When Julien Alaphilippe won the second stage of the Tour de France and took the yellow jersey, Detuning Quick-Step mechanics immediately set to work preparing his bike for the following day. From bar tape to bottle cages to chains, the Frenchman's Specialized Tarmac was covered in yellow in abundance. Later, when Sam Bennett took the green jersey in the sprint, the Irishman's bike received the same treatment.

Colored bar tape is nothing new. Yellow tape has become a staple of the march to Paris on stage 21 of the Tour de France, and the GC winners' bikes are always dressed accordingly. The same can be said for bottle cages. What is chain wax, where does it come from, and where can you get it?

We asked our chain sponsor at Deceuninck-QuickStep for the details.

"It's the UFO racing chain with yellow," explained Nadia Norskov, marketing coordinator for CeramicSpeed. [The UFO (UltraFast Optimisation) racing chain is part of CeramicSpeed's collection of products that claim to increase drivetrain efficiency and save watts. The chain itself is a general Shimano Dura-Ace 11-speed road (opens in new tab) chain with an MSRP of about €45 (£45/$50). CeramicSpeed has applied an "optimized treatment" that raises the selling price to €139.00.

According to CeramicSpeed, the optimization process is a time-consuming, multi-step process that begins by polishing the sliding surfaces of the links to remove roughness and manufacturing defects. The chain is then deep cleaned to remove factory lubricants and contaminants before being dipped in a proprietary blend of chain wax. As a final finish to the chain, Teflon powder is applied.

The finished UFO racing chain can be purchased at CeramicSpeed.com for €139.00

The optimized chain is said to be worth 2-5 watts more than a standard chain, but in clean and dry conditions It only lasts 600 km/370 miles. This means that only two stages can be used until the efficiency gains run out.

Regarding the yellow and green colors found on the Alaphilippe and Bennett bikes, we contacted them to clarify what they are, how they were made, and if they are available to the public.

"We thought it would be an interesting gimmick for the Tour de France. So Lina, a chemist in the R&D department, came up with a formula that would allow the colored Teflon powder to have exactly the same effect as the "standard" UFO racing chain. We also made green and blue. We also have pink for Giro."

Unfortunately, she added, "these are not part of our standard product range."