Why will Campagnolo be absent from WorldTour level in 2024? GCN Tech Show

In this week’s GCN Tech Show, regulars Ollie Bridgewood and Alex Paton return for their weekly deep-dive into the world of cycling tech, including the demise of Campagnolo at WorldTour level.

A brand steeped in history, Campagnolo claimed its first Tour de France title over 80 years ago and it has amassed more victories at the French Grand Tour than any other groupset brand. It topped the podium as recently as 2021 when Tadej Pogačar made it back-to-back titles, having also taken his first win with the help of a Campagnolo groupset the year before.

That illustrious history at cycling’s highest level will be disrupted in 2024 after Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale made the switch from Campagnolo to Shimano groupsets, meaning the Italian brand won’t be present at WorldTour level or the Tour de France for the first time since its inception.

• Read more: 2024 Men's WorldTour bikes: A guide to the bikes, groupsets, and tech of the top-tier teams

The warning signs have been there for a few seasons with the number of Campagnolo-sponsored teams slowly dwindling, but how has it reached extinction level?

It’s a complex subject to dissect but for Alex and Ollie, the answer can be traced to bike brands. Increasingly, a lot of brands don’t supply Campagnolo-equipped bikes, like Van Rysel who are bike sponsors for AG2R in 2024. The brands could create special Campagnolo-equipped models for the teams but it’s much easier all-round if they supply them with the groupsets that are already equipped, which is usually Shimano or SRAM.

Other teams don’t have groupset sponsors so they’ll usually just rely on the groupsets that come equipped on the bikes as standard, which again excludes Campagnolo for a lot of teams.

Regardless of the reasons, could the absence of Campagnolo and the loss of competition have a knock-on effect that hinders tech development? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Hot and spicy tech

It’s been another busy week in the world of tech with lots of new products hitting the market. Here’s a round-up of everything we’ve spotted.

As was reported on the GCN website, Red Bull’s partial takeover of Bora-Hansgrohe has been approved by the Australian Federal Competition Authority (FCA). Previously, team manager Ralph Denk owned the majority stake in the company.

There’s some good new for Campagnolo which has released the latest versions of its Bora Ultra WTO and Bora WTO wheelsets. Headline features include wider internal rim widths of 23mm, which optimises them for wider tyres, plus the shedding of 135 grams. Adding to the lighter weight, Campagnolo also says that they’re more aerodynamic too, which is partly achieved by a new design that leads to better integration between the rim and the tyre.

• Read more: Lighter, more aerodynamic and better performance: Campagnolo launches new Bora wheels

Colnago has launched its all-new Colnago C68 gravel bike! We won’t give away too many details as we have a full first-ride video - check that out below - but it’ll slot in the existing C series of bikes, which currently includes the C68 Road, C68, All-Road, the C68 Titanium and now a C68 Gravel.

• Watch: First Ride: Colnago C68 Gravel

Finally, Wahoo has released a new Kickr but it’s caught everyone by surprise. The Kickr range has previously been reserved for turbo trainers but now the American brand has added a treadmill to the line-up, name the Kickr Run. Learn more about the new Wahoo Kickr Run here.

Bike Vault

We received lots of submissions for Bike Vault this week, starting with this 2005 Lemond Chambery submitted by Mark which is propped up using an unusual bike stand…a block of snow. With a brilliant bike and an amazing backdrop to boot, a super-nice vote was never in doubt.

© GCN

This stunning photo was captured by Mark in Utah, USA

© GCN

Will's Giant Propel is stunning, although our presenters weren't impressed with the big chainring-big cassette combo

© GCN

This Puch Luzern was immaculately presented in the correct gears and with the valves aligned

© GCN

This bike, submitted by Thomas, is used for Cycling Polo

If you would like your bike to be featured in the bike vault make sure to submit your entries in to the GCN uploader.

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