CHARTRES, France — The Tour de France brings out the lightest and fastest bikes, and sometimes the best-looking. We visited the 22 teams to check out each squad's line.
We didn't consider weight, price, or tech; instead, if the bike looked thoughtfully put together, had attractive paint, was mated to a stylish wheelset, and had fine touches that made us drool a little, the better it did.
We considered only the regular bikes, so we excluded those with custom paint and one-offs, like the race leader's yellow BMC. Also, many teams have two or three types of bikes — a climbing bike, an aero bike, and a time-trial bike. We went with the bikes we saw the riders racing most often.
Here are the best-looking bikes at the Tour de France, ranked from meh to ooh!
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No. 22 — Team Sky's Pinarello Dogma
Chris Froome is the most successful three-week stage racer of this era, but his bike feels uninspired. All-black bicycles have peaked — or at least they should have. The Dogma is terrific, but looks-wise, meh.
No. 21 — Dimension Data's Cervélo R5
Again, another stealthy black bike. Bor-ing. We ranked this one just ahead of Sky's Dogma only because we liked the bits of green, the type, and that blingy chain. But really, this bike could do with some color.
No. 20 — Katusha-Alpecin's Canyon Aeroad
At least it's not all black! But still, kind of plain and uninspired. The Canyon type is cool, and this is a fast bike, but overall there's not much to thrill the senses.
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