Filippo Ganna Shines on New Scope Artech Tri‑Spoke at Tour Opener

Filippo Ganna rode the prototype Scope Artech Tri‑Spoke wheel in the opening team time trial of the 2026 Tour de France on 1 July, propelling INEOS Grenadiers to a second‑place finish and briefly placing him second overall behind Jonas Vingegaard.

The 19.6 km team time trial in Barcelona marked the first race‑day appearance of Scope’s Artech Tri‑Spoke, a wheel built in six months with direct input from INEOS Grenadiers riders and staff. Ganna, Tobias Foss, Michał Kwiatkowski and the rest of the squad rode the new set‑up, delivering a performance that left them eight seconds shy of Visma‑Lease a Bike, the stage winners.

Ganna’s reputation for turning any equipment into a speed machine is well known. In the national time‑trial championships earlier in 2026, he claimed the Italian title on the same wheel, proving the prototype could handle a solo effort at the highest level. The team‑time‑trial result reinforced that claim, showing the wheel’s aerodynamic gains translate into real‑world seconds when paired with Ganna’s power.

Scope says the wheel combines its Algorithm‑Enhanced Aerodynamics (AEA) with a patented Aeroscales surface texture, delivering the lowest drag recorded in their joint development program. While wind‑tunnel data remain private, the eight‑second gap to the winners suggests the wheel contributed to a strong, stable platform at 60 kph, especially on the rolling finish at Montjuïc.

Scope plans to move the Artech Tri‑Spoke out of prototype status later this year, with pre‑orders expected before the end of 2026. For Ganna, the wheel adds another tool for his time‑trial arsenal as he targets the individual stage on 12 July and the overall podium. The team also retains the lighter Artech 8T for hillier stages, giving Ganna a choice between pure aero and weight‑saving setups.

Finishing second in the opening TTT puts INEOS Grenadiers within striking distance of the yellow jersey early in the race. With Ganna now confirmed as a reliable time‑trial specialist on the new wheel, the squad can plan to exploit flat stages and individual time trials, while still relying on Vingegaard’s climbing strength for mountain stages.

**Key takeaway:** Ganna’s early‑season success on the Artech Tri‑Spoke demonstrates that cutting‑edge wheel technology can shave crucial seconds, and his performance keeps INEOS Grenadiers in the hunt for overall victory.