Groupama-FDJ has officially unveiled the team's new race bike, the Wilier Filante SLR, for the 2024 season.

As reported in September, 2023 marked the end of the team's 22-year partnership with French brand Lapierre.

Groupama-FDJ will race Wilier Triestina bikes in 2024, and the team officially announced its new partnership with Wilier with the New Year on January 1. Along with the Filante SLR road bike, the team will use the Turbine SLR time trial bike, and Wilier will also continue to sponsor Astana Qazaqstan, which will also race the Filante SLR model.

The Groupama-FDJ bikes feature a unique paint scheme, which will be described in detail below, but otherwise are very similar to the Lapierre bikes they raced last year, with Shimano groupset and wheels, Continental tires, and Pro logo saddle. This means that team riders will have at least some familiarity with the new frame.

The Philante SLR is a lightweight-oriented top-end race bike, influenced by Williams aero, as is the current trend. All the usual suspects are present: dropped seatstays, Kamm tail (square) tube profile, wide fork legs, etc.

The paint scheme of the 2024 is white with red and blue hatching in places. Customers can purchase a frame in the same team color scheme for €800 more than the retail price of the frame.

"The color scheme is clearly a tribute to the team colors and to the French flag," says the designer. However, we wanted to add a fresh touch with a new decal type that incorporates a weathered look to the graphics, in keeping with fashion and clothing trends." The background color is white. We finally had the opportunity to dispel the false myth that bikes with white backgrounds are heavier than other bikes. The Philante SLR you see weighs in at 7.2Kg with pedals, bottle holder, 50mm profile wheels, cycle computer, and size M team configuration, not bad for an aero bike.

As noted above, the bike specs are very similar to last season's team setup. The groupset and wheel supplier continues to be Shimano, and the team is sticking with the Dura-Ace R9200 groupset and wheels from the same series.

Interestingly, in this press shot the team is using Continental Competition Pro Ltd tubular tires. The team mentions GP5000 TT tires in the press release, so perhaps next year's wheels and tires have not yet arrived.

In the off-season, riders have to set up and familiarize themselves with their new machines before racing in a rage, but David Gaudoux, Tour de France GC Hope, says it didn't take much time.

"It's always exciting when you discover a new bike," he said. This time we had ten days to ride the bike and get to know it." The first test was really decisive, I immediately felt better and quickly found my position.

Groupama-FDJ will again use the Wilier Turbine SLR time trial bike this year. For time trial specialists like Stéphane Kühn, it will be necessary to set up the new bike to reproduce a suitable time trial position.

The Turbine SLR in its current form was presented at the 2022 Giro. It is a bike that balances aerodynamics in the front with weight savings due to shallow tubing in the back. The previous turbine (without the suffix SLR) will also continue to be used for more out-and-out aero-romances, such as the Kühn.

Notably, from the first photo, it does not appear that the time trial bike will feature the white, blue, and red color scheme of the Philante.