If the Roubaix’ cobblestones are poised to represent a key turning point in the story of the 105th Tour de France, Chris Froome’s Team Sky is heading towards the big date with an exclusive and valuable piece of innovation in their hands – and on their bikes.

On Sunday July 15th, the ninth stage of the “Grande Boucle” from Arras to Roubaix will be a can’t-miss show for all the cycling fans, as much as a crucial juncture of the GC contenders, called to show off on the mythical – and treacherous - cobbled surface. Sunday is also set to mark a significant moment in the history of cycling technology, enhanced by the huge media exposure of the Tour de France.

For the occasion Cicli Pinarello has equipped Team Sky with the Dogma K10S bikes (already used by the British team at the Spring cobbles classics), specced with the cutting-edge ESAS technology by HiRide, the young Italian company based in Milan, in the enterprise factory of e-Novia, representing the forefront of the innovation of active electronic suspensions in the cycling world.

Chris Froome and his teammates are going to ride a bike equipped with the eDSS system, a version of HiRide’s ESAS (Endurance Smart Adaptive Suspension) tailor-made for Pinarello, on the rear chainstay: a smart suspension, capable of adapting its rigidity automatically and in real time, according to the different grounds.

HiRide, building on the previous experience of their engineers and researchers in the motorbike and off-road professional fields, created the first electronic suspension system for all-round bikes, endurance, gravel and cyclocross. Automatically adapting the bike to the different grounds in real time, the suspension eliminates every compromise, guaranteeing an extremely stiff frame on smooth roads, as well as a “softer” one on uneven grounds.

Pinarello and HiRide have joined forces to develop and fine tune at the highest level of professional cycling a technology that is destined to every category of rider: along with the advantages in terms of performance and stability – crucial for competitive riders – ESAS also brings a substantial upside in terms of comfort and safety, clearly perceivable by any rider. On uneven terrain, and particularly on cobbles, the rear suspension absorbs road vibrations up to 30% more than a traditional carbon road bike. This leads to more stability on the chainstay, and therefore more traction on the rear wheel: an important advantage, allowing Team Sky’s riders to unleash their potential in full.

The system is composed by an electrical-hydraulic suspension and a control unit (smart battery pack) which includes many sensors. ESAS also has an interface in order to allow connection with other devices, such as smartphones and cyclocomputers, through Bluetooth and ANT+.

The ESAS rear suspension invented and developed by HiRide is already available on the market as setup option on the Dogma K10S Disc by Pinarello, thus allowing amateur riders to use professional technologies developed for top-professional cyclists.