Professional Bike Examine: Decathlon x Van Rysel RCX Professional Helps French Group Land Rainbow Jerseys

The 2024 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships have kicked off in Tábor, Czechia and we have already got a World Champ Professional Bike Examine with U19 European Champion Aubin Sparfel profitable the dash for Combined Group Relay gold on his custom-painted Decathlon x Van Rysel RCX Professional cross bike. With a younger mixture of riders the French crew edged out Nice Britain to take the primary World Championship race win as Junior racer Sparfel outsprinted Elite racer Cameron Mason on the quick paved ending straight.

An thrilling finish to the primary race for rainbow stripes of the weekend!

Van Rysel RCX Professional carbon cyclocross bike by Decathlon

Aubin Sparfel is racing on the second era Van Rysel RCX Professional carbon cyclocross bike, launched by out of doors items superstore Decathlon late final 12 months. And you should purchase it instantly out of your native massive field retailer with reasonably priced Apex AXS or Pressure AXS builds.

He took the European U19 (Junior) win again in November, so there was loads of time to get him a {custom} EU Champ paint job earlier than representing his nation on the World Championships. It’s a refined replace to the usual black team-edition bike, however actually makes it stand out.

Whereas we like to drool over premium superbikes at professional races, it’s refreshing to see one thing a bit extra reasonably priced on the highest step of the rostrum. Full builds of this bike are offered from simply 2500€ full with a wi-fi groupset. Wow!

Because the Combined Group Relay is made up of a mixture of males & girls from a number of groups and a number of age classes, not all the French racers had been on the identical bike as Sparfel. However a couple of of his fellow AG2R Decathlon teammates additionally race on the Van Rysel RCX Professional cross bike.

As if the white, and blue & stars don’t give it away, Sparfel’s RCX Professional will get his identify on the highest tube to maintain it straight. We solely noticed one with the EU Champ paint scheme, and that is bike #1.

Junior Professional bike construct

His bike is constructed up with a well-worn Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupset, and XTR pedals.

Tires are the long-proven 33mm Dugast Rhino tubulars that you simply’ll see on many bikes for this slippery muddy course, glued as much as some mid-depth aero Swiss Facet carbon wheels. The cockpit comes straight from the highway with a Deda Elementi Superzero RS carbon bar & stem.

A better have a look at the headtube of the RCX Professional reveals a little bit of sparkle within the {custom} EU champ paint. Not a lot solar is forecasted for the weekend of racing, so it’s not prone to shine way more than this.

Junior racers won’t at all times get the latest package, however Sparfel’s Di2 levers appear to work nicely, with some battle scars.

Clear, prepared & ready for one lap of the Combined Group Relay on Friday afternoon.

Getting the Van Rysel RCX Professional muddy

Within the relay format, Aubin Sparfel was the final of his nationwide crew to race. And he had only one lap to get his Van Rysel RCX Professional cyclocross bike muddy. However the bike has loads of mud clearance – formally 10mm of clearance round a 33mm cross tire. Van Rysel calls it “Mud Proof Licensed”.

The hi-mod carbon body from Decathlon served Sparfel nicely for his one lap. And it delivered on its stiffness promise because the 17-year-old outsprinted the UK’s Elite Males’s racer down the lengthy asphalt ending straight on the Tábor monitor.

UCI CX Relay Rainbows for the French Federation

In order that’s it. The 2024 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships is underway, and the French have claimed the primary set of rainbow jerseys. We’ll be right here all weekend, scoping out cool {custom} bikes, and perhaps a couple of prototypes!