We've got our first glimpse of the new AG2R La Mondiale team kit and Van Rysel bikes today in what will be a big change for the team before its name changes officially on the 1st of January 2024 to Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale.
We covered the team parting ways with BMC for next year a week ago and it's been pretty much common knowledge for a while that the team would be racing on Van Rysel bikes for 2024 - we initially covered the rumour back in April this year.
A team presentation took place today at Decathlon headquarters in Lille, Northern France. Where new signing for 2024 Sam Bennett was announced amongst others, as well as new bikes and equipment sponsor for 2024 Van Rysel, Decathlon's performance road brand.
The team will race on Van Rysel road and time trial bikes, the two models being the RCR PRO and XCR bikes as well as Van Rysel helmets and sunglasses. We have broken down everything we know about the new kit so far below as well as some juicy new frame design and construction details. It looks like we have a new top-end road contender entering the fray, with the brand claiming the RCR PRO is amongst the ten fastest bikes in the world.
The Van Rysel RCR road bike
The team will be racing the new Van Rysel RCR for road stages. The RCR consists of a brand-new frame design and construction. You can watch a short video on this below which has some interesting details on the design process. An RCR PRO bike with a different build is for sale on the Decathlon website but with completely different components to the team bike we are looking at here. Perhaps this complete build will be available to buy in time.
Who do we know so far? Well, the new frame looks very similar to a lot of top-end road bikes in the World Tour. Dropped seat stays, a narrow head tube and front end, and wider seat stays all feature. Van Rysel says it has aimed to get as close to the UCI 6.8 kg weight limit as possible whilst maintaining aerodynamic performance and has worked with French aerospace experts Onera. Critical aero areas were said to have been the fork, head tube and seatpost. So it's fair to say the RCR Pro is probably bang on trend for 2023/24 race bikes as we move away from all-out, aero machines in the 7-8 kg weight bracket.
Some interesting points that caught my eye straight off the bat were the claimed 6.826 kg overall bike weight which will make the bike really competitive weight-wise. I assume this is for a size M as size isn't yet stated. High Modulus 60-tonne carbon fibre has also been used in strategic areas and apparently comprises 5% of the frame's overall makeup.
There will be 9 colour options for the RCR PRO, with three of these designed to meet a weight target which we can assume is the UCI 6.8 kg limit. These models are said to include weight checks integrated into the painting process itself; thinner paint coats being used and different minimalist ink transfer water decals to provide an 80-100 gram claimed weight saving over standard paint. I presume the pictured team colour scheme is one of these paint finishes but perhaps we could see all black clear coated frames on high mountain days
Frame hardware is also said to have been optimised with grams shaved from the Seatpost clamps and thru axles. We will of course try to get our hands on one of the new bikes in time to produce a full, in-depth review.
Van Rysel XCR time trial bike
We have less information currently on the Van Rysel XCR time trial bike the team will use for time trial events. Van Rysel says it worked with SwissSide on the bike as well as making use of its wheels. Perhaps finding an overall fast wheel and frameset package was a factor here with the frame designed for, or even around the SwissSide wheels.
The TT looks (for the moment at least) to feature the same Dura Ace R9200 di2 groupset, SwissSide disc wheel and Hadron front wheel (there are a few options here) and Deda Jet One handlebar extensions.
Thanks to the UCI frame profile rule changes a pretty deep head tube and seat tube / top tube junction can also be observed something we have seen on plenty of other World Tour TT machines, like the Ridley Dean Fast we covered back in August.
Van Rysel helmets and shades
The team will also race in Van Rysel helmets and sunglasses for 2024. Three new helmets have been manufactured for the team. The new helmets comply with the CE standard which is the French for Conformité Européenne or the European conformity rating. Van Rysel says its testing has been over 50 impact points.
MIPS anti-rotation technology has also been included on the helmets but there isn't a mention of any other anti-rotation impact testing yet.
The helmets at first glance appear to be comprised of an aero TT lid with a visor, a vented road helmet and more aero road options. The white and bright blue should make them fairly easy to spot in the bunch too.
Two sunglasses options have also been developed, the Perf 900 and Perf 900 light a framed and a lighter frameless option. Zeiss, NXT and Transitions lenses are said to have been used.
Van Rysel also says the shades have been optimised to the nearest tenth of a gram and been subject to CFD digital simulations. Something my colleague and sunglasses aficionado Will Jones may have something to say on if we get hold of a pair for testing.
