duo are better able to compete on price at the original-equipment (OE) level.
Has this trend dented Campagnolo’s financial health to the point at which it can no longer afford to sponsor a top-level professional team? It’s certainly possible.
After all, teams and riders rarely get to use the kit they think is ‘best’, they simply use what they’re paid to (most of the time).
Ultimately, money talks, and if Campagnolo can’t match the deals Shimano and SRAM are offering pro teams and bike brands then it’s no surprise to see so many dropping the Italian brand.
Sport-luxury – the right market to chase?
When Davide Campagnolo, grandson of founder Tulio, introduced Super Record Wireless at the media launch last year, he referred to the groupset as the pinnacle of ‘sport-luxury’.
Super Record Wireless is intended as a no-expenses-spared groupset that uses the very best materials to show what the brand is capable of.
However, without supporting releases such as Record or Chorus Wireless, I question if this is the right market to go after.
As with most brands, riders have historically entered the Campagnolo gateway at various levels.
The entry-level Xenon groupset was reasonably popular on cheaper road bikes but has long been discontinued.
Likewise, the various incarnations of its Chorus groupset have always been a big hit, offering most of Record and Super Record’s features at a more palatable price.
While it remains to be seen if Campagnolo will officially axe Chorus or Record 12, there’s certainly less on offer to convince riders without very deep pockets to switch to Campagnolo from Shimano or SRAM nowadays.
The £4,499 price of entry for Super Record Wireless is prohibitive for enticing riders into the Campagnolo ecosystem – many people just don’t have that amount of money to spend on a groupset.
The decision to be perceived as a luxury brand, pivoting away from racing and having fewer cost-effective groupset options, certainly seems odd.
After all, you see far fewer dream-spec bikes with Super Record Wireless than more conventional options.
Campagnolo was already a niche brand and this strategy seems to be digging itself deeper into a niche inside of a niche.
If Campagnolo doesn’t release any affordable performance options quickly, I suspect more increasingly frustrated users of its groupsets will flock to Shimano and SRAM, while new riders may not even give it a second thought.
Does Campagnolo need to sponsor a WorldTour team?
Of course, it’s perfectly reasonable to question whether Campagnolo needs to sponsor a WorldTour team in order to sell groupsets and components to amateur riders.
Is it a smart financial decision to compete with Shimano or SRAM if a return on investment isn’t guaranteed?
Campagnolo isn’t just any component brand, though. Its history is in bike racing and that’s where it made its name.
The brand boasts a whopping 42 Tour de France wins, with a sizable margin over any other groupset manufacturer. Shimano is in a distant second place with 12 (with a further seven disallowed wins from the Lance Armstrong era).
Without a WorldTour presence, Campagnolo may alienate core fans who appreciated the brand for its unrivalled racing heritage.
Super Record has always been a ‘racers' groupset', and therefore needs its performance to be proven at the highest level to maintain this credibility.
But there’s also the benefit of pro feedback, which is one of the most useful ways a brand can learn what improvements it needs to make for future generations.
Pro riders are among the most demanding of their equipment, continuously pushing components to their limits – and often beyond. If Campagnolo doesn’t sponsor a WorldTour team, then the performance level and reputation of its equipment risks falling behind Shimano and SRAM.
Of course, we here at BikeRadar regularly put groupsets through their paces, but the demands of elite racers are different from those of journalists and amateur riders.
How is Campagnolo meant to learn how to improve Super Record Wireless for racers if no top-level pros are using and abusing it on a daily basis?
Furthermore, a WorldTour presence guarantees a certain level of media coverage. Without the exposure, Campagnolo risks becoming less relevant to cycling fans.
I find it disheartening that Campagnolo almost certainly won’t feature in our tech galleries this year when BikeRadar attends the 2024 Tour de France.
What does Campagnolo need to do to put itself back in the game?
More accessible electronic groupsets
Fundamentally, Campagnolo can’t afford to keep neglecting the broader consumer market.
Prior to the release of Super Record Wireless, I put together a wishlist of things I wanted to see from Campagnolo and I stand by most of my points.
As already noted, Campagnolo needs to offer more tiered wireless electronic groupsets – ideally at the Record and Chorus level, but especially the latter.
If a Chorus Wireless groupset were released, it could be enough to tempt riders away from Shimano Ultegra Di2 R8170 or SRAM Force AXS.
It’s worth remembering Campagnolo’s 11-speed electronic EPS groupsets were offered down to the Athena level (which sat below Chorus, but is now discontinued).
Shimano and SRAM almost certainly make more money from the likes of 105 Di2 / Rival AXS than Dura-Ace or Red.
Perhaps the same wasn’t true for Campagnolo (and that explains why its cheaper electronic groupsets were phased out), but without these more accessible entry points, I worry Campagnolo will find it hard to attract a wider base of riders.
Don’t forget about mechanical
Campagnolo should also reinvest in mechanical shifting at the higher tiers – that seems an obvious way for it to stand apart from Shimano and SRAM.
While Record 12 and Chorus 12 remain in Campagnolo’s catalogue (for now), I don’t want them to be discontinued if Wireless equivalents are released.
Shimano has abandoned mechanical shifting at both the Dura-Ace and Ultegra level, with 105 R7100 its sole 12-speed mechanical offering for road bikes.
SRAM has completely abandoned development of new mechanical groupsets for road bikes, with Apex Eagle (a 1x gravel groupset) and its legacy Apex, Rival and Force 1 groupsets its only remaining options for drop-bar bikes.
This could be especially helpful for Campagnolo because, though there are now cheaper electronic groupsets available (such as Shimano 105 Di2 R7100 and SRAM Rival eTap AXS), the mechanical equivalents still tend to be far cheaper.
By offering high-performance mechanical groupsets at prices more riders can afford, Campagnolo could serve the sizable portion of the market that still – if the comment sections on our articles and YouTube channel are anything to go by – wants reasonably priced mechanical shifting options.
What about gravel?
Campagnolo Ekar proved a hit for the Italian brand and it’s far more commonly specced on new gravel bikes than any of its road bike groupsets.
The Italian brand managed to capture the rapidly growing gravel market by introducing 13-speed (Shimano’s GRX and SRAM’s XPLR groupsets are both 12-speed, with Shimano only jumping from 11-speed in 2023) and sticking with mechanical shifting.
Many have clamoured for an electronic variant of Ekar and, given the brand has developed its Wireless technology for the road, a potential Ekar Wireless groupset could further disrupt the gravel market.
Hopefully just a learning experience
Whatever the reason for Campagnolo’s disappearance from the WorldTour, everyone can surely agree it has work to do if it wants to recapture its status as one of the Big Three groupset manufacturers.
It needs a WorldTour presence because racing is core to its values and the coverage can help to excite audiences and inspire them to use its products.
Campagnolo’s fortunes aside, one fewer member of the Big Three could result in slower groupset developments given there’s less competition and therefore less impetus to innovate.
Putting heart before head, many will argue that the omission of Campagnolo from elite racing is tantamount to the removal of a part of cycling’s soul.
Likewise, in order for the brand to capture a wider range of riders beyond the professional sphere, Campagnolo must offer more at a more accessible level than it currently does.
Campagnolo has always done things on its own terms and while that’s worked in the past (such as with its late first hydraulic disc brake effort that ended up bettering its competition), there’s no ignoring the success Shimano and SRAM seem to be having with their cheaper offerings.
Hopefully, 2024 is just a blip in Campagnolo’s storied history in cycling and it gives the brand the time to regroup and come back stronger than ever before.
