Will Jones

2 weeks ago | msn.com | Will Jones

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2 weeks ago | cyclingnews.com | Will Jones

This is my third Critérium du Dauphiné in a row now, in my capacity as sniffer-outer of new road tech. It's a wonderful race, starting in the very sleepiest bits of central France, but still amassing a real who's who of Tour de France GC contenders and stage hunters to keep the week of racing exciting from the gun.

2 weeks ago | cyclingnews.com | Will Jones

The dust had just settled after Stage 1 of the Criterium du Dauphiné, at least when I began putting these words on a page. The big race story of the day was that Tadej Pogačar had won the stage, though perhaps the actual story is that Jonas Vingegaard was second to him in a bunch sprint, and that both of them outsprinted an admittedly slightly injured Mathieu van der Poel. For me, though, the biggest story yesterday was the surprise entrance of a wild-looking new Factor prototype aero bike.

2 weeks ago | cyclingnews.com | Will Jones

The Criterium du Dauphiné has become the road race in recent years to spot the latest road tech before the inevitable maelstrom of Tour de France product launches. We have seen soft launches of the new Cervélo S5 under the riders of Visma-Lease A Bike, and a frankly bonkers prototype Factor at the Israel-Premier Tech bus, but while roaming the paddock before stage 1, I spotted not one, but two sets of new Roval wheels.

2 weeks ago | cyclingnews.com | Will Jones

The Critérium du Dauphiné has become the race in recent years to spot new bikes ahead of the Tour de France. Teams, on the whole, are unwilling to test brand-new equipment at the Tour itself, while sponsors want maximum exposure with launches at the biggest race of the year. As such, we get the annual festival of press officers being coy about what is clearly new equipment.