In search of a little more wide-eyed excitement, we made a bee line for British neo-pro Scott Davies. To Davies, his new Oakley skinsuit is still a uniform but it’s also a symbol. He’s too modest to say so in quite so many words himself, but pulling on the jersey of his new WorldTour team means he has made it.

“You put it on and look in the mirror and it’s a nice feeling because of how hard you’ve worked to get there. It puts a big smile on your face,” he tells us.

The Oakley clothing is well liked by the riders for its aero fit and comfortable pad. In Cape Town the riders are only issued with speedsuits; the rest is still being made. A fitting session leads to some riders getting custom sized versions; Nick Dougall, a Boonen-sized unit of a rouleur, is one of those riders.

Enve’s approach is notably different to most sponsors. Instead of a marketing liaison, it was chief design engineer Kevin Nelson who was on the camp, gathering feedback directly from the riders and personally fitting prototype aero stems (carried in his hand luggage so they couldn’t be lost) to the bikes of Mark Cavendish and Mark Renshaw.

“Enve’s approach is notably different to most sponsors. Instead of a marketing liaison, it was chief design engineer Kevin Nelson who was on the camp, gathering feedback directly from the riders”

Many brands talk about the R&D benefit of sponsoring a pro team; Nelson says it’s Enve’s primary reason, above anything to do with public exposure, and the team contributed to the stem’s design right from the concept stage. His presence backs that up, as does his friendship with most of the riders having been to lots of camps and races over the previous three seasons.

The aero stems are shaped for a small drag reduction at the crucial leading edge into the wind and feature switchable shims at the steerer clamp to adjust the stem angle and length, fine tuning the riders’ positions and allowing them to get lower on their Cervélos despite the tall headtubes.

For the 2018 season, the team also has new suppliers for two components which barely get noticed by the public, but which are critical to the riders’ comfort: the pedals and saddles.

The former has switched from Speedplay to Shimano, which have a very different feel, with tighter float, less of it, completely different adjustment, and the obvious switch from double- to single-sided. Some of the riders had no issues, others were experimenting with different cleats and positions day after day.

Meanwhile, changing saddle for a pro is quite a big deal, given they spend upwards of 1,000 hours on it each year. It’s only in recent years that most teams have had saddle sponsors with tight contracts preventing riders from using an old favourite perch. It’s very rare now to see a blacked-out logo on anything attached to a pro’s bike, so when a new sponsor comes on board it’s important to find the right option.

Luckily for Dimension Data, new supplier Astute, a lesser known Italian brand, has a huge range. In Cape Town, riders were swapping saddles regularly and many of them had already been given the chance to test a selection at home, with the initial shortlist established by matching shape and features to their previous saddle.

Renshaw found several successive options to be too soft in the cut-out centre area before getting the right one; Edvald Boasson Hagen adjusted the position of his on the post three times on his first ride, searching for the sweet spot.

“I’m quite fussy and didn’t want to waste the mental energy on fiddling with a new saddle for weeks, so I wanted to get it sorted straight away” – Scott Davies

Davies went to the greatest lengths of all. “I went to Cyclefit [in London] and they helped me get it spot on,” he explains. “I took five Astute saddles with me and they used a pressure mapping system to help me choose the right one.

“I’m quite fussy and didn’t want to waste the mental energy on fiddling with it for weeks, so I wanted to get it sorted straight away.

Rather, Latomme sourced Meintjes’ fit data and preferences and built the bikes to match perfectly; when the team’s new GC hope, who finished eighth in both the 2016 and 2017 Tours de France, clipped in to his Cervelo for the first time, it felt like his bike. The remaining difference in feel between his old and new equipment is what the South African’s more easy-going nature absorbed.

As Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka embarks on its most ambitious season yet – targeting the Giro d’Italia with Meintjes, the Tour de France stage win record with Cavendish, and much more – its riders can be confident they’re well equipped. The pleasure they take in their new gear comes not only from a fresh delivery of equipment, but from knowing they have the right tools for the job.

To donate to the Qhubeka charity, visit Qhubeka.org