Would France’s latest great cycling hope, Paul Seixas, be better off riding a Specialized, Cervélo, Colnago or Trek bike rather than his Van Rysel? This former pro cyclist thinks so and is happy to travel to Van Rysel HQ to put his outspoken social media ramblings to the test.
Following 19-year-old Seixas’s latest impressive performance against cycling’s elite, finishing on the podium behind Tadej Pogačar and Remco Evenepoel at Sunday’s European Championships road race, former pro cyclist Lilian Calmejane (a winner of a stage at the 2017 Tour de France) took to social media to air his “sceptical” attitude towards Van Rysel, the bike, equipment and clothing sponsor of Seixas’s Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale team.
Calmejane claimed Van Rysel is a “limiting factor” that could hold the 2006-born wonderkid back compared with if he was racing on bikes from Specialized, Cervélo, Colnago or Trek.
“We don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but hats off to Paul Seixas,
third place in such a tough and competitive European Championship — that’s huge at just 19 years old,” Calmejane wrote.
“I dare to believe he’s in a fairly good set-up [at Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale] to keep progressing, even if I remain sceptical about his equipment sponsor.”
As the replies rolled in from Van Rysel’s official Twitter account, Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale’s communications person, two of the team’s riders and many popcorn-grabbing onlookers, Calmejane expanded on his stance with a Formula 1 analogy.
“I think it’s a good bike, but it’s like putting Charles Leclerc in an Alpine,” he continued. “Of course, the quality of the squad is there, and even the equipment sponsor is pretty good. But I remain convinced that at the level Seixas is likely to reach, it will be a limiting factor to compete against guys riding Cervélo, Specialized, Colnago, or Trek.
“I’m not hyping anything at all — I’m just saying I’m sceptical that this equipment sponsor is among the best… and I still have my doubts.”
Speaking more generally about the bike industry, Calmejane then suggested “marketing has a big influence” and “wind tunnel tests don’t replicate reality 100 per cent”.
“In less than a decade you can’t catch up to competitors with 30 years of top-level experience like Cervélo or Specialized,” he concluded.
Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale communications lead Baptiste Ollier took issue with Calmejane’s claims and shared screenshots of the team’s impressive results, notably in time trials where the former pro had suggested Van Rysel may especially be lagging behind more established brands.
> Can the Van Rysel RCR Pro become one of the most successful bikes on cycling’s WorldTour?
However, Calmejane wasn’t convinced and the back and forth continued, the former pro walking away from social media with the final message: “I’m saying that Cervélo or Specialized, in this case, are faster! And when you have Seixas in your hands, you dream of seeing him compete on equal terms. Period.
“I have no certainties, just reservations and scepticism […] not worried at all, but if he could have the best bike on the market, it would be a huge advantage. You might as well stack all the odds in his favour with raw talent like his.”
Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale use Van Rysel’s RCR Pro and RCR-F aero model, the RCR-X available for time trials. The bike brand has enjoyed a meteoric rise to cycling’s top table over the past few years, making headlines and shaking up the market with eye-catching specs at very competitive prices.
Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale riders got involved too, Aurélien Paret-Peintre encouraging Van Rysel to send Calmejane a bike immediately, while Clément Berthet responded: “You really shouldn’t [be sceptical]. Based on all the tests we’ve done, I’d say we’ve got almost the best gear in the peloton — Van Rysel has done an incredible job.”
Replying to a follow-up question about the time trial bike, Berthet said: “I don’t know if it’s the best, but in any case, the TT bike is definitely up to standard as well.”
Calmejane admitted the riders’ defence of their equipment was “reassuring” but said he “wants to see it with my own eyes, especially compared to a [Cervélo] S5”.
Luckily for everyone, Van Rysel was on hand to immediately invite Calmejane to its HQ: “Ouch, tough blow for the equipment supplier. We’re delighted to invite you up North to see how our bikes are made and tested! We hope you’ll change your mind.”
“If the Van Rysel leaves me with a better impression and it’s proven to be better and faster than a Cervélo S5, believe me, I’ll be on my knees,” Calmejane replied. “Thanks for the invitation — I’d be happy to accept.”
It’s not the first time this sort of thing has happened, classics legend Tom Boonen apologising back in 2023 after claiming Tadej Pogačar is on a slower bike than rivals.
Like Van Rysel, the Italian bike brand immediately invited the sceptical former pro to its headquarters for a test ride, calling Boonen’s assessment “unsubstantiated” that Pogačar would be “another 2km/h faster” if he swapped to Cervélo, Pinarello or Specialized.
