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Tadej pogačar’s tour de france time trial bike costs how much, just how expensive is the time trial bike of the fastest rider in the tour de france the short answer: very..

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Tadej Pogačar is well on his way to winning his third Tour de France, this time riding aboard the Colnago V4RS as well as the TT1 time trial bike. What does it take to have a bike good enough for someone to potentially win both the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France in the same year? In the case of UAE Team Emirates , you’re spending late-model used Toyota Camry money.

UAE Team Emirates is aboard the Colnago TT1, the Italian brand’s first time trial bike with a disc brake. That part is to be expected, as is the Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 time-trial groupset. But what about the wheels, both of which lack obvious branding? And that wild carbon-winged saddle?

The wildest part about the bike might be how much everything costs. We’ve broken down its price, part by part, to figure out just how much cash it takes to get a bike as wild as Tadej Pogačar ‘s for the Tour de France.

The Colnago TT1 Module: $6,782 (est.)

The Colnago TT1 time trial bike might be the brand’s first disc brake-equipped time trial bike, but it certainly comes with its own time trial history.

The new TT1 takes every liberty in making the bike as fast as possible. Things such as the ‘bayonet fork’ — hinged with the front of the frame rather than inserted into the frame with a steerer tube — keep the front of the bike narrow while maintaining torsional rigidity. And while the TT1 comes in three sizes (S-L), that head tube is made purposefully low, with the aero bar extensions mounted nice and high, all in a bid for improved aerodynamics.

Things such as the 3D-printed integrated bottle cage that blends right into the seat stays aim to ensure a smooth, streamlined profile.

All of those things come at a cost, of course! How much? Try €6,200, which gets you a frame, fork, headset, seat post, base bars, and the aforementioned water bottle.

Wheels, courtesy of Enve and Aerocoach: $3,993.10 (est.)

The front wheel lacks any branding, but it doesn’t look all that different from the deep Enve front wheel he’s ridden in the past. The rims themselves are far deeper than anything available currently from Enve’s website, even more than the 7.8 front wheel with a 71 mm depth.

Enve tells us that if this were to be a wheel available to the general public, it would cost in the range of $1,200 to $1,500 USD. The price itself isn’t much more than what one might find from Enve’s other wheels, though none offer the outright time trial speed that this front wheel might.

That rear wheel comes from Aerocoach. The team is dedicated to speed in every sense of the word, and the Aeox Ultra Orbit disc wheel is a great example of it. Aerocoach claims its wheel is the fastest wheel they’ve tested, offering up to 5.8-watt savings over the likes of the Zipp Super 9 Disc wheel.

That promise of outright speed are available for £1,916.67. Surprisingly, that price undercuts much of the competition; the Zipp Super-9 Disc wheel comes in at $3,000, for example.

The Continental Grand Prix 5000 TT TR tires are a common choice among teams in the Tour de France. They’re one of the fastest tires available, and it makes sense that the TT version is used for your time trials. You’ll pay €160 for the pair, at least at suggested retail prices.

An unreleased saddle from Prologo just for Pogačar: $1,094.78 (est.)

Pogačar is aboard an unreleased saddle from Prologo called the Predator , or at least that’s what is on the nose of the saddle. Its carbon wings are massive, and Prologo says it’s engineered specifically for Tadej. It certainly seems quite a bit longer than a traditional time trial saddle.

While the saddle has yet to be officially released, it’s up on the Prologo website for £1,019. Why is it so expensive? Custom making a saddle for a rider is one thing, but we suspect its construction, assured featheriness, and hopeful comfort add to its costs.

A Shimano drivetrain, with some spice: $9,621.18 (est.)

Dura-Ace Di2 might be the nicest groupset Shimano makes, but that’s perhaps the least interesting thing going on with this bike’s drivetrain, as UAE Team Emirates went aftermarket for the cranks, chainrings, brake pads, and more.

Yes, Tadej is using a Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 drivetrain, but it is set up a bit differently than a standard road bike. Besides the TT-specific brake levers and bar-end shift buttons, they’ve also added a pair of sprint shifters beside the brake levers. Those shifty bits alone add up to $2,394.81, based on U.S. MSRP.

