2018 World Tour Bikes Ranked

As the 2018 World Tour gets ready to roll, the 18 teams that make up its peloton are in Australia for the Santos Tour Down Under. That means we get our first look at the new 2018 World Tour bikes under one roof at the TdU service course in Adelaide, South Australia. Photographer Yuzuru Sunada shot every one of the new bikes and we’ve ranked them all. How you ask? Weight? Stiffness? Sexy paint scheme? Nope, we’ll ranked them based on where their teams finished in the World Tour rankings last season.

PELOTON / Images: Yuzuru Sunada

18: Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka / Cervelo – 2575pts

With Cavendish crashing out of the TdF so spectacularly and controversially he left a lot of points on the table, it’s no surprise Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka ended up last in the rankings. Of course, they were last in 2016 too, so maybe it didn’t matter. This is Lachlan Morton’s R5 with Dura-Ace Di2, ENVE wheels and cockpit and Rotor power meter with carbon Rotor chain rings.

17: Groupama-FDJ / Lapierre – 3616pts

This year FDJ has become Groupama-FDJ and hopes to improve on last year’s 17th finish in the World Tour rankings. On this most French of teams, this is Davide Cimolai of Italy’s Lapierre Aircode. They are a fully Shimano supported team with Dura-Ace Di2, Dura-Ace wheels and PRO components. Thibaut Pinot and Arnaud Démare each scored more than 1000 points for the squad in 2017, more than a third of the team’s total.

16: Team Lotto NL Jumbo / Binachi – 4846pts

Bianchi is back with Team Lotto NL Jumbo Cycling in 2018 after a 16th place finish in the World Tour rankings in 2017. This is Robert Gesink’s Oltre Xr4. Last season he was a bit overshadowed by George Bennett who had a break through World Tour overall win at the Tour of California. They run Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 and Dura-Ace wheels, the overwhelming winner in the component spec wars, but opt for the Pioneer power meter and Vision integrated bar/stem.

RELATED: Go behind the scenes for George Bennett’s Tour of California win on the Oltre Xr4.

15: Astana / Argon 18 – 5018pts

Argon was new with Astana in 2017 and likely expected more than a 15th place finish in the overall World Tour rankings. Undoubtedly the loss of Michele Scarponi was devastating to the squad and the talent they put on the road in 2018 should vault them into the top ten. This is the Nitrogen Pro of Riccardo Minali, it’s quite a mix of components. Vision integrated bar and stem, Dura-Ace Di2 levers and shifters, TRP integrated brakes, Corima wheels and FSA K-Force cranks. Any chance we see these guys on FSA’s electronic vapor-ware ‘We’ group this year?

14: Team Bahrain Merida / Merida – 5277pts

Team Bahrain Merida finished the year in 14th thanks to Vincenzo Nibali’s 2,196 points. This is the Merida Reacto of Yukiya Arashiro. We’re very unlikely to see Merida in the US since the brand owns almost half of Specialized Bicycles and manufacturers its bikes, and many other brands, in its factories. Arashiro’s aero Reacto is built with Dura-Ace Di2 with SRM Power, a Vision integrated bar and stem, Fulcrum Speed Wheels. Fulcrum is made by Campagnolo and the brand Campy intends to be spec’d with any Shimano builds.

13: Lotto-Soudal / Ridley – 5466pts

World Tour stalwarts, Lotto-Soudal, have a distinctly Belgian flavor, so they ride Belgian bikes by Ridley Bikes. They finished the World Tour rankings in 13th place last season. With a lot of success last season – including multiple grand tour stage wins – it’s a bit surprising to see the team this far down the rankings. This is the Ridley Helium of Belgian Thomas DeGendt who won stage 19 of the Vuelta last season. Lotto-Soudal has been on Campagnolo Srl for many seasons now and continues to run Super Record 11 Eps with SRM Power and a Selle Italia saddle. Deda Elementi handles the bars, stem and seat post with Campy’s gorgeous Bora Ultra 50’s on DeGendt’s bike

12: UAE Team Emirates / Colnago – 5494pts

Unlike last season when UAE Team Emirates rolled up on Italian made Colnago C60’s, this year they are on the Asian made V2-r monococque frames for the TdU. Last season they finished the World Tour ranked 12th thanks in large part to the rider of this bike, Diego Ulissi. He won the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal and was the team’s highest scoring rider. They are another team fighting Shimano hegemony in the World Tour riding an almost identical set up to Lotto-Soudal – Campy and Deda – with a few tweaks, Pro-Logo handles the saddle and Power-2-Max delivers power.

