SRAM XPLR, DIY stem notes and electrical tape for the opening of the Classics | Omloop Tech Gallery

For many, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad acts as the traditional cycling season opener. It is a chance for riders to test their form, handling, and crucially for a camera-wielding tech hound, it is a chance to test out this season’s race bike.

XPLRing a Brave New World

On my stroll through what is a very dark hanger, I was able to lay my eyes on two of what I think are the most interesting pro bikes of the year. Both were sporting what seems to be the first tech trend of the year – an increased use of 1x SRAM groupsets.

Riders seemed very keen to fit Red XPLR rear derailleurs to their bikes, allowing them to run the brand’s aero 1x chainring and a wide range cassette at the rear. Whether this was the best choice for Omloop is unclear. It seemed as though some riders who chose 1x came a little unstuck on the hellishly steep Muur van Geraardsbergen.

That said, wet cobbles could have been the cause.

First up is the Rose Shave FFX of the Unibet Rose Rockets. I see a few similarities between this and the Specialized Venge and while it hasn’t got the most radical frame shapes, I’m a big fan of the design.

If you want to buy the bike you have a choice between this, the lightest and stiffest FFX, a slightly cheaper FX with a lower grade of carbon, or you can have a more relaxed fit from the standard Shave.

When I heard that UNO-X were set to move from Shimano to SRAM groupsets, I have to say I was rather happy. The team loves to be in breakaways and animate races, so I was expecting to see some aero-optimised 1x setups.

This bike really didn’t disappoint, with Markus Hoelgaard rocking a 56T chainring paired with a 10-46T cassette.

The setup requires the use of SRAM’s Red XPLR rear derailleur from the brand’s gravel offering, but otherwise, these are road components.

But before the anger of 2x purists boils over, not everyone was ditching a front ring. All Shimano riders stuck with 2x and some notable SRAM riders did too. Alison Jackson, Tom Pidcock and nearly every rider on the Visma women’s team opted for a double chainring setup.

Van der Poel, meanwhile, saw the ridiculously steep cobbled climbs ahead of him and fitted 55-40T chainrings.

The Peloton Settles on 30

Tyre choice has forever been crucial when it comes to racing on cobbles, but while recent years have brought a range of tyre sizes, 30mm seems to be the width de rigueur in 2026.

The only exception to the rule that I was able to spot was the Specialized-sponsored teams of Red Bull and Soudal Quick-Step. Both teams ran the still unrelased Specialized S-Works Turbo Cotton TLR in a 32mm.

But it is Soudal’s tyres that I want to focus on. This tyre’s sidewall has been coated in a fine substance that looked like a stained silicon.

While it may seem like the Aquasure that I used to cover my cyclocross tubulars in to protect them from the rain, this seems different. Whatever it is, the covering is starting to peel.

It’s Not All Top-End

Some of the most interesting bikes can be found when you look away from the men’s World Tour peloton. The Mayenne Monbana My Pie team use Winspace’s SLC5 framesets with a mixture of components, making theirs one of the more affordable bikes at Omloop.

While the crankset is Shimano’s top-end Dura-Ace, the team sensibly specs the second-tier Ultegra for the front and rear derailleurs. A nod also to the Garmin Rally pedals.

Mechanics also get creative when things need securing in place. Take this Y1RS of the UAE team. A bike worth well over £12,000 with a Carbon-Ti derailleur hanger, and yet electrical tape is still used to hold the Di2 wire a little more securely.

Then we come to race notes, which riders usually have printer, laminated, and placed on their stems. Imogen Wolff has two problems here, the first being that here Cervelo S5 doesn’t have a great spot to stick the notes, so she has hand written them.

The second issue is that if Wolff stuck the notes to her top tube, they’d cover her top tube sticker.

Van der Poel may be one of the best riders ever seen, but his bottles get marked up like anyone else’s. A little ’60’ is an easy code to understand in the heat of a race.

And The Rest

While the day began under dry skies for the men’s race, by the time the women rolled out of Ghent, light rain had started to fall and the temperatures had dropped. As a result, I saw a lot of riders grabbing their rain jackets before heading to the start. I like this branding from the St Michel team.

Schwalbe’s Clik Valve popped up on the Canyon SRAM bikes. That should save the mechanics a minute or two when doing pre-race pressure checks.

While we’re with Canyon, I was rather smitten with the paint on this Aeroad CFR.

These are what must surely be new Shimano wheels. The rims are unbranded and looked quite a bit wider than the existing C50 model.

They also get carbon spokes, which is a bit of a giveaway. But the only info I have on them is what’s printed on the rim sticker.

I also spotted the Velon transponders under the Visma bikes. They’re not the tidiest of designs.

But I will leave you with a custom door mat. Was I tempted to pinch it for my new house? Yes.