As Tadej Pogačar stormed to victory at the 20th edition of the men’s Strade Bianche, the tech-centred attention was shared equally by his paint-stripped black Colnago Y1Rs and the strange sensor positioned on the underside of his upper arm, but it turns out the Slovenian had one more trick up his sleeve: Secret wheels.
The eagle-eyed Cyclingnews tech team spotted that the World Champion was riding what looked to be his sponsor Enve’s SES 6.7 wheels. According to Enve, these comprise a 60mm front rim and 67mm rear, complete with a 23mm internal rim width and a hookless bead.
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So did Pogačar use an illegal wheel for his Strade Bianche victory? Fortunately for him, the answer to that question, according to our sources, is no. So what’s really going on?
Evidently not, because soon after, Enve’s VP of Marketing, Neil Shirley, offered a similar explanation, but with some more clarity, and it turns out Pogačar was given a prototype wheelset to use for the race.
And it’s not just Pogačar who’s been using them. Images from Paris-Nice show Brandon McNulty also using the should-be-banned Enve SES 6.7s.
Printed logos
Helpfully, the logos on Enve’s rims are printed with the depth written in plain black and white, but frustratingly for us, the writing is small enough that even the best photos from the various professional photographers on the ground at the race were unable to capture it clearly enough to see in retrospect.
And we’ve not yet gotten…
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