22 April 2016

Bikes, Equipment and Clothing at the Tour of California

The best bikes and clothing at the Amgen Tour of California

This is a repeat of my blog post on Team bike and team jerseys at the Amgen tour of California. Somehow I posted two versions, so in this version I have elaborated on clothing and equipment sponsors for each team.

"You look so pro!"

The look is called pro, but being pro requires a legion of support staff and dedicated sponsors and partners. I know the riders work hard but they get to race on the best bike equipment in the industry. Sponsors give huge amounts of equipment or support to the teams in hopes that the spectators will see the high level of performance and want it for themselves.

Peter Sagan, the perfect model for promoting cycling apparel.  ©Photo by Karen Rakestraw of Pedal Dancer Photography®
UCI WorldTour

Equipment on the bike and on the rider:
  • BMC Racing Team (USA) - BMC bikes, Shimano, Mavic, Garmin, FSA, Rock Tape, fi’zi:k. Pearl Izumi clothing, Giro helmets, Oakley glasses.
  • Cannondale Pro Cycling Team (USA) - Cannondale bikes, Shimano, Mavic, Garmin, FSA, Rock Tape, fi’zi:k. Castelli clothing, POC helmets and glasses.
  • Dimension Data (South Africa) - Cervélo bikes, Roto Uno / Shimano, ENVE, Continental, fi’zi:k, Speedplay, Rotor, Lizard Skins. Met helmets, Oakley glasses.
  • Etixx – Quick-Step (Belgium) - Specialized bikes, Shimano, HED, Rovel, FSA. Vermarc clothing, Specialized helmet and glasses.
  • Giant – Alpecin (Germany) - Giant bikes, Shimano, Vittoria, Pro, Pioneer, Polar.  Exteondo clothing, Giant helmets, Oakley glasses.
  • Katusha (Russia) - Canyon bikes, SRAM, Zipp, Quarq. Katusha clothing, Giro helmets.
  • LottoNL – Jumbo (Netherlands) - Bianche bikes, Shimano, FSA, Selle San Marco, Vittoria. SMS Santini clothing, Bell helmets, New Balance apparel.
  • Sky (Great Britain) - Pinarello bikes, Shimano, PRO, Stages, fi’zi:k. Rapha clothing, Kask helmets, Oakley glasses, Asics apparel.
  • Tinkoff (Russia) - Specialized bikes, Shimano, FSA, Roval, HED, Look, Prologo, SRM. Sportful clothing, Oakley glasses.
  • Trek – Segafredo (USA) - Trek bikes, Shimano, Bontrager, SRM. Bontrager helmets, Oakley glasses.
Did you know Segafredo is one company making up the MZB group based in Italy, they are the world's largest coffee producers. 

Trek bikes ready to race. ©Photo by Karen Rakestraw of Pedal Dancer Photography®
UCI Professional Continental
  • Direct Énergie (France) - BH bikes, Shimano / FSA
  • Novo Nordisk (USA) - Colnago bikes
  • United Healthcare (USA) - Wilier bikes, Shimano
UCI Continental
  • Axeon Hagens Berman (USA) - Specialized bikes, SRAM
  • Holowesko – Citadel Racing Team (USA) - Felt bikes, Shimano
  • Jelly Belly – Maxxis (USA) - Argon bikes
  • Rally Cycling (USA) - Diamond Back bikes, SRAM
  • Team Wiggins (Great Britain) - Pinarello bikes, SRAM
Bikes lined up before the stage at ATOC in 2015. ©Photo by Karen Rakestraw of Pedal Dancer Photography®
The staff our outfitted in team clothing as well.

Getting the bikes ready. ©Photo by Karen Rakestraw of Pedal Dancer Photography®
Buy Apparel

You can buy Amgen Tour of California apparel and classification jerseys at the ATOC Shop. Champion Systems is the jersey sponsor for the classification jerseys at the Tour of California.

Classification jerseys for the 2016 Amgen Tour of California
Classification jerseys for the 2016 Amgen Tour of California
You can buy some of the ProTour team jerseys at www.probikekit.com or at boutique.letour.fr or find some of the old kits at www.cyclingbox.com.


Need a bike?

Of particular interest to the amateur cyclist's price point (depending on the build) would be the bikes of Team Katusha, Team Giant-Alpecin, Novo-Nordisk, Holowesko-Citadel, Direct Energie, Trek-Segafredo and Rally.

If you have no budget (or just want to drool over extravagant bikes) check out the bikes of Team SKY, Tinkoff, BMC, Etixx-Quickstep, United Healthcare, Axeon Hagens Berman, Dimension Data or the magnificent Team Wiggins team bike.

Win a BMC bike

You have a chance to win a BMC bike custom painted by Taylor Phinney, enter bike contest on VeloNews.
Guess whose bike this is? You will see it at the Tour of California in May (but you can't have it).

Peter Sagan's bikes
This is one of Peter Sagan's bikes. A very colorful Specialized Venge. Photo via tinkoffteam.com
Eighteen men's teams will compete in the 2016 Amgen Tour of California. These are the team jerseys and bikes, listed by: team website, country, jerseys, bikes and some of the equipment used on the bikes. Each team has a large group of equipment, goods and service suppliers (including cars!) which can be found on their team websites.

Read more about the WorldTour sponsors: Pro Team Sponsors – What Do They Do? By Inner Ring (descriptions of the products sponsors make).

One of my favorite sponsor combos: A Mini Cooper with Giant Bikes.

Let's take a look at what you will see as fans out on the road during the upcoming eight stages of the Amgen Tour of California. If you attend a start of any stage, be sure to walk by the team buses and check out the bikes lined up securely outside.

