Can teams ride prototype bikes in the Tour de France? What are the rules regarding undisclosed cycling technique in professional road racing?

The fun of watching big bike races like the Tour de France is seeing the latest bikes and equipment the pros are using. Sometimes you’re lucky to find things that haven’t been released to the general public yet. So in cycling’s World Tour’s biggest races, like the Tour de France, can riders actually use prototype bikes, and what are the rules here?

This isn’t the first time this season we’ve seen new bikes in use, as earlier in the year the EF Education-EasyPost men’s team riders were spotted riding a new road bike, the Cannondale SuperSix Evo 4.

Mathieu van der Poel has also been on the updated Canyon Aeroad all year, which he rode to victory in Paris-Roubaix.

Recently, AG2R Citroen, Lotto-Dstny and Cofidis were spotted on new bikes at the Critérium du Dauphiné, the main warm-up race for the world’s best ahead of the Tour de France.

> 8 things we learned at Dauphiné 2023

Team Cofidis was at Look, which we first reported on in January. This has been officially released in the last couple of weeks as the 795 Blade RS road bike, which has been redesigned to “balance aerodynamics, stiffness and lightness”.

Next, the new Ridley road bike driven by Lotto-Dstny broke cover at the Critérium du Dauphiné, which is also likely to be released in the coming weeks. The bike definitely looks like it’s trying to combine aero and lightweight, as we’ve seen several brands do in recent years. This is most likely Ridley’s new “do it all” road bike.

Finally, the launch of the BMC aero superbike prototype spotted at Dauphine is also imminent, and our prediction is that it will be the latest generation Timemachine Road, the ultimate aero bike in the Swiss brand’s range. There’s always the possibility that it’s a completely new platform, but we’ll just have to wait and see.

Look’s bike has officially launched, but Ridley and BMC are still prototypes, and no The UCI’s public list of approved framesets.

UCI ProSeries team Israel-Premier Tech rides bikes from Factor. Usually it’s the Ostro VAM, but a new O2 VAM has been spotted at this year’s Tour. We know that Factor will release a new bike on July 10, 2023, the first rest day of the Tour de France, so we’ll be keeping our eyes peeled.

Why do pro riders use unreleased bikes?

Never has world cycling and the general media focused more on cycling than in the opening stages of the Tour de France. As a result, brands that pay riders to wear their latest and greatest kit want it worn.

Ideally, their star rider will use it to win and then sing its praises to the waiting media; but why do we see riders on bikes that no one can buy yet and is this allowed?

Professional teams form partnerships with bike manufacturers, allowing them to ride unreleased bikes before they become available to the public. This serves several purposes: one of them is marketing and promotion, and also by riding unreleased bikes, teams create excitement among cycling enthusiasts, which creates publicity for the release of the bike.

> 2023 Tour de France bikes – the definitive guide to what the top pro cycling teams will be riding this year

Brands often tell us that they use feedback from teams to shape final products. We’ll never be quite sure how much of that is down to marketing, but the breadth and depth of feedback WorldTour teams get from different riders will be invaluable because they’re going to put a lot of abuse on those bikes.

It makes sense because the pros rack up a lot more mileage than you or I could in a shorter amount of time, which means the tested hardware goes through a lot more stress faster. This allows manufacturers to make the necessary improvements before the bikes come to market. But you might be thinking, why would the pros want to use a bike that is still in development in the biggest bike race in the world?

These bikes are thoroughly tested before the pros take them to the world’s biggest stage, including a ride at the Critérium du Dauphiné.

Although high-profile technical problems occur at major races, no brand wants to risk a product underperforming at the Tour de France. So you can be sure that there is a lot of confidence in anything that has made it this far.

The advantage of running unreleased gear is that it features the latest technical advances, design and lightweight materials, all of which can contribute to a competitive advantage over other teams.

Can prototypes be used in the Tour de France?

If you remember last year’s tour, Pogačar and UAE Team Emirates were spotted on a Colnago Prototipo – the word Protipo is literally Italian for “prototype”. This was then officially launched as the Colnago V4Rs road bike in December 2022.

In short, yes, pros can use prototype bikes and gear in the Tour de France – but the UCI has introduced new rules and regulations for gear registration for this year’s Tour.

As in previous years, the prototypes must fall under all the usual UCI rules. For example, wheels have regulations regarding rim depths and number of spokes that must be followed.

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It’s a very detailed process, and the brands have to give the UCI information about things like the materials used and the manufacturing process. The UCI may then request plans, drawings and additional information and guarantees that everything submitted during the approval process will remain confidential.

So while Look had to fill out a form earlier this year to get Team Cofidis permission to use its next-gen 795 Blade RS road bike, nosy journalists – or anyone else – can go and see the footage.

So what exactly are the rules?

The UCI has always had strict rules to ensure that all bikes and components used in the race are accessible to the public. Article 1.3.006 states that “equipment must be such as is sold for the use of anyone practicing cycling as a sport”.

> Get to know the new UCI rules

Top bikes and equipment often make their debut at the Tour de France, but the UCI has tightened the rules on the use of prototypes in the race. Interestingly, this rule does not apply to other road events listed in the 2023 UCI calendar, and only applies to the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes events in 2023.

Framesets, wheels, handlebars, time trial bar extensions, clothing and helmets (regular and time trial helmets) must all be registered and set up before the start of each race – June 2 for the Tour de France and June 17 for the Tour de France Femmes to be purchased no later than 12 months after their first use in competition.

> Check out Wout Van Aert’s super-fast Cervelo S5 aero road bike

To ensure that the equipment used by the teams is the same as the one registered, all frames have an anti-counterfeit tag using RFID technology which is scanned at random intervals during the tour.

The goal of the new rule is to promote equal access to equipment in cycling events and to ensure equal operating conditions for all competitors. Of course there will always be a little bit of it, but the idea is to keep it within limits.

Luckily for us (or those who can afford the best bikes and gear used by the pros), we can be almost certain that anything we see being used at the Tour de France will be released sooner or later. The rules also prevent brands from making anything practically impossible. The products must be deliverable, and they must not unreasonably exceed the market value of equipment of the same level, warn our friends at UCI.

Have you spotted any other prototypes being used in this year’s Tour de France? Let us know in the comments section below…