The Dauphine is often a proving ground for new technology ahead of its debut at the Tour de France in 3 weeks time. This year, along with a number of teams debuting Dura Ace 9000 groups, Trek has put several Radioshack Nissan riders on what appears to be the new Madone. Supposedly dubbed the 7 series, it's currently unknown if this aero offering will replace the current 6.9SSL or be an addition to the lineup.
For years, companies have put special bikes under their sponsored riders specifically designed for the cobbled classics. Varied geometries, more tire clearance, increased brake clearance and better vibration damping are all some of the reasons for modifying bikes for the cobbles. Even though mechanics still have tricks up their sleeve for use while building “classics” bikes, the occurrence of “one off” or “team only” bikes has been fading with recent UCI regulations which require pro teams to ride bikes that can be purchased by the average joe. Essentially, this has forced development of “comfort” style racing bikes, which one could argue is just a refinement of the “all day” or “sportive” category of bikes that has been around for years. Less aggressive positioning, vibration damping properties and generally more durability are the hallmarks of these bikes which are designed to be ridden by normal people for hours upon end.
Trek has been one company that has seemingly missed the boat on this fad, at least until now. In the past few days, details have been released about the Domane, which is designed to “specifically addresses the challenges of rough road conditions found throughout the spring classics courses with a collection of key innovations unlike any available before today” according to Trek. Developed with extensive input from Fabian Cancellara, the Domane has a slew of supposed new features that will make it a formidable chariot for Sparticus (and the local Tuesday night racers who love dirt roads, too.)
After Caisse d'Epargne departed last year, we were treated to the lime and navy kit accented with white. A little more white appears along the opposite side panel of the jersey, but otherwise little has changed from last year.
The personnel changes are more intriguing than the kit changes. Vuelta champion J.J. Cobo has come aboard after the dissolution of Geox-TMC and Alejandro Valverde has returned from a 2 year suspension imposed by the Court for Arbitration for Sport.
2012 is here, and with the turn of the new year, contracts in the pro ranks renew and riders are free to present their new team kits for the coming season. Let's take a look at some of the team kits that have been revealed thus far:
Pro Team Astana is sporting a look that is very similar to their kits from last year. There is a lot of pastel/aqua/electric blue paired with bright yellow and white. Of course, these colors intimately mimic the flag of the sponsoring nation. Everyone will know that the team is the brainchild of Alexander Vinokourov, and is designed to fly the colors of (make glorious power of wonderful nation) Kazakstan.
The kit itself would benefit from some darker colors to separate the pastels from one another, but we've become used to seeing this design (it's basically unchanged from last year) so it's not a big deal.
Shrewd in the transfer market, you can look for Vinokourov to be flanked by Janez Brajkovic, Borut Bozic and Roman Kreuziger.