While endurance bikes came out in abundance for stage 4's cobbles, there were also plenty of standard road race bikes and even aero bikes - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
GoPro just announced the HERO4 Session camera, and a few popped up on bikes for stage 4 - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
While the new GoPros are smaller than previous iterations, they are still pretty easy to spot - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Garmin-Cannondale showed up to stage 4 with their Paris-Roubaix setup: Cannondale Synapse endurance bikes with team edition (extra spokes) Mavic Cosmic Carbones wrapped with 30mm FMB tubulars. Andrew Talansky's bike (at front) looked slightly different with black sidewalls - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
The new-look fi'zi:k Aliante - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Big (46t) little rings and bifurcated seat tubes for 'Paris-Roubaix' day at the Tour - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Talansky's tubulars were badged Mavic - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
A view of Talansky's tubular treads - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
And a view of the FMB Paris-Roubaix treads on the rest of the Garmin-Cannondale bikes - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Garmin-Cannondale was the only team to take the start with all riders on 30mm tubulars - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
As at Paris-Roubaix in April, team mechanics built the Synapse endurance machines with Dura-Ace calipers up front… - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
…and non-series Shimano front calipers on the rear for extra clearance - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Ryder Hesjedal used FSA's new SL-K Drop stem on his Synapse to get his desired 17cm saddle-to-bar drop - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Some Garmin riders have the new Edge 520 on their bikes. Others still have the 810 - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
FDJ primarily went with Lapierre's new endurance bike, but a few aero frames snuck up to the start - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Why no, this isn't an FMB Paris-Roubaix casing on an FDJ bike. Why do you ask? - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Bretagne-Seche had two Challenge tubulars for the start: 25mm Stradas for the leaders and these 27mm Paris-Roubaixs for the domestiques - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
A few teams took extra precautions with the timing chips, wrapping electrical tape around the zip ties - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
46t inner rings were fairly common for stage 4 - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal) was again in sprinter green for stage 4. While many teammates chose 28mm Continental tubulars, 'The Gorilla' requested 25s - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Greipel notched another Tour stage win Sunday, bringing his career tally to seven - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
The unique fork on Greipel's Ridley Noah supposedly improves aerodynamics - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Ceramic bearings are smoother and thus faster. A clean and well-lubed chain is a given, every single day at the Tour. Lotto mechanics were working late into the evening Monday night cleaning and prepping bikes - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Continental is the most common rubber choice at the Tour. For stage 4, a trend was team leaders and sprinters on 25mm-wide tubualrs, and other riders on 28s - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Bora-Argon 18 was on 25mm Vittoria tubulars - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Surprisingly, only one Bora bike had Pavé EVO tubulars - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Eight of nine Astana riders choose to start on Specialized S-Works Tarmacs - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
After doing stages 2 and 3 on the new S-Works Venge ViAS, Mark Cavendish started stage 4 on his old Venge - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
IAM Cycling was the sole team on tubeless, Schwalbe's new Pro One tubeless option that we first saw at Paris-Roubaix this year - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Tubeless is an unusual sight in a peloton full of tubulars - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Clearance on the IAM Cycling Scott Addict is very tight with the 28mm Pro Ones - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Clearance on IAM's Scott Solace is much better - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Many teams defaulted to their Paris-Roubaix setups for stage 4 - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Etixx-Quick Step used 28mm FMB casings with Specialized treads, except for Cavendish who appeared to be on 26mm tubulars - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Mavic's neutral support wheels were the only ones we saw with anything narrower than 25mm - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Tour de France leader Chris Froome did not have a yellow Pinarello Dogma FS-8, but we suspect he'll have a standard Dogma in yellow soon - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Teams prioritize spare bikes on team bars in terms of placement. Team leaders always get the outside spots for quick access - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