11: Team KATUSHA ALPECIN / Canyon – 5619pts

Team KATUSHA ALPECIN is the second World Tour squad to ride Canyon bikes. They finished 11th overall on the World Tour thanks to the big Norwegian one day specialist Alexander Kristoff and the Russian stage hunter Ilnur Zakarin. This is the Canyon Aeroad of new Portuguese rider José Isidro Gonçalves. Katusha has partnered with SRAM again this year and as such is the only World Tour team to ride SRAM Red eTap and its wheel and power brands, Zipp and Quarq. Zipp’s undulating 454 NSW tubulars are on Gonçalves’ bike. No cockpit sponsor necessary thanks to Canyon’s own kit.

RELATED: Zipp debuts new wheels with Katusha at the Tour of California.

10: EF Education First–Drapac p/b Cannondale / Cannondale – 5748pts

Chronic under performers, as Cannondale-Drapac last season, the team rode Rigoberto Uran’s coattails to a tenth place finish thanks to his second place at the Tour. The squad broke through with its first World Tour win in two years at the Tour of California with Andrew Talansky, who has traded the peloton for the triathlon world. Combined with Rolland’s stage win at the Giro and solid performances by Sep Vanmarcke and Tom-Jelte Slagter the team had its best season in years. This is the Cannondale SuperSix EVO Hi-Mod of Mitchell Docker, racing at home in Australia. The squad uses Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 with Cannondale’s own Hollowgram SISL2 cranks with SRM Power Meter. FSA handles the cockpit as its Vision brand supplies wheels and Prologo provides saddles.

9: Ag2r-La Mondiale / Factor – 6316pts

With a relatively small budget, Ag2R – La Mondiale out performed teams with more resources all season. Led by Romaine Bardet and his Tour stage win and third place overall. With a strong Spring Classics campaign Oliver Naesen was a big part of the team’s top ten performance. Factor was new to the team last year and new to the World Tour as well. This is the Factor O2 of Matteo Montaguti. AG2R uses Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 with SRM power and Mavic wheels. Black Inc handles the cockpit, topped off with FIZIK saddles. Montaguti uses an oversized Ceramic Speed jockey wheel.

RELATED: We test the new Factor O2.

8: Bora-Hansgrohe / Specialized – 6516pts

Bora-Hansgrohe was supposed to be a one man team. While Peter Sagan was the team’s top scorer, Rafal Majka and Sam Bennett scored plenty of points as well, proving they had plenty of depth on the way to an 8th place finish. The World Champion’s team is also one of two supported by Specialized. This is the new Tarmac of Rudiger Selig, and while the Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 looks like the usual kit, check out the Specialized power meter. They use Specialized saddles and Roval wheels, while some of the riders opt for a PRO stem.

RELATED: We joined Peter Sagan at the Tour of California.

7: Mitchelton-Scott / Scott – 7190pts

A new name for the Australian squad – but not too much else changed. While they lacked a single dominant rider last year, the team’s talent pool ran deep and they placed seventh overall. This year they will have to do with out Simon Gerrans who moved to BMC. This is the Scott Foil of Damien Howson, another rider racing on home turf this week at the TdU. Mitchelton-Scott is also another team running a full Shimano build with Dura-Ace Di2 and Dura-Ace wheels. Scott’s own brand Syncros delivers the integrated bar and stem, and saddle and seat post.

6: Movistar / Canyon – 7399pts

Nairo who? It was the ageless Alejandro Valverde who scored the lion’s share of points for Movistar in 2017. For 2018 the team has undergone two big changes, Mikel Landa has joined from Team Sky, and they put a new paint scheme on their Canyon bikes. This is the Canyon Aeroad of Nelson Oliveira of Portugal. With a full compliment of Campagnolo – Super Record 11 EPS and Campagnolo Bora Ultra wheels – the team continues its long relationship with the Italian component brand. Power 2 Max is back to measure the squad’s watts, while FIZIK provides saddles. Canyon’s own components take care of handle bars, stem and seat post.

