The 2018 season saw each WorldTour team stick with the same bike brands they used in 2017. For 2019, nearly a quarter of the 18 teams have struck new bike sponsorship deals, with one Belgian manufacturer returning to the top tier of the sport for the first time since 2011.
The biggest bike brands have a merry-go-round of team sponsorships in the WorldTour every few years. BMC Racing have morphed into the CCC Team and switch from BMC bikes to Giant. Team Sunweb, in turn, move from Giant to Cervélo, leaving Dimension Data to sign with BMC to complete the triangle.
AG2R La Mondiale and Factor Bikes have come to the end of their two-year partnership and the French team have signed with Eddy Merckx Bikes. The Belgian brand have had a hiatus from the WorldTour for eight years after Specialized bought out their contract with Quick-Step Floors back in 2011.
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The newly announced partnerships will see four of the 18 WorldTour teams on new bikes next season, with groupsets, wheels and accessories yet to be fully announced.
New bikes, new components
The 2018 season will be remembered as the year of the aero bike after Specialized, Trek, Cannondale, BMC, Cervélo and Ridley all brought out new or updated aero models, with all bar the new Cervélo S5 being raced on.
This year also saw groupset innovation as Campagnolo dialled up the speed from 11- to 12-speed groupsets, but while the technology was released way back in April, the Italian brand's sponsored teams have yet to be seen racing on the new groupsets.
Who's on what
12 is the new 11
Aero is everything?
2019 Pro Bike galleries, spec lists and measurements
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/worldtour-team-bike-guide-2019
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