Despite a consistently flat 150 kilometres, today's stage was probably the toughest of this year's Tour de France so far. Cold, rain, wind and the cobblestones of northern France took their toll on many of the favourites, there were a number of crashes and last year's winner Chris Froome was even forced to abandon. Lars Boom was one of the toughest fighters and came out on top at the finish in front of the Arenberg forest.
On this special stage, most of the teams started with specially prepared bikes - Belkin with Lars Boom also used the long-distance model Infinito from Bianchi today, as it allows for wider tyres than the standard racer. On all other stages, the 2008 cross world champion uses the Oltre XR.2, the top model from the Italians. The drive, brakes and wheels come from Shimano, while the tyres are supplied by Italian manufacturer Vittoria. Of technical interest is the power meter from Pioneer, which the team already tested last year. It consists of two measuring units, each housed in the right crank spider and on the inside of the left crank; it is only compatible with aluminium cranks from Shimano. The associated computer has become significantly smaller than a year ago, and milled aluminium parts from the specialist K-Edge were produced as handlebar mounts.
A big topic during the Tour is camera footage from the peloton with small action cameras attached to the bikes. Belkin also has them in test mode, in this case a model from Shimano. Whether and how the spectacular images can be integrated into live broadcasts, however, has not yet been clarified. Technically, this would already be feasible, but there are legal pitfalls: many teams own the rights to the images of their riders, which means that the sequences cannot be broadcast without further ado. The UCI and the teams are currently negotiating this.
As always, further details on Lars Boom's racer can be found in our picture gallery and the equipment list:
Frame: Bianchi Oltre XR2
Wheels: Shimano Dura-Ace C50
Tyres: Vittoria Corsa SC 25 mm (tubular tyre)
Brakes: Shimano Dura-Ace 9000 with carbon pads from Shimano
Gear system: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 9070
Sprocket: Shimano Dura-Ace 9000
Chain: Shimano Dura-Ace
Bottom bracket: Shimano Dura-Ace 9000 with Pioneer Powermeter
Handlebars: FSA Omega (aluminium)
Stem: FSA OS99
Handlebar tape: FSA
Saddle: Selle San Marco Regal E
Seatpost: Bianchi Aero-Profile (carbon)
Bottle cage: Tacx
Computer: Pioneer with K-Edge holder