5: Trek-Segafredo / Trek – 7934pts

In 2017 it was Alberto Contador that vaulted the team into the top five, but with his retirement riders like Bauke Mollema and Jasper Stuyven will need to step up in 2018. The team made news last week when Trek announced they would ride disc brakes on both the Domane and Emonda frames, but this frame, belonging to Alex Frame, is a Madone and along with the Speed Concept the only rim brake bike in the arsenal. It’s another Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 build, but Trek’s own Bontrager handles brakes, cockpit, saddle and wheels. We expect to see a disc brake Madone sometime this year.

RELATED: We ride the new Domane SLR RSL Disc.

4: Sunweb / Giant – 8033pts

When does fourth place in the team rankings seem too low? When your riders win multiple stages and jerseys at the Tour as well as the Giro d’Italia. This is the German Phil Bauhaus’s TCR Advanced Pro. It has Shimano Dura-Ace Di2, but that’s about it for other brands. This year Giant is putting its own wheels on the bikes in addition to its bars, stem and saddle. No seat post necessary, since Giant is the only brand still hanging onto the integrated seat post on the World Tour.

3: BMC Racing / BMC – 10961pts

BMC is the last bike brand to be taking on solo title sponsorship on the World Tour. With two heavy hitters, Richie Porte and the number one rider on the World Tour – Greg van Avermaet – they had a huge season, despite Porte’s early abandonment at the Tour due to his huge accident. Expect the team to grab an early lead in the 2018 rankings after a the Tour Down Under as well. This is Miles Scotson’s, the up and coming young Australian, BMC SLR01. The SLR01 has been on the World Tour for quite a while and has seen huge success. BMC is yet another team running a full Shimano kit, from Dura-Ace Di2 to Dura-Ace wheels. They also use the Shimano power meter and Fizik saddles. Scotson’s BMC SLR01 has the BMC integrated cockpit, which is usually seen only on the disc brake SLR01.

2: Quick-Step Floor / Specialized – 12652pts

The Belgian juggernaut was once again at the front all season long from Phiippe Gilbert’s Flanders victory to Dan Martin’s strong Ardennes campaign and Tour result, Bob Jungles Giro stage win, Kittel’s Tour stage wins and Trentin and Lampaert’s successful Vuelta. Once again the team looks to Specialized to deliver equipment. This is new signing Elia Viviani’s Tarmac. After he did not fit in Team SKY’s plans for the 2017 Giro, it was clear the Olympic Omnium Champ’s time with the British squad was coming to an end. He’ll hope to add to his single Giro stage win onboard the – wait for it – Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 equipped Tarmac. Like Bora, Quick-Step Floor is also running Specialized’s Roval wheels and the new Specialized power meter. Viviani uses a PRO Stem with his Specialized bars, Specialized seat post and Specialized saddle.

RELATED: The all-new 2018 Specialized Tarmac.

1: Team SKY / Pinarello – 12806pts

Say what you like about Team SKY, they just win and they do it all year long. They are no one trick pony and 2017 saw them top the team rankings for the first time since 2012. Froome’s point tally was massive (assuming he keeps those points after the Vuelta decision) as was Michal Kwiatkowski’s, scoring second and sixth respectively individually in the World Tour rankings. Toss in big points from Sergio Henao and Mikel Landa as well as a point or two from every single member of the team and it was enough to beat out Quick-Step Floor by 154 points. The team is once again with Pinarello, the only bicycle they have ever ridden. This is the Dogma F10 of Christopher Lawless, and unlike the F10 Froome rode at the Tour last season, not an X-Light. When you stack the deck in your favor as Shimano has, it’s no surprise a Shimano supported team has topped the standings. Team SKY is on Dura-Ace Di2 and Dura-Ace wheels. MOST, Pinarello’s in house component brand, handles bar and stem, while FIZIK does saddles.

RELATED: Pinarello launches the new Dogma F10.

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