Tony Martin had a special edition Kraftwerk Canyon Speedmax CF SLX for the Dusseldorf Grand Depart - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Thomas Boudat's BH Aerolight with a Lightweight Autobahn rear wheel - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Lightweight doesn't sponsor any professional teams despite the heavy presence in World Tour time trials - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Boudat's saddle was set far back on the rail - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Sometimes the best aero solutions don't need to be the most expensive - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Nacer Bouhanni's spare bike was a regular Orca road bike albeit with a HED Stinger rear wheel - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Trek-Segafredo ran the Bontrager Speed Concept Mono handlebar extensions - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
56t and larger chainrings were common for the flat opening stage - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
The Trek Speed head cluster has an integrated front brake and internal cable routing - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
The Trek-Segafredo Trek Speed Concepts ready for the rider warm-ups - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Stage winner Geraint Thomas ran a 58/42t chainring combination - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Could this be a new rear disc wheel from Roval? - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
There appears to be a slight bend towards the centre of the disc on the drive side - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
The entire Orica-Scott team ran Lightweight Autobahn rear wheels, as they also did at the Criterium du Dauphine - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Damien Howson ran a blacked-out 56t chainring, which appears to be an old Vision Trimax - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Thomas De Gendt ran a HED H3 front wheel - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Several non-brand chainrings were paired with Shimano groupsets and appear to be non-consumer 9000 series - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Chris Froome ran his usual elliptical chain rings but in a massive 58/46t combination - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
There were rumours of Geraint Thomas and Chris Froome running 3D-printed titanium cockpits - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
A closer look at the brake lever - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
There also appeared to be shifting buttons on the inside of the bars - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Team Sky also had a new team car for the race - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
A close look at the Corima Paracular rear disc wheel as used by the Astana team - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
More non-consumer special chainrings on show at LottoNL-Jumbo - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
AG2R-La Mondiale's bikes were equipped with CeramicSpeed's UFO chain treatment, which is now available in different colours - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
The AG2R-La Mondiale Factor Slick time trial bikes - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
There was a range of tyres used from 22mm up to 26mm for the wet conditions - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
The Factor Slick features integrated front brakes and a split down tube for aerodynamic advantages - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Wanty-Groupe Gobert looked to be running the 2018 Aerium frameset, which was registered for UCI approval in May this year - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
The 2018 Cube Aerium C68 appears to have a new carbon layup and a few geometry changes - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Look's 796 time trial bike for French Pro Continental outfit Fortuneo-Oscaro - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
A 58t Stronglight chainring was paired with LOOK's Zed2 crankset - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
A look at Taylor Phinney's cockpit setup - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Phinney opts for TRP levers with Dura-Ace Di2 shifting buttons glued on - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
We can't decide if this is a great hack or too low-end for the Tour de France - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Sonny Colbrelli's Merida Warp for the stage one time trial - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Newly crowned double national champion Stephen Cummings has already received a custom Cervelo P5 in Team GB colours - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Another Direct-Energie bike had a Lightweight Autobahn rear wheel - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
The only clue that the unbranded new disc rear wheels are from Roval - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Fabio Felline's Trek Speed Concept with a Lightweight Autobahn rear wheel branded up with Bontrager stickers - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
The Canyon Speedmax of Movistar Team - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
A look at the integrated front brake system on LottoNL-Jumbo's Bianchi Aquila - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
A LottoNL-Jumbo picks out debris from the tubular tyres - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Olympic road race champion Greg Van Avermaet's BMC Timemachine - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Team Dimension Data have customised a Buffalo Bicycle for the Tour de France - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Darwin Atapuma finished 194th on his Colnago K.One - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Tony Martin has his World Champion custom bike as his spare machine - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Borut Bozic of Bahrain-Merida heads to the startline on his Merida Warp - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Mat Hayman rolls back to the team buses following his 88th place finish - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
These skeleton versions of the alloy brakes were also seen on one of Team Sky's Pinarello Bolide - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
The Specialized Shiv features horizontal rear dropouts for adjustable wheel clearance - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
FDJ's Lapierre Aerostorm heads to the start ramp - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Serge Pauwels runs his Cervelo P5 with a HED Jet rear wheel and an ENVE 7.8 front - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Some of the Dimension Data wheels were HED, but branded up as ENVE - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
Astana raced the time trial on the Argon18 E-118 - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
John Degenkolb warms up ahead of his start time - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
The Tour de France began in Germany for the first time since 1987 when the race started in West Berlin before the fall of the wall. In 2017, Düsseldorf welcomed 198 riders to the 104th edition of the Grand Tour, and Team Sky’s Geraint Thomas won the rainy opening stage to become the eighth Briton to wear the Maillot Jaune.
The flat, 14km course ensured an array of larger-than-normal chainrings; we couldn’t spot anything smaller than a 54t. Defending Tour Chris Froome ran his usual elliptical chainrings in a 58/46T combination.
Team Sky had what is rumoured to be a 3D printed titanium cockpit. A team official declined to immediately comment on the bars. The previously unseen integrated setup seemed to be constructed from an alloy, featured integrated shifting buttons on the inside of the bars. We saw bars with solid and ‘skeleton’ silver brake levers. Stage-winner Thomas’ cockpit was branded with MOST decals, Pinarello’s component wing.
There were rumours of Geraint Thomas and Chris Froome running 3D printed titanium cockpits and they certainly appear new - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
As has become commonplace in a World Tour time trial, several riders opt for non-sponsor wheels. Whilst some individuals use specific wheels by choice, others are forced to as their usual wheel partners may not produce monocoque front or rear wheels.
Trek-Segafredo leader and two-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador chose to run a Lightweight Autobahn rear wheel with a PRO 3-spoke Textreme front wheel as opposed to the offerings from Bontrager. A few Direct-Energie riders also followed Contador’s Lightweight Autobahn trend, whilst the entire Orica-Scott team were also equipped with the German carbon specialists’ range-topping wheel.
HED wheels were also popular in the peloton and featured a heavy presence in both Team Dimension Data and Lotto-Soudal.
Thomas De Gendt ran a HED H3 front wheel - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
French Pro Continental outfit Wanty-Groupe Gobert appeared to be racing on a new model Cube Aerium C-68. Usually in an eye-catching fluoro blue colour scheme, the new models were clear lacquered on a distinctive carbon layup.
Cube registered a new version of the Aerium with the UCI in May of this year.
Tony Martin of Katusha-Alpecin is both the German and world time trial champion and was a clear favourite ahead of the stage. For the occasion, Canyon presented the German time trial specialist with a special edition Kraftwerk themed Canyon Speedmax CF SLX.
The German finished the stage fourth.
Click or swipe through the gallery above for a detailed look at the bikes, wheels and components on show.
Could this be a new rear disc wheel from Roval? - Josh Evans / Immediate Media