UAE Team Emirates loves using direct mount derailleur hanger users, with Framesandgear being the main source for its mounts. The anodized red hanger is said to improve shifting performance even further, but that piece of aluminum will cost you €50.

The SRM Origin crankset is a unique addition too, as the team otherwise uses Shimano Dura-Ace cranksets to match the Dura-Ace drivetrain. This swap could be for improved power meter accuracy, as the Dura-Ace power meter cranks aren’t known for being the most accurate or precise.

What’s interesting here, however, is that while they are branded SRM Origin, they offer little resemblance to the existing Origin cranks made in conjunction with Look. Chinese component manufacturer Cybrei says that these are actually cranks they made for SRM , with claims that offer a better strength-to-weight ratio than almost any other road crankset on the market. You can guess it comes in Pogačar’s preferred 165 mm length too.

While there is no official pricing for this crankset and power meter combination, we suspect it won’t cost any more than the €2,249 SRM currently charges.

Other things that add up quickly include the Carbon-Ti carbon chainrings, the matching 6-bolt rotors, and the AbsoluteBlack Graphenpads brake pads which offer a distinctive cooling fin shooting up from each brake pad. A pair of those pads alone comes in at €39.90, and that’s per brake caliper. Brake pads for both brake calipers come in at €79.80

Carbon-Ti chainrings are the defacto choice for UAE Team Emirates. They’ve paired the 1x drivetrain with a massive Carbon-Ti X-Aeroring chainring , developed and tested specifically for the team. That single chainring will cost a cool €300.

Further, the Carbon-Ti brake rotors are no joke. At 98 grams each, they’re some of the lightest brake rotors you’ll find in the pro peloton. They’re also likely the most expensive brake rotors you’ll find too, at €220 per brake rotor.

Finally, there are the Shimano Dura-Ace PD-9100 pedals , a go-to for many pro riders. You pay for that pleasure, however, at $279.99 for a pair.

Custom aero bars: $3,414.51 (est.)

Pogačar’s TT1 receives a set of unbranded time trial bar extensions, a change from the Enve-branded extensions. These extensions, however, lack that branding. It’s unclear what extensions these might be. But there are a few things worth pointing out nonetheless.

The first is the shift button setup. There are buttons at the ends of the aero bar extensions for shifting, as one would expect. Interestingly, however, Pogačar has elected to add shift buttons underneath the brake lever blades for a total of two buttons on each side of the base bar, presumably to further customize shift logic.

As for the cost? Unclear; the only aero bars Enve offers are clip-on extensions for its SES Aero road drop bars. That said, custom aero bars cost a pretty penny; for perspective, AeroCoach’s own custom aerobar extensions cost £2,625, and that’s just for the extensions.

So, how much does a Tour de France bike cost?

We’ve broken it down. The total, roughly converted to U.S. dollars, comes out to $21,556.09.

Yes, this bike costs more than a used Toyota Camry . If you wanted, that gets you awfully close to a new Toyota Corolla. And if you really wanted, you could even cash out on one of the fastest-selling cars in the U.S., the Nissan Versa , and have money to spare.

Is a Camry faster than a Colnago TT1? Obviously. Can you carry four people and their luggage in comfort on a Colnago TT1? No way. But you definitely can’t use a Camry to win the Tour de France.

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Pinarello’s ‘Fastest Bike Ever’ Debuts at Tour de France Stage 1: Bolide F Time Trial

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The folks at Pinarello are in the habit of using the Tour de France as a launch pad for their superbikes. This year, the brand claims that it’s created its fastest craft ever.

Last year, Pinarello’s Dogma F hit the tour and ignited hopes of clinching another victory for the brand, which carried seven of the last 10 tour winners to the yellow jersey.

Tadej Pogačar and Colnago had other ideas. But the bike was clearly a performer for the riders of INEOS Grenadiers, as INEOS rider Richard Caparaz took third place, 7 minutes behind Pogačar.

This year, Pinarello will field the Bolide F TT time trial bike, calling it the fastest bike the company has ever made.

‘Fastest Bike Ever’

Pinarello said its engineers primarily focused on dialing in the handling capabilities of the bike and cutting down on rolling resistance.