MTN Qhubeka had a number of Cervelo models out for stage 4. Most riders choose R series machines, but Daniel Teklehaimanot rode an S5 and American sprinter Tyler Farrar had an S3 - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Kilometer marker at left and length at right for the pavé sections - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Stage 3 winner Joaquim Rodriguez had a tidier version of the pavé section details on his stem, plus the location of the feed zone and intermediate sprint - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Marcel Sieberg took a third approach: cut out the profile map from the race bible and tape it like a bracelet around the stem - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Katusha soigneurs mark each bottle as sports drink or water - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Lotto Jumbo's Steven Kruijswijk enjoyed a little time with his daughters before the start of stage 4 - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Lotto Jumbo's Bram Tankink was one of a few riders with a Di2 "climber's switch" for the cobbles - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Lotto Jumbo's Sep Van Marcke rode the same bar-top brake he had at Paris-Roubaix - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
2015 Paris-Roubaix winner John Degenkolb also returned to the cobbles with a bar-top lever and a Di2 climber switch - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
Lampre-Merida's Rui Costa was the only one on his team riding the Merida Scultura. The rest chose Merida's cushier Ride platform - Ben Delaney / Immediate Media
The Astana team riders began the stage on their regular S-Works Tarmac bikes with 26mm FMB casings, except Andriy Grivko, who alone rolled out with a Roubaix - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
The Roubaix had regular Specialized Turbo tubs - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
There were several numbered-up Roubaixs on the the team car ready for a mid-ride swap, each with 28mm FMB casings and Specialized treads - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
FDJ began with six Xelius SL bikes and three Aircodes - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
Riders on Shimano C50 wheels got unbranded Veloflex tubs - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
While those on C35 wheels had these covered up FMB tubulars - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
Movistar mixed Canyon Aeroad and Ultimate CF SLX bikes as usual - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
All the Spanish teams riders were using 28mm Continental Competition Pro Ltd tubs - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
AG2R were all starting on Focus Izalco Max bikes and had the widest range of tub options - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
Some bikes had A Dugast 27mm tubs - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
Others were specced with Schwalbe One 28mm rubber - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
On the car, Peraud's back-up CX bike had A Dugast 30mm tubulars, while Bardet's had 27mm FMB Paris Roubaix tubs - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
Giant-Alpecin used a mix of Defy and TCR bikes - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
These bulging Vittorias were seen on some of the team's bikes using Shimano C35 wheels - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
C50 wheels had 25mm Vittoria Corsa CX Pro tubs - the thinnest rubber we saw today - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
The team car also had Propel aero bikes at the ready with the same Corsa CX tubs - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
Seven of the Europcar riders were on Colnago CX Zero Evo cross bikes - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
The team was using Hutchinson Pro Tour tubs - no widths marked on these models - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
Trek Factory racing riders were unsurprisingly supplied with Trek Domane bikes - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
These were specced with 27mm FMB Paris Roubaix tubs - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
The team car had Madones numbered up and ready, perhaps for the final post-cobble miles? - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
The Madones had 25mm FMB Paris Roubaix tubs - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
BMC were all on TeamMachine SLR 01 bikes rather than the brand's GranFondo GF 01 machines - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
All of them had these mystery, but clearly wide, tubs - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
BMC's back-up bikes had 28mm Continental Competition Pro Ltd tubulars - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
Seeral Bora-Argon 18 riders were on the Canadian brand's Nitrogen Pro aero road bikes - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
This Nitrogen had 25mm Vittoria Corsa SC rubber - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
While another had25mm Vittoria Pave Evo CG Servizio Course - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
Cofidis were on Orbea Orca bikes as usual - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
All of them seemed to be running Kenda SC tubs - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
Alberto Contador was having his GPS fitted to a Specialized Roubaix for the start. His tubs were FMB 26mm casings with Specialized tread - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
His back-up bike was also a Roubaix. This one had 28mm FMB casings with Spesh treads - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
Ettix-Quickstep's car was loaded with Roubaixs too - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
26 and 28mm FMB tubs were on show - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
There is no such thing as the one perfect bike for a race day that encompasses tarmac and cobblestones.
