Bikes of the UCI WorldTour 2012: Bianchi Oltre of Vacansoleil-DCM

The UCI WorldTour starts in Australia on January 18th with the Tour Down Under. The newswires meanwhile are buzzing with team presentations and intrigue over team kit all of which you'll see covered in our news stories like these today on RadioShack Nissan and GreenEdge. What we won't be forgetting though is the bikes and starting today is our own presentation of the 2012 bikes ridden by all the 18 top professional teams or ProTeams as the Union Cyclisme International calls them. Today, we're kicking off with:

Bianchi Oltre of Vacansoleil-DCM

We're starting with this one because it's arguably the bike we're most pleased to see, the classic Bianchi 'Celeste' colour having been out of the top-flight WorldTour for a year or two while they sponsored the Androni Giocattoli - CIPI team at the second-tier Professional Continental level. The slippery looking 950 gram aero Oltre frame is unchanged from when we rode it at the launch in Italy last June where Mat Brett said "this Bianchi loves to climb." Here's the spec list:

Frame: Bianchi Oltre HoC Carbon monocoque 1½ - 1⅛" headset, BB30, X-Tex technology, Ultra Thin Seat Stay, internal cable routing.
Fork: Bianchi Oltre HoC full carbon 1½ - 1⅛" steerer
Seatpost: Bianchi Oltre full carbon aero
Crankset: FSA K-Force Light BB30 Carbon 53/39
BB: FSA BB30
Gears: Shimano Dura-Ace
Cassette: Shimano Dura-Ace
Chain: KMC L Gold
Brakes: FSA K-Force
Headset: FSA Orbit 1½ - 1⅛"
Stem: FSA OS-99 CSI alu/carbon
Handlebar: FSA K-Force carbon
Bar Tape: Lizard skins
Saddle: Selle San Marco Concor
Wheels: Fast Forward
Tyres: Vredestein Fortezza Pro Tricomp
Bottle: Elite Corsa Team
Bottlecage: Elite Custom
Power Meter: Cycleops Power Tap