Lapierre Aircode DRS 8.0 £6,999 | 7.7kg

Like a fine wine, the Lapierre Aircode has improved with age: this third iteration is elegant and refined with a very, very fast finish

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The Lapierre Aircode DRS 8.0 is the consumer flagship model of the aero bike that’s used by the Groupama-FDJ team.

Launched last September, this third iteration of the Aircode is easily the best yet. It might seem like a case of third-time lucky, except it’s more by design than luck. The French brand has clearly done its aero homework and dotted all the i’s, crossed all the t’s, and gone off to optimize them in the wind tunnel.

Like many modern race bikes the Aircode DRS frame is disc-brake only, and integration of these – and everything else for that matter – is stylishly executed.

Frame and fork

Lapierre says its goal was to make the new Aircode more aerodynamic and stiffer yet more comfortable than the previous version.

The cables and Di2 wires disappear into the cockpit via a new bespoke bar and stem – there’s not a single one exposed to the airflow. All of the tubings is NACA aerofoil profiled as you’d expect, and in wind tunnel tests the new frame is 13 per cent faster, according to Lapierre.

Lapierre says it has made the geometry more aggressive – and specs a zero-offset Seatpost – which would seem to be the opposite of what other brands have been doing recently. The position is certainly lower than that of the Specialized Tarmac SL7. The sizes aren’t directly comparable but you’re looking at 557mm stack/403mm reach in the size L Aircode compared to 581mm stack and 405mm reach in the size 58 Tarmac.