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.
Frame | Van Rysel RCR |
Groupset | Dura Ace R9200 DI2 12S |
Wheelset | SwissSide Hadron |
Tyres | Continental… |
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