The Custom Bikes of the Tour de France Femmes: Rainbows, Gold, Stars, and SpongeBob

Lausanne, Switzerland, is a fancy old place. Heck! all of Switzerland is; they like their bling, their nice cars, their flash houses, and of course swish Swiss watches. They’ve got it going on. But the peloton also like a bit of bling, and if you’re a national, world or euro champ in the women’s peloton, it would seem that your bike sponsor has been busy in the paintshop. There were some very fancy bikes on the start line here at the fifth edition of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.

Riders didn’t need to be national champs, though, to have custom bikes; it would seem that, for some, all you needed to be was a hardcore SpongeBob SquarePants fan.

Let’s start with that SpongeBob bike, or two bikes, as the case is. Factor sponsors two teams at this year’s race. Human Powered Health, which has been around in some form since 2013, and a new startup, Ma Petite Entreprise, which is in its first year and which secured a wildcard to the race. Each team had the new One, Factor’s aero race bike, decked out in what I’m guessing isn’t the lightest paint scheme, but definitely was the best paint on show, a SpongeBob or his mate Patrick Star painting scheme. Why, well, I’ll force you to watch the video to find out, as I managed to get some time with Factor’s CEO.

Next up, Olympic champ Kristen Faulkner. Her bike sponsor over at EF Education-Oatly, Cannondale, surprised her the day before the Grand Depart with a black-and-gold SystemSix Evo Lab 71, and boy, in the sunlight it glistens. Cannondale wasn’t the only one to offer up a lick of gold for the bike build; SRAM also had a full Red AXS groupset with gold accents and a gold chain.

The surprise winner of the road world championships in Rwanda last September was Magdeleine Vallieres, and again, Cannondale have gone to town on making sure the world notices she’s in the rainbow bands. Again, it’s a SystemSix Evo Lab71, but unlike her teammate Faulkner, SRAM hadn’t wrapped all the decals in rainbow bands, though if you look closely, that cassette certainly has a rainbow sheen to it.

If you’re not a world or Olympic champ, I suppose Euro champ isn’t a bad title to hold, and that’s exactly what Demi Vollering can claim to be. Her FDJ-Suez Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL9 carries the blue with gold stars. No major changes have been made to the build from what the rest of the team are using, and I have those bikes coming soon too, including a special lightweight version.

Now I could go on about many of the other bikes that are in the video, but I won’t; instead, I’ll encourage you to hit that play button as there are some absolute delights on show. French fancies with a Swiss twist at Cofidis, blue and red liveries over at Visma-Lease a Bike, we have it all. So go on, hit play.

Cheers,
Dave

Video Chapters

0:00 (Intro)
0:55 (Demi Vollering Euro Champ Specialized Tarmac)
2:23 (Lidl-Trek 50th Anniversary Madone)
4:02 (SpongeBob SquarePants Factor One)
8:36 (Kristen Faulkner Olympic Champ Gold Cannondale SuperSix Evo)
9:16 (Magdeleine Vallieres World Champ Cannondale SuperSix Evo)
10:02 (Amalie Dideriksen Danish Champ Look Blade 795 RS 3)
10:44 (Lieke Nooijen Dutch Champ Cervélo S5)