Pro cycling is changing as a new mood of openness has revealed information that previously would have been left unmentioned. Some of this information is anti doping related, which is good, as most of you like myself like to think of their exploits as 'super human' rather than 'super charged'. But more than ever tech info is coming to light, and frankly this probably provokes as many conversations as anything else with cyclists.
Team CSC have a lot of sponsors, normally chosen because they represent the best available. This has allowed them to not use a full Shimano groupset for instance, if they believe that another part can out perform another. Over the years the close working relationship with some sponsors has resulted in special products being made, this has been the case with Vittoria, Speedplay and most notably CervÈlo.
Some of the riders prefer not to switch around their bikes too much (some preferred the original Alloy Soloist and it was only recently they made the switch to carbon), racing the same machine as much as possible no matter if the race is a Northern Classic or a Grand Tour. As there are 28 riders on Team CSC, most will have between five to 13 bikes at their disposal, it seems a lot but when you think a rider may need a GT bike, a Classics Machine, plus a TT bike, spare race bikes and not forgetting training bikes.
image Tim De Waele
One rider bucks that trend, and I am sure that it will come as no surprise that it is Fabian Cancellara. At home in Bern he has three training bikes, which are usually racing bikes from the previous season. He has a P3 (time trial bike), an R3 and a Soloist Carbon. Furthermore he also has a number of bikes used in the various races: Two Soloist Carbons, two R3s, two P3s for time trials and finally he also has two bikes built especially for Paris-Roubaix. On top of this list Cervelo has produced two other frames (the new S3 and P3) that meet the Olympic Committees demands regarding sponsorship. I make that 16 in total!
It made me think, if I could have sixteen bikes what would they be? I am going to come back to you on this as it may require a little bit of head scratching. Once I have got my list together I'll post it onto the site.
