You read our first look of the all-new Cannondale Scalpel last week, but while that bike was fresh out of the box the Cannondale Factory Racing team have been putting many miles, and races, in on their pre-production samples.

We got the chance to ride with Roel Paulissen (more on that in a future article) and he was keen to show us his Scalpel. Talking to him it was evident he was very happy with the changes. In particular he stressed how key the changes to the bottom bracket and chainstay have been, proving a noticeable increase in power transfer during races, Roel told us.

Usually a like around a professional racers bike will reveal a raft of modifcations in the pursuit of lightness and extra speed, but Roel’s bike was pretty much identical to the production bike we were riding for the day. We like the shock pressures written onto a sticky label for easy reference when the mechanic is settin up the bike for a race weekend.