23 thoughts on ““Cervélo or Specialized are faster”: Former pro cyclist claims Van Rysel “limiting” French wonderkid Paul Seixas — bike brand responds”
Calmejane suggested
Calmejane suggested “marketing has a big influence”
Ooh, he’s almost there, wait for it, he’ll understand it in a little bit.
My personal view is that
My personal view is that Specialized and Shimano are the masters at unsubstantiated marketing BS, and yet Calmejane and Boonen cite them as the best. Give me a Colnago with Campagnolo any day of the week.
Specialized yes, but don’t
Specialized yes, but don’t often hear Shimano dishing out “unsubstantiated marketing BS” in the same way. They clearly have a huge marketing budget, but as far as I can tell they mostly spend that getting their name everywhere (sponsoring over half the World Tour teams, plus Neutral Service).
Quote:
I think Van Rysel are shite too, who at the company should I contact for delivery of my new free bike? This is how it works, right?
No delivery – you have to go
No delivery – you have to go to their HQ to collect in person. Like any of these ‘satisfaction guaranteed or your money back’ offers, they make it as awkward as possible in the hopes of putting people off claiming.
mdavidford wrote:
Telling me I would have to nip over to Lille for the weekend on the Eurostar to get a free bike is not quite as offputting as you might think…
Well, thé price and thé fact
Well, thé price and thé fact of seeing them on TV in races certainly seems to bé working for Decathlon. I’ve seen quite a few Van Rysels in various cyclo-sportives I’ve done this year in Occitanie
The cynic in me detects a bit
The cynic in me detects a bit of cloak and dagger marketing fron Decathlon here, I look forward to the next headline in the saga
Riders generally don’t know
Riders generally don’t know what they’re talking about when it comes to what equipment wins races. A lot of them are still stuck on that 2010’s mentality that weight is everything and any bike a gram above the uci weight limit is unacceptable when the actual engineers behind the teams focus on aero.
thrawed wrote:
That’s clearly patronising nonsense. Top riders will spend hundreds of hours every year working with their engineers/designers/mechanics to optimise their bikes to make them as fast and efficient as possible, claiming that they don’t know what they’re talking about is like saying Lewis Hamilton doesn’t know what he’s talking about when it comes to making a car a winner or that Usain Bolt didn’t have a clue about what running shoes were best for him.
I think you would be
I think you would be surprised is all I will say. The younger riders are definitely more focused on this but there is still a fair few riders of the previous generation that define most factors on “feel” (read that as higher tyre pressures, weight and looks).
As the data gets better a lot of these people are starting to see more clearly but a lot of riders just don’t like the change that a lot of the new geometery and fits require
Having working in the
Having working in the industry and with a lot of top riders across multiple disciplines, there is a fairly even split between those who care a great deal about their equipment and set up and those that don’t at all.
Have you seen the way
Have you seen the way Hamilton bitches about his cars, when younger, less experienced drivers on the same team are going faster than him?
Hamilton has rarely bitched
Hamilton has rarely bitched about his car unless it was warranted. He’s certainly been open that in his Ferrari phase he needs to up his game.
So apart from revealing your particular motorsport prejudices what was the point of this post?
What is thé point of a lot of
What is thé point of a lot of posts on this topic?
Well most of them are at
Well most of them are at least semi- relevant. Comparing some French mid tier cyclist to a sucessful motor racing driver seems utterly irrelevant.
I’ve watched Lilian over thé
I’ve watched Lilian over thé years and hé was certainly better than mid-tier. How much better another matter bien sûr
Well he spent half his
Well he spent half his professional career on World Tour teams, which is, er, the top tier, so…
Yes, but …
Yes, but …
It’s all click bait marketing
It’s all just click bait marketing. …who knows, maybe the bike brands ask people to make negative comments, in order to prove them wrong? …It’s interesting that there’s a recent precedent. Whatever came of that?
In this case it seems there is no actual reason given as to why one bike is better than another, it’s just provocative heresay.
The most interesting thing about it is how many people are sucked in by it.
It’s all click bait marketing
Deleted another duplicate! Whats going on RCC?
Clickbait from a wannabe.
Clickbait from a wannabe. Nothing to see here and stop wasting column inches on it.
I almost wonder whether
I almost wonder whether Calmejane has been hired by Van Rysel to badmouth their bikes, only to later experience a complete “epiphany” once he’s been to the factory, spoken to their engineers and seen the wind tunnel data?
Has he even ridden the bike? I can’t remember what team he was on, but has he also ridden a Specialized or Trek or Colnago to be able to compare?