The world champion on the road pairs his power meter ahead of his team's effort - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Richie Porte has customised his Fizik saddle to help him keep in position while time trialling - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Greg Van Avermaet and his BMC Racing teammates wear watches from sponsor TAG Heuer for podium presentations - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
A look at the Giant Trinity steerer system and hidden front brake - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Chris Juul-Jensen's Scott Plasma - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Richie Porte prepares himself for the stage alongside his BMC Timemachine - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
BMC Racing uses Giro Aerohead helmets for time trialling - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Nathan Haas had minimal leg on show with extra high aero oversocks and long shorts on his speedsuit - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Stijn Vandenburgh had an unorthodox method of securing his SRM PC-8 head unit - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Cyril Gautier's Factor Slick - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Team Sunweb is another team to use aerodynamic oversocks - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Michael Matthews nearly kicked over a UCI comissaire with his dynamic stretching at the stage start - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Several time trial bikes, including the Argon 18 E-118, use a hinge steerer system as opposed to a traditional fork steerer - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Omar Fraile wears the new Oakley Flight Jacket glasses - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Mollema's Trek was equipped with a 58t outer chainring - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Peter Sagan opted for his 100% sunglasses over the integrated visor with the S-Works TT helmet - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
More stretching, this time from Tim Wellens at the start - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
BBB provides Groupama-FDJ with its road and time trial helmets - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Bauke Mollema's Trek Speed - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Bora-Hansgrohe's Marcus Burghardt was the only rider to use a turbo trainer at the start line to continue his warm up - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Movistar's Canyon Speedmax TT bikes have received the same blue fade paintjob as the team's road bikes - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Iljo Keisse's Specialized power meter had a fluro makeover for the stage - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Fernando Gaviria wears the S-Works TT helmet - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Nairo Quintana stretches out his quadriceps while seated ahead of the start - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Mikel Landa and the Movistar team wore the new aero speeduit from Endura dubbed Drag2Zero - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
The surface on the shoulders and sleeves of the speedsuit are claimed to drastically improve aerodynamic performance - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Tim Wellens uses an ice jacket and cool water to keep his body temperature down - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Philippe Gilbert and his Quick-Step Floors teammates were more riders to adopt ice jackets at the start - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
The Oakley speedsuit used by Dimension Data appears to have a high-cut collar at the front of the suit - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
A handful of riders poured water over their speedsuits at the start in an attempt to stay cool in the warm temperatures - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Steven Kruijswijk's speedsuit was once a long sleeve version, we can't help but feel a neater job could've been done in the tailoring here - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Some riders, including Hugh Carthy of EF-Drapac, use fragrant oils to help open their airways ahead of time trials - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
The single-piece POC speedsuit is zipped up at the rear to keep the frontal area of the suit as aerodynamic as possible - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Taylor Phinney regularly discusses his passion for yoga and spent several minutes ahead of the start stretching out his legs while others relaxed on chairs - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
EF-Drapac riders wear team issue POC Cerebal helmets - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
The dotted material on Team Sky's Castelli speedsuits caused a stir at the opening time trial at last year's Tour de France, here you can see how the cut of the jersey is also considered for aerodynamics - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Steven Kruijswijk wears an ice vest to keep core body temperature down ahead of the start - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Another massive chainring on display, this time on a LottoNL-Jumbo Bianchi - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Kristoffer Halvorsen's Pinarello Bolide - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Many riders opted for 58t outer chainrings for the opening stage of Tour de Suisse, with the majority coming as a special order from Shimano - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Team Sky customised its race jerseys with each rider's name on the back for the 2018 season, the Castelli speedsuits get the same treatment - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Each rider's bike is checked by UCI commisaires with a jig to ensure sizing regulations are met - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Team Sky is one of several teams who adopt aero oversocks for time trials - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Direct Energie and Astana are two teams wearing helmets from Limar at the race - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Filippo Zaccanti's De Rosa TT-03 - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Damiano Cunego and his Nippo — Vini Fantini teammates wear TT helmets from Kabuto - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Ion Izaguirre's Merida Warp - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Bahrain-Merida equipped its TT bikes with chainrings from French component specialists TA - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
