The replica edition of the Van Rysel RCR Pro, as used by men’s WorldTour team Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, is available for purchase again after it previously sold out within minutes of being put up for preorder in April.
Retailing at £9,000 at Decathlon, the bike is clearly still very expensive. However, it undercuts the competition by thousands of pounds, with similarly specced bikes elsewhere coming in at over £12,000.
The RCR Pro has already tasted victory on 23 occasions in the 2024 season. Its most recent wins came via Valentin Paret-Peintre and Andrea Vendrame at the Giro d’Italia.
At the start of the current season, AG2R rider Oliver Naesen was so impressed with the new machine that he said it would “turn the market upside-down” in the coming months.
The bike was officially unveiled last November at the time that Decathlon became headline sponsors for the AG2R team. Van Rysel is Decathlon’s in-house bike brand, and you can purchase Van Rysel bikes from Decathlon websites.
The French brand also recently opened its first-ever shop, which is situated inside the Decathlon store in Surrey Quays, London.
The Van Rysel is equipped with top of the range gear including Shimano Dura-Ace Di2, a power metre, and Swiss Side Hadron 500 Ultimate wheels, making it comparable to the rek Madone SLR 9 (£14,500 with SRAM Red), or the Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL8 (£12,000 with Dura Ace or SRAM Red).
“It is the right price for this bike,” Yann Le Fraillec, Van Rysel’s chief product officer, recently told Cycling Weekly when questioned regarding the bikes affordability. “I can’t say anything else, this is the right price.”
“We are not cheating the customer,” he added. “They are riding the same bike as the pros, there are no different features. You can buy it, the same frame, the same components, the same wheels. This is what we consider a fair price for people to enjoy the thrill of speed.”
Back in April when it was made available for preorder, the bike sold out completely in just two hours in the UK. According to Decathlon’s website, one size has already sold out yet again so another rapid sellout could well materialise.
Lower-spec RCR Pro’s are also available, but these do not come with the same groupset or feature the colourway used by the likes of former Giro d’Italia and Tour de France stage winner Ben O’Connor.
