Race Tech

Cervélo unveil T5GB track bike to be ridden by Great Britain at Olympic Games

"The most aerodynamic model the Great Britain Cycling Team has ever ridden"

Cervélo have lifted the lid on the bike to be ridden by Team GB at this summer’s Olympic Games. The Cervélo T5GB has been designed in conjunction with the English Institute of Sport and is made in Great Britain.

As revealed by RoadCyclingUK last month, Cervélo have been working on a track bike specifically for Team GB to ride at Rio 2016 since entering a five year partnership with British Cycling in May 2015.

The T5GB is the result of that process and, according to Cervélo has been developed using expertise from Formula One, while also drawing on the experience of the English Institute of Sport’s Research and Innovation team, which helped designed the bikes ridden by Laura Trott, Jason Kenny and co at London 2012.

This is the Cervelo T5GB track bike which Great Britain hope to ride to gold at Rio 2016

And Cervélo believe the T5GB is the “most aerodynamic model the Great Britain Cycling Team has ever ridden.”

Cervélo engineering director Sean McDermott said: “The challenge of developing the T5GB was significant. British Cycling’s track team is at the top of its sport, and its innovative approach has certainly contributed to that success.”

Cervélo say the project begin by attempting to understand the needs and performance objectives of the British team before beginning development of the T5GB. Cervélo say the bike was developed over the course of hundreds of hours of wind-tunnel analysis, stress testing and computer simulation at sites in Oxford, Manchester,Leicestershire, Nottingham and California.

“The uniquely short time frame and ambitious targets made this a challenging project,” said McDermott, “but now that the new bike is ready, it’s clear that it was well worth it. We can’t wait to see the T5GB in action in Rio.”

Tony Purnell, British Cycling’s head of technical development, added: “The intelligence and expertise brought together by the partnership between British Cycling and Cervélo is unparalleled and, in record time, has delivered a bike which we are very excited about as we get closer to Rio.

“Over recent years, our programme has produced some of the very best track cyclists in the world, as is evidenced by their tremendous success in recent Olympic and Paralympic Games. It is our constant aim to ensure that the best athletes in the world are supported by the best equipment in the world. It’s about the detail – achieving the very best of everything.

“This means that, even after the fantastic success we enjoyed at London 2012, we have been determined to work alongside Cervélo to build and improve on the equipment that has served us so well in the recent past. Without question, this bike represents that quest for continuous improvement.”

The unveiling the of the T5GB follows the launch of Team USA’s Felt TA FRD – dubbed the ‘secret weapon’ to beat Great Britain in Rio, and with the drivetrain uniquely placed on left-hand side of the bike.

Track cycling at the Olympic Games will take place from August 11 to August 16.

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