The Bolide F TT uses disc brakes, unlike previous Bolide models with integrated rim brakes. Disc brakes allow for more reliable braking and larger tires. The Bolide F has clearance for up to 28 mm. However, disc brakes also created a slight aerodynamic penalty.

The brand says a redesign of the seat tube, seat post, and chain stays evened out the deficit, bringing the total drag produced by the bike and rider to within 0.04% of the previous Bolide TT, according to Pinarello.

Additional updates to the handlebars and extensions produce 2-3% improvements in total drag, Pinarello said.

For pros, every single opportunity to cut drag matters. Pinarello said most of its professional riders use custom 3D-printed bar extensions designed around scans of athletes’ forearms.

The brand now offers that feature to the general public, too. Buyers, however, have to make it out to a scanning center in the U.K. or Italy for that feature.

Reduced Frame Weight (Claimed)

Aside from improved aerodynamics, Pinarello says the Bolide F TT frame kit with brakes included weighs 2,265 g. That marks a 170g reduction in weight compared to the previous, rim-brake Bolide TT. That bike weighed 2,435 g in size 55.

The Bolide F TT is stiffer all over. New tube shapes and carbon layup patterns on the bike produced gains in stiffness at 17% in the bottom bracket area. The head tube is 7% stiffer. The fork also is 12% stiffer from front to back and 5% stiffer from side to side.

Other key features include Carbon Toray M40X, Pinarello’s signature Asymmetric frame, Bolide F TT Onda fork, and TiCR total integrated cable routing.

Riders and Testing

Pinarello designed the Bolide F TT using Computational Fluid Dynamics and lab testing, along with a hefty helping of real-world racing.

Among the Grenadiers using the Bolide F are Filippo Ganna , along with Geraint Thomas , Adam Yates , and Felipe Martinez . While the official launch of the bike is set for the opening stage of the Tour de France, the Bolide F has already gone through the wringer.

A disguised form of the bike appeared under Thomas and Martinez in the Tour de Suisse earlier this month. Days later, Ganna also used it during his win at the national time trial championships in Italy.

Riders can snag their own Bolide F TT in matte black with white decals. The bike is currently available for preorder direct from Pinarello, and will hit shops and dealers in a few weeks.

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Mark Wilson is a freelance journalist for GearJunkie and BikeRumor. Mark has been writing about cycling, climbing, outdoor events and gear for more than a year. Before that, he spent more than a decade as a journalist at major daily newspapers in Texas covering crime, public safety and local government. Mark spent every free moment during that time carving up singletrack and gravel, or climbing with friends and family in Texas, Colorado and Mexico. Based in Texas, Mark is always looking for new trails, crags and gear to help navigate the outdoors. As a new dad, he is particularly interested in learning how to share his love of the outdoors with his son.

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Tour De France Bike Review 2013

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What You Need To Know About Proform’s Tour De France Exercise Bike

(It’s the official training bike of the Tour De France).

With 20% incline and 20% decline, it works with Googlemaps and Google Terrain to simulate the actual terrain that you’re cycling (inclining and declining with the actual trail). You can watch actual landmarks pass you by in the console – or see a visual map of where you are in your course.

You can choose from pre-mapped courses or map out your own trail. You can change gears with one-touch handlebar shifting. And the bike actually adjusts the resistance of your bike to suit your personal profile.

So is it a good choice for you? Here are a few things you should know before buying.

Strengths of the Proform Tour De France Exercise Bike:

20% Incline and Decline

So when the trail inclines, your bike also inclines. When the trail declines, your bike will decline. This is a great way to stay in top training shape when you can’t cycle outside.

But you can also do so much more with iFit. You can track your workout progress, compete against your friends online and set new workout goals.

Note also that the iFit module is included with this bike. You usually have to buy it separately with most Proform bikes, so it’s nice bonus to have it included with this bike.

Intelligent Wind Resistance

Another features that lends a realistic feel to your workout is the Intelligent Wind Resistance. Basically it calculates your height and weight and then applies the natural resistance that you would naturally get out on the road.

Handlebar Gear Shifters

This is a new addition to the Tour De France Exercise bike that adds much more of that real feel to your ride. Note however that you won’t find these on the 2011 model.