As the Tour de France again returned to the pavé this year, riders and mechanics from the 22 teams chose a wide spread of bikes, tubulars and even tubeless setups for stage 4, which many were calling “Paris-Roubaix day” for its resemblance to the spring classic.
Some trends emerged among the teams, with endurance bikes being more common than aero bikes, for instance, and fat 27-30mm tubulars generally carrying the day. But while we did see some of the tall gearing configurations of Paris-Roubaix, such as 54/46-tooth chainrings, there were no triple-wrapped handlebars or knuckles wound in tape to ward off the stones’ harsh vibrations.
And a view of the fmb paris-roubaix treads on the rest of the garmin-cannondale bikes: and a view of the fmb paris-roubaix treads on the rest of the garmin-cannondale bikes
Many teams treated stage 4 very much like Paris-Roubaix
On more than a couple of teams, the main sprinter and team leader had 25mm tubulars while their teammates chose 27 or 28mm options.
There was also talk of riders switching bikes mid-stage, as the 13.3km of pavé came almost entirely in the latter half of the race.
Other teams just tinkered with tire pressure, setting it at slightly lower than normal at the start with the reasoning that about half a bar (roughly 7psi) would leak out by the time riders hit the cobbles.
Etixx-Quick Step mechanics were setting one rider’s 26mm tubulars at 5bar, but asked us not to take pictures.
As at Paris-Roubaix, FMB’s handmade tubulars were en vogue. Many were on full display while some were dressed in Specialized treads. Still others were used with the FMB logo and markings blacked out with permanent marker.
Why no, this isn't an fmb paris-roubaix casing on an fdj bike. why do you ask?: why no, this isn't an fmb paris-roubaix casing on an fdj bike. why do you ask?
No, these aren't FMB Paris-Roubaix tubulars. Why do you ask?
Many sprinters rode their preferred aero bikes. Green jersey holder Andre Greipel set out aboard his green Ridley Noah with 25mm Continental Competition tubulars. Mark Cavendish reverted to his old green Specialized S-Works Venge instead of the brand new Venge ViAS he rode for the first two road stages. He also had narrower casings than his teammates. Katusha’s Alexander Kristoff also held the aero line, piloting the same Canyon Aeroad CF SLX he commanded to wins this spring like the Tour of Flanders, and which he also rode at Paris-Roubaix.
Garmin-Cannondale went the biggest for stage 4, with everyone rolling out on their 30mm FMB Paris-Roubaix tubulars. Team mechanic Alex Banyay said the team used the identical setup from the Hell of the North: Cannondale Synapse bikes with a non-series Shimano front brake installed on the rear for extra clearance. Ryder Hesjedal had a sharply negative mountain bike stem installed to get his desired 17cm of drop on the tall Synapse head tube.
GoPro’s new HERO4 Session showed up on a few rider’s bikes, too.
While the new gopros are smaller than previous iterations, they are still pretty easy to spot: while the new gopros are smaller than previous iterations, they are still pretty easy to spot
GoPro's new HERO4 Session
Click through the massive gallery above for a closer look at the bikes and gear of stage 4 of the 2015 Tour de France. And check out the particulars (that we could discern) for each of the teams' tubular selection here:
Ben Delaney is a journalist with more than two decades of experience writing for and editing some of the biggest publications in cycling. Having studied journalism at the University of New Mexico, Ben has worked for Bicycle Retailer & Industry News, VeloNews and BikeRadar. He has also previously worked as Global Brand Communications Manager for Specialized. Ben covers all things road and gravel, and can be found logging big miles in the Rocky Mountains that nestle alongside his home in Boulder, Colorado. He has covered the most important bike races in the sport, from the Tour de France and Tour of Flanders, to the Unbound gravel race, and specialises in tech content, showcasing what the pros are riding and putting everyday equipment through its paces.
This website is owned and published by Our Media Ltd. www.ourmedia.co.uk
