The Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes – previously the Critérium du Dauphiné – has long been considered a warm up race for the jewel cycling’s crown: the Tour de France. And, it’s not just a testing ground for riders’ legs, teams also use the eight stage race to put new bikes through their paces ahead of July’s showdown.
Our video team has been on the ground ahead of the first stage of the race in southeastern France, here are some of the most exciting bikes they’ve spotted along the way…
Paul Seixas’ new Van Rysel
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All eyes will be upon 19-year old Paul Seixas as he lines up at his debut Tour de France, and his team Decathlon CMA CGM have brought what looks like an updated Van Rysel RCR Pro for him to try out.
The RCR Pro is the all-rounder in the brand’s livery, but areas of the frame – the downtube, forks and headtube in particular – look to have had an aero update, to add a dose of speed to the already pacey machine.
‘Project Black’ Specialized Tarmac SL9
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This isn’t the first time what looks decidedly like a Specialized Tarmac SL9 has broken cover. We already saw this more aero looking Tarmac bike on the roof of a team car at a Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe training camp.
The fork, seatube and seatpost all look to be geared towards saving watts, you can read a bit more here.
Asked about the machine, the brand told us: “Specialized relies on feedback from professional athletes in both developing and testing advanced pre-production products in real-world applications. With this top-level feedback, some of these design elements and products eventually show up in future retail product offerings. We call this Project Black.”
Prototype Ridley Climbing Bike
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Over at Uno-X Mobility, who are preparing themselves for their first Tour as a WorldTour squad rather than a wildcard invitee, we spotted a prototype Ridley. This decidedly climbing-looking bike could be a new Ridley Falcn RS, with aerodynamic features while still being lightweight. This is different to the Ridley Noah Fast 3, which the team have been using this year so far.
With prototype labels, they’re very much still in development, but it is clear that there are less deep tube profiles, suggesting that they might be bikes for mountainous days. There are a lot of those, both at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and the Tour de France. It has loads of tyre clearance, very slight seat stays, and is complete with SRAM Red Axs. If it’s not a new Falcn RS, it might be a completely new climbing model. It’s expected to be out in the Autumn.
New Cube aero bike
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French ProTeam TotalEnergies are on Cubes these days, and at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, some of the squad are using the 2027 Cube Litening Aero C:68X. It’s an update to the German company’s aero bike, which is clear from the branding on the top tube; the old model was released seven years ago.
It has a deeper head tube, and looks quite a lot like other aero bikes in the peloton these days, although the seat tube is well worth a look, being angular and a bit reminiscent of the Colnago Y1Rs. The wheel clearance has been upped, and could probably take 34mm tyres, an upgrade on the last Litening. It’s still a prototype, and so there is still work being done, but expect to see it at the Tour de France next month.
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