It was in September 2023 when we found out that AG2R would be riding Van Rysel bikes in 2024, and a little later the news was officially confirmed as Van Rysel was announced as the team’s title sponsor. It was also revealed that team bikes and kit would be made available to buy on the Decathlon website, which we reported in the first publishing of this article… and it appears numerous cyclists with £9,000 to spare were very, very tempted, because the team edition replica of Van Rysel’s RCR Pro has reportedly sold out within minutes of being made available to pre-order on the French sporting retail giant’s website.

Going up for pre-order earlier today at 10am BST, the RCR Pro is the flagship aero road bike from the range that Van Rysel announced a year ago. 

Van Rysel RCR PRO team bike replica 4
Van Rysel RCR PRO team bike replica 4 (Image Credit: Farrelly Atkinson)

Van Rysel replicated the pro team version of The RCR Pro for Sunday club riders like you and me, if you had the funds to invest (we say ‘had’, because they’re all gone at the time of writing). 

The bike, which we’re told is the pinnacle of the brand’s aerodynamic engineering with especially lightweight construction, has been developed in collaboration with ONERA, the esteemed French aerospace laboratory, and constructed with ‘Super High Mod Carbon’. It boasts head tube stiffness that surpasses its predecessor, and supposedly, it is very aero outside the wind tunnels too, as Benoît Cosnefroy from Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale says:

“It’s very aerodynamic. It sends speed straight back without needing too much effort. The bike remains the centrepiece of our equipment, and in today’s cycling landscape where average speeds often exceed 50 km/h, aerodynamics are paramount.”

Van Rysel RCR PRO team bike replica 5
Van Rysel RCR PRO team bike replica 5 (Image Credit: Farrelly Atkinson)

As a testament to its speed, Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale now boasts sixteen victories at the top-level races. With that, Van Rysel has quite effectively eradicated the doubts some might have had about its entry back into the professional peloton – the last time Decathlon sponsored a pro team was in the mid-2000s. 

> Check out AG2R’s 2001 Decathlon Penta Pro

“This bike has already proven its mettle with the riders of the Decathlon – AG2R La Mondiale team, garnering excellent feedback. We are confident that this machine is poised to dominate the victory podium,” Jérémie Debeuf, product manager at Van Rysel, said. 

Van Rysel RCR PRO team bike replica 2
Van Rysel RCR PRO team bike replica 2 (Image Credit: Farrelly Atkinson)

In terms of the spec, the replica comes equipped Shimano Dura-Ace R9270 electronic groupset, paired with a power meter. The integrated cockpit and seatpost are both carbon, and the saddle is the Fizik Vento Argo 00. 

The wheels are Swiss Side Hadron Ultimate 500s wrapped in Continental GP5000 tyres. There are four frame sizes to choose from: XS, S, M and L. Each one of those comes with a size-specific stem and crank length.

The bike was available for pre-order starting today, Tuesday 16 April, and as we’ve mentioned it sold out within minutes of being put up on the Decathlon website. Priced at £9,000, it’s certainly not cheap, but it’s nowhere near making its way onto our recently refreshed list of the most expensive road bikes… what a bargain for those lucky few who managed to nab one, then!

If you missed out, the RCR Pro is available in two standard colourways: black or mahogany brown, priced at £5,500 with Shimano Ultegra Di2 or SRAM Force AXS groupsets.