An Aqua Blue Sport mechanic changes chainrings ahead of the team time trial start - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
A look at the Cervelo P5 used by Dimension Data - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
More Shimano Ultegra Di2, this time on Merhawi Kudus of Dimension Data's bike - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Most of the Aqua Blue Sport riders use Vision Metron aero cranksets - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Likely as a cost cutting measure, Aqua Blue Sport uses Shimano Ultegra Di2 derailleurs on its TT setups and opts for SRAM on its road bikes - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Juul-Jensen then runs a small piece of handlebar tape on the back side of the switches - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Several riders from several different teams opt for HED H3 front wheels for their TT setups - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
EF Education First-Drapac continues to race on the Cannondale SuperSlice, although seems to be refraining from using the disc brake version of the bike - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Bora-Hansgrohe had the new aero bike from Specialized on display, which was first seen last week at the Dauphine - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
While Aqua Blue Sport has been racing on 3T Strada bikes for regaular road stages, the team uses Ridley Dean framesets for time trials - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Instead of having the handlebar extension Di2 switches facing inwards as designed, Chris Juul-Jensen of Mitchelton-Scott runs the switches facing downwards - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
French Pro Continental squad Direct Energie raced the team time trial on the new Wilier Turbine, disc brake-equipped TT bike - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
The Tour de Suisse got underway on Saturday with an 18.3-kilometre team time trial in Frauenfeld. BMC Racing took the honours on the day with home favourite Stefan Küng winning the first leader's jersey of the nine-stage race. Ahead of each team setting off, Cyclingnews had a look at some of the tech on display at the Tour de France warm-up.
Despite rain forecast for the afternoon, the Swiss summer heat kept the rain at bay and temperatures rose close to 30degrees Celsius. Keeping cool is crucial and riders from a number of teams donned ice vests on their way to the start line in an attempt to keep core temperatures down, while others poured cool water over their heads, necks and skinsuits.
Team assistants and soigneurs were also on hand with coolers of cold drinks at the start and finish line and stockings filled with ice and placed under the speedsuit is another method to prevent overheating.
The rolling course included 190 metres of climbing and offered enough of a challenge to see some early splits between the GC contenders. Nothing other than full time trial bikes and equipment including helmets, clothing, disc wheels and aero cockpits were used.
Mollema's Trek was equipped with a 58t outer chainring - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
BMC Racing clocked an average speed of more than 54km/h for the stage, largely in part to the 58-tooth chainrings it, and many other teams, adopted for the stage.
In pursuit of every last second, speedsuits are now the norm. Frequently tailored for individual pro riders, the speedsuits also use specialist technology to improve airflow over body parts and limbs.
Dimension Data, EF Education First-Drapac and Team Sunweb use ribbed sleeves in an attempt to reduce drag on the arms, while Team Sky and Movistar use a textured material on the shoulder and upper arms with the same objective.
Nathan Haas had minimal leg on show with extra high aero oversocks and long shorts on his speedsuit - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Teams will always push the UCI technical regulations to the limit in pursuit of seconds and aero oversocks are no different. UCI technical regulations state that socks must not extend above the middle of the leg, though several riders have perhaps pushed this regulation beyond the legal limit.
Each team uses turbo trainers outside their team bus ahead of time trials for extensive warm-ups, but then have to arrive at the start at least 15 minutes ahead of their start time to allow UCI commisaires to check each rider's bike is legal. Marcus Burghardt (Bora-Hansgrohe) was the only rider who set up a turbo trainer at the start line to keep the blood flowing until minutes before the start. Other riders including Taylor Phinney, Tim Wellens, Michael Matthews and Nairo Quintana took the opportunity for some extensive stretching ahead of their efforts.
More stretching, this time from Tim Wellens at the start - Josh Evans/Immediate Media
Depending on rider race programmes, time trialling days can come few and far between over the season. With this in mind, teams with smaller budgets may choose to save the best components for their more frequently used road bikes and Shimano Ultegra components were being used by several WorldTour and Pro Continental teams on their time trial bikes for the stage.
Click or swipe through the extensive gallery above to see the tech on display at Stage 1 of the Tour de Suisse.