Power Meter

Recommended By the Pros

It’s always reassuring when you find a bike that the pros use and love (kind of finding a restaurant that the “locals” eat at when you’re on vacation).

The Proform Tour De France Exercise Bike is the “official” training bike of the Tour De France. And Lewis Elliot, Former US National Team Cyclist says:

“The Tour De France Trainer is incredible because it has a very realistic road feel. In over 20 years of riding trainers. I’ve never ridden anything even close. My favorite features are the Googlemaps iPhone application, and that the bike actually roates up or down based on uphills and downhills. The ‘Tour De France Trainer’ is by far the closest stationary bicycle to the road I’ve evern experienced! Five stars!”

Ok, so those are the benefits of this bike – are there any downsides?

Weaknesses of the Tour De France Exercise Bike

There aren’t a lot of weaknesses with the bike itself. However it sold so well when it first came out a couple of years ago that Proform has kind of gone bonkers and made about 4 different models.

And it gets confusing for buyers as to which model they are actually getting. This review is of the newer 2012-2013 model however there is an older 2011 model (the first one to come out) that doesn’t have the gear shifting or power meter and has a different seat adjustment mechanism.

There’s also the much more expensive Tour De France Centennial which is really souped up (HD video workouts, a larger touchscreen console, etc.)

So just make sure that you’re getting the model that you want when you buy ( you can see all 4 models and compare them here )

Conclusion? Best Training Bike On the Market

If you’re looking for the cream of the crop indoor cycling bike, the Proform Tour De France bike is definitely one of the best – if not THE best option out there. It’s built to give you the most realistic “outdoor training” feel of any bike on the market.

From the Googlemaps and iFit LIVE mapping out your route to the Intelligent Wind Resistance to the incline and decline features, it’s a great way to stay in ‘peak’ training condition all year round. Just be sure that you know which model you’re getting if you go to buy this bike to make sure you get the best value for your money.

Where To Save:

You can buy the Proform Tour De France bike directly from the Manufacturer . You’ll get the iFit LIVE module included without having to buy it separately. You’ll also get Free Shipping to your home (as of this writing).

Click Here to Save on the Proform Tour De France Bike (2012-2013)

• ← Diamondback Exercise Bikes: Hidden Gem – Or Not Worth Your Money?
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One thought on “ Tour De France Bike Review 2013 ”

I have done some research on this bike, but I am not impressed with all the mechanical issues and break downs it has.

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Tour de France winning bikes: Pinarello is the top dog

We look back at the last 15 bikes to be ridden to victory and Italian brands dominate

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It goes without saying that the Tour de France is the biggest race in cycling, which means it's the perfect proving ground for brands to test their range-topping superbikes, with many companies timing new releases with the Tour each year.

The bike brands are fighting nearly as hard for the top step of the podium as the riders and teams themselves - so which brands have come out on top over the years?

Well, the last decade has been an almost totally Italian affair. Eight of the last ten editions have been shared between Pinarello (Team Ineos) and Colnago (UAE Emirates), with the only upsets coming from Specialized (Astana in 2014) and Cervélo (Jumbo-Visma in 2022).

Looking back a little further and 2011 saw the first ever Australian victor of the Tour de France in Cadel Evans (Team BMC), who rode a BMC Team Machine. Before that Specialized also secured a bike win in 2010 with Andy Schleck (Team Saxo Bank). 

Schleck was awarded the title after though only after Alberto Contador's disqualification. That didn't actually change the winning bike brand as Contador's Team Astana were also on Specialized.

El Pistolero did win the year before, though, but in 2009 he was on board a Trek Madone. The year before that, and rather neatly topping and tailing our ever-so-slightly arbitrary 15 year timeline, Carlos Sastre won the 2008 race on a Cervélo!

Here's a look at the machines that took their riders to victory from 2008 to 2022 - but first, a few commonly asked questions...

What kind of bikes do Tour de France riders use?

The vast majority of stages are road stages, requiring road bikes. In 2022, there are two time trial stages (stage one and stage 20), where riders will be aboard time trial bikes. But you wanted more detail than that, right?! Most brands supply teams with two road models: a lightweight climbing bike, and an aero bike - the latter being more suited to fast, flat stages. Exceptions include Pinarello, where the Italian marquee says its Dogma F can do both.

