The Criterium du Dauphiné is always a performance indicator for teams and riders with the Tour de France just a few weeks away. The same is true for Team AG2R Citroen, whose new BMC race bike was spotted at the start of the Dauphiné. After covering the prototype of BMC's time trial bike at the Tour de Romandie

, BMC has been busy. Cycling News spotted the new prototype bike mounted on the roof rack of the team's car before the opening stage of the race. Other than the large "create speed" logo on the downtube and the small RedBull advanced technologies logo on the fork (more on that later), the bike is painted all black.

The first question that must be answered: the AG2R will be raced using the BMC Team Machine SLR01 and the more aero BMC Time Machine Road 01. While the Time Machine is more aero and speed oriented, this new black bike has aerodynamic features, especially the chunky aero head tube and seat stay junction, as well as general aero profile tubing, bottle cages and their lower mounting points. The "create speed" logo also indicates an aero-focused race machine. This could be a new time machine or a completely new aero model.

The head tube of the new bike is much deeper, and the fork legs appear to be wider than normal. The photo above compares the new frame to the existing TeamMachine bike, and the differences are obvious.

There are also rumors that AG2R will switch to Van Reisel bikes and equipment for the 2024 season. Will AG2R race this new bike next season?

This is not the first time BMC has collaborated with Red Bull's advanced technology; the two companies also partnered last year when they developed a time trial bike that has been called "the world's first Formula 1 bike."

The Red Bull logo on the fork legs indicates that there is some collaboration between the brands on this new bike, perhaps in the aerodynamics department.

The bike currently appears to be reserved exclusively for Greg Van Avermaert and Ben O'Connor, with O'Connor's number 2 spare bike on the roof rack of the team car.

The frame has a UCI prototype sticker on the seat tube, and a UCI prototype application form must be submitted to the UCI if the new frame is to be brought to market and used for racing.

AG2R is the only team to use Campagnolo wheels and group sets in the 2023 World Tour. Campagnolo recently introduced its new Super Record wireless groupset, which omits the wireless derailleur and the famous Campagnolo thumb-operated shifter button.

Teams are using a mix of the old wired Super Record EPS and the new groupset, but expect to see them on more bikes later in the season and at the Tour de France.

The above bikes were also fitted with the new Campagnolo Hyperon Ultra wheelset, which Campagnolo recently launched and re-launched with the Hyperon name. The Hyperon is a more mid-depth wheel and may be an option for riders who don't want the depth of the Bora model or for more climbing-focused stages.

The new Campagnolo Super Record chainset does not currently have a power meter, but we expect this to change. The bike is equipped with the older Power 2 Max power meter chainset, which allows riders to check their power output. In today's world tour, this is almost an important piece of equipment.

We have not received any official information from the AG2R team staff regarding the new bikes, but will update this article as soon as we receive it.

The photo above shows the junction of the massive bottom bracket shell with the seat tube and down tube. Most of Campagnolo's wheels now appear to be tubular, indicating that tubulars are not yet ready to bid farewell to the World Tour. The combination of cutting-edge Campagnolo wireless technology and decades-old tubular technology is an interesting one.