The Tour de France is cycling’s biggest shop window.

With the eyes of millions focused on cycling’s biggest race, it represents an opportunity for bicycle manufacturers to showcase their latest innovation, while also attempting to give their riders the technological upper hand in the peloton.

It’s for that reason that each year the build-up to the Tour de France is accompanied by a series of bike launches and this year we’ve seen new machines break cover from Trek, Canyon, Specialized, Merida, Pinarello, Fuji and Colnago in the weeks leading up to the race.

We spotted each being used by the riders of Trek Factory Racing, Katusha, Tinkoff-Saxo and Astana, Lampre-Merida, Team Sky, NetApp-Endura and Europcar over the course of the opening two stages of the race in Yorkshire.

Two trends have dominated frame design in recent years – weight and aerodynamics – and that’s particularly evident with the new machinery on show at the Tour. Let’s take a closer look at the latest bikes at the disposal of the world’s best cyclists – and coming to a shop near you soon. What’s more, stay tuned to RoadCyclingUK for a detailed look at each machine over the course of the 2014 Tour de France.