MEN'S TEAMS

UCI WorldTour Teams

BMC Racing Team (USA)

BMC team equipment on the bike: BMC bikes, Shimano, fi’zi:k, SRM, Continental. Pearl Izumi clothing, Giro helmets, Oakley glasses.

BMC team BMC Teammachine SLR01 Dura Ace Di2
BMC team BMC Teammachine SLR01 Dura Ace Di2. Photo via bmc-switzerland.com
Cannondale Pro Cycling Team (USA)

Cannondale team equipment on the bike: Cannondale bikes, Shimano, Mavic, Garmin, FSA, Rock Tape, fi’zi:k. Castelli clothing, POC helmets and glasses.

Cannondale team Cannondale SuperSix Evo Hi-MOD
Cannondale team Cannondale SuperSix Evo Hi-MOD. Photo via www.cannondale.com
Dimension Data (South Africa)

Dimension Data team equipment on the bike: Cervelo bikes, Roto Uno / Shimano, ENVE, Continental, fi’zi:k, Speedplay, Rotor, Lizard Skins. Oakley glasses, Met helmets.

Etixx – Quick-Step (Belgium)

Etixx-Quickstep team equipment on the bike: Specialized bikes, Shimano, HED, Rovel, FSA. Vermarc clothing, Specialized helmet and glasses.

Giant – Alpecin (Germany)

Giant-Alpecin team equipment on the bike: Giant bikes, Liv, Shimano, Vittoria, Pro, Pioneer, Polar. Exteondo clothing, Giant helmets, Oakley glasses.

Katusha (Russia)

Katusha team equipment on the bike: Canyon bikes, SRAM, Zipp, Quarq. Katusha clothing, Giro helmets.

Katusha swapped from Shimano to SRAM this year, and from Mavic to Zipp wheels this years, they also ride Canyon bikes, all products continuing to grow in tremendous popularity in the United States among amateur cyclists.

LottoNL- Jumbo (Netherlands)

LottoNL-Jumbo team equipment on the bike: Bianche bikes, Shimano, FSA, Selle San Marco, Vittoria. SMS Santini clothing, Bell helmets, New Balance apparel.

Sky (Great Britain)

SKY team equipment on the bike: Pinarello bikes, Shimano, PRO, Stages, fi’zi:k. Rapha clothing, Kask helmets, Oakley glasses, Asics apparel.

SKY team Pinarello Dogma F8
SKY team Pinarello Dogma F8. Photo via pinarello.com
Tinkoff (Russia)

Tinkoff team equipment on the bike: Specialized bikes, Shimano, FSA, Roval, HED, Look, Prologo, SRM. Sportful clothing, Oakley glasses.

Tinkoff team Specialized Tarmac
Tinkoff team Specialized Tarmac. Photo via tinkoffteam.com
Trek - Segafredo (USA)

Trek-Segafredo team equipment on the bike: Trek bikes, Shimano, Bontrager wheels and parts, SRM. Bontrager helmets, Oakley glasses.

Did you know Segafredo is one company making up the MZB group based in Italy, they are the world's largest coffee producers.

Trek-Segafredo team Trek Madone
Trek-Segafredo team Trek Madone. Photo via treksegafredo.com
UCI Professional Continental Teams

Direct Énergie (France)

Direct Énergie team equipment on the bike: BH bikes, Sigma, Shimano, FSA, Vision, Prologo, Hutchinson, Look.

Novo Nordisk (USA)

Novo Nordisk team equipment on the bike: Colnago bikes, Maxxis, Selle Italia, Stages, Pioneer, Catlilke helmets.

UnitedHealthcare (USA)

United Healthcare team equipment on the bike: Wilier bikes, Shimano, Maxxis, Pioneer, Deda, San Marco, Rocktape.

United Healthcare team Wilier Trestina
United Healthcare team Wilier Trestina
UCI Continental Teams

Axeon Hagens Berman (USA)
The Directeur Sportif for the team is Jonkheer ("The Honourable") Axel Merckx, son of Eddy Merckx who has been made a baron in Belgium.

Axeon-Hagens Berman team equipment on the bike: Specialized bikes, SRAM, Quarq, Zipp, Speedplay.

Axeon-Hagens Berman team Specialized Tarmac
Axeon-Hagens Berman team Specialized Tarmac.  Photo via 2016.axeoncycling.com
Holowesko – Citadel Racing Team (USA)

Holowesko - Citadel team equipment on the bike: Felt bikes, Shimano, Mavic, Michelin, Pro, Prologo.

Holowesko - Citadel team Felt bikes
Holowesko - Citadel team Felt bikes. Photo via twitter.com/TeamHincapie/
Jelly Belly – Maxxis (USA)

Jelly Belly-Maxxis team equipment on the bike: Argon bikes, Maxxis, FSA, Prologo, Speedplay, Tocktape, Cateye and Jelly Beans.

Jelly Belly-Maxxis Argon 18
Jelly Belly-Maxxis Argon 18.  Photo via @JellyBellyTeam
Rally Cycling (USA)

Rally Cycling team equipment on the bike: Diamond Back bikes, SRAM, Mavic, HED, Kenda, Speedplay.

Team Wiggins (Great Britain) (Wikipedia)

Team Wiggins team equipment on the bike: Pinarello bikes, SRAM, Zipp, fi’zi:k.

Pinarello Dogma Wiggins team
Pinarello Dogma Wiggins team. Photo via twitter.com/OfficialWIGGINS
More Pedal Dancer® race coverage 2016:
Coming soon: Startlist and bib number Amgen Tour of California 2016;  National and World Championship jerseys at the Tour of California; and stories from the race.