Give him a bike and show him the way, Tadej Pogacar will take care of the rest himself. The world champion devoured the UAE Tour riding the new one Colnago Y1Rs, also using it to win your stages with the uphill finish at Jabel Jais and Jebel Hafeet. These are not double-digit climbs on which even 100 grams would make the difference (let alone the 600 grams that separate it from the V4Rs), but speaking of climbs on wide and generally fast roads, the use of the new aerodynamic bicycle has produced the desired results.
«It helped me a little time to adjust to the Y1Rs – explained Pogacar at the end of the race – and I have to say it's a fantastic bike. It looks great and is both fast and stiff.I can happily say that I've already used it to win my first race of the season and I think our fastest guys will use it to win some sprints."
The silver hubs
On Pogacar's Colnago they also made a good show of themselves the new wheels ENVE SES 6.7, with a different editing from those used by his teammates in the Emirati race. The difference is easily visible in the photo from the Jabel Jais stage, where Jay Vine also used the Y1Rs. The Australian's hubs were black, not silver like the captain's., who also used them for the front wheel in the time trial on the second day.
It remains to be seen whether these are new models or a custom configuration, as is also the case with cranksets and brakes. UAE Team Emirates has a contract with Shimano for this purpose, but it is no secret that in the past the team has also used Carbon-Ti components.
Heavy but faster
The bicycle currently in use by the team weighs around 7,4 kilos: 600 grams more than the minimum permitted, but the advantage in terms of aerodynamics would be such as to compensate for the value on the scale. Most of the improvements are on the front of the bike, while the modification of what we would once have called the steering column eliminates a series of turbulences.
The aerodynamic studies carried out by Colnago with the Khalifa University of Abu Dhabi and the Politecnico di Milano specifically on the front section of the new bike (there is talk of the use of 70 pressure sensors) they detected an aerodynamic saving of 19 percent. Which is to say that going 50 km/h on a V4Rs costs 415 watts compared to 395 on the Y1Rs. Given the athletic qualities of the men in question, using them on fast climbs is quite profitable.
The point of the “Longo”
The opposite is true for women, who on the same climbs as theirs UAE Tour used the lightest bike, as he confirmed to us Elisa Longo Borghini, winner of Jebel Afeet and the final classification.
«The new bike is definitely fast – he told us – and it is also very light, I'm not surprised the guys used it for the Jebel Hafeet stageTo be safe, I used the V4Rs because it's the bike I've used the most recently and the one I also used for the entire January climb on Teide. But I'm sure that With more practice I could have used the Y1Rs as wellIt's definitely a stiff bike, very fast, and yet lightweight. And if you get a good bike fit, it's also very maneuverable in corners and very responsive to the handlebars.