How much do Tour de France bikes cost?

The Pinarello Dogma is perhaps the best example to give. Relaunched in August 2021 as the ' Pinarello Dogma F ', the top-end SRAM Red eTap model will set you back £12,000 / $14,500. 

Can you buy a Tour de France bike?

WorldTour bikes ridden by the pros are commercially available. Brands across the board will tell you that the bike you can buy in the shops is exactly the same as that ridden by the pros. However, some skepticism surrounds this assertion. If pro bikes are treated with a slightly different carbon layup and geometry, as is often suggested, the changes will be minimal and likely take into account the lesser requirement of longevity and greater strength/flexibility of professional riders. 

Which bike brand has had the most Tour de France wins?

Pinarello hasn't just dominated the past decade or so - bikes bearing the Italian brand's name are the most successful in Tour de France history. The first of its 16 wins came in 1988 with Pedro Delgado and Team Reynolds, with further successes coming with Miguel Induráin, Bjarne Riis and Jan Ulrich and then Team Sky/Ineos Grenadiers.  The next most successful brand is Peugeot. Now better know for cars, the French brand first won in 1905, with its last victory in 1977. Trek can only claim two official Tour de France wins, with Alberto Contador in 2007 and 2009. The US brand would be equal with Gitane on nine wins but, of course, Lance Armstrong's seven 'wins' aboard a Trek have been struck from the record books.

Tour de France bikes

2022: Jonas Vingegaard's (Jumbo-Visma) Cervélo R5 and S5

The 2022 Tour de France was a display of dominance from the squad we have seen at the forefront of racing for so long now, Jumbo-Visma. Last year, the team swept up the overall victory and KOM jersey with Jonas Vingegaard , as well as the points classification with Wout Van Aert . Six stage victories to top things off made this a pretty memorable run for the Dutch cycling team.

Vingegaard used a combination of Cervélo's S5 aero bike, and R5 climbing bike throughout the Tour, but he ultimately rolled into Paris aboard his custom-painted S5.

Both bikes were fully clad in the latest 12-speed Shimano Dura-Ace R9200 and featured matching wheels. The Dura-Ace wheelsets varied from the C35 offering for mountain days, while the C60s saw use on the flatter stages.

Interestingly too, 2022 is the first year in history to be won strictly on disc brakes . Though Tadej Pogacar did roll into Paris one year earlier on discs, he also used rim brakes in time trials and for a select few mountain stages - Jumbo-Visma on the other hand, ran exclusively disc setups during the 2022 Tour. If ever there was a sign that rim brakes are on their way to extinction, surely this is it.

2020 & 2021: Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) Colnago V3Rs

Pogačar's winning machine from stage nine of 2021

Pogačar's 2020 win made him the first ever Slovenian rider to win the Tour de France, the youngest ever rider at 21-years-old, and he achieved that feat riding a Colnago V3Rs , with Colnago having never won cycling's most prestigious race before either.

Though he rode the same bike model each year, his setups differed. In 2020 he opted for a more 'traditional' feel, with a Campagnolo Super Record EPS 12-speed groupset, Bora One tubular wheels and a set of Campagnolo’s Super Record rim brakes. 

In 2021, though, he used Campagnolo’s Super Record EPS groupset and Bora Ultra WTO 45 wheels with Vittoria Graphene 2.0 tubeless tyres. He switched to disc brakes too for most stages, helping his stability in the often tumultuous French weather.

For two stages he did revert to rim brakes though, one of which came during his stage five time-trial win while using his Colnago K.one time trial bike. He used the same setup that helped during 2020's decisive La Planche des Belle Filles time trial, before he ditched the TT bike in favour of a road bike . 

Pogačar's 'traditional' bike without a power meter or computer on stage 19 of the 2020 Tour de France

Pogačar proceeded on a bike without a power meter or computer, riding on feel alone in one of cycling's most pure rides.

In 2021, his bike featured yellow accents as early as stage nine, when he first wore the maillot jaune, so dominant was