Up close with the new KTM Revelator Alto Team: B&B Hotels’ Tour de France bike

Racing their first Tour de France, the Breton B&B Hotels p/b KTM team have a new bike to exploit. It’s called the KTM Revelator Alto Team, and it hasn’t yet been launched by KTM, so little is known about it. Naturally, then, we borrowed one of the team’s bikes to get a closer look, and here we’ll talk about what we can glean from its appearance.

One of the bike’s most striking features is its paintwork, especially on the top tube, but more on that shortly. The rider of this particular example is Cyril Lemoine, who, at 39 is one of this Tour’s older competitors. Currently placed 123rd on GC, he may not be setting the results alight, but is having a much better Tour than in 2021, when that crash – caused by the Opi Omi sign – on the opening stage saw him forced to abandon with a collapsed lung and broken ribs. Now in his 17th professional season, 2022 could be his Tour swansong.

Right at the start of its career, the Revelator Alto Team seems to tick the boxes of modern racers looking for a highly competent all-around machine. Judging it by looks, as well as considering the expectations of a professional cycling team and recent market trends, it is likely to be torsionally stiff, with decent seated comfort, aerodynamic features, precise handling and low weight. Of course, only a future in-depth test will reveal its true character.

The KTM’s head tube is heavily buttressed, strengthening the junctions with the top and down tubes, but also creating more room for the bike’s internal cable routing to travel smoothly within it. The FSA ACR stem’s acronym stands for Aerodynamic Cable Routing, and it is designed for frames specifically designed with that in mind.

Although better known for motorcycles, KTM’s bicycle business dates back to 1964, as celebrated on the Revelator Alto Team’s head tube. In fact, despite still using the same logo, the motorcycle company has been a different company altogether since the four distinct parts of the business were sold in 1991. The KTM name comes from the names of its founding partners, Ernst Kronreif and Hans Trunkenpolz, plus the town where they began manufacturing bikes, Mattighofen in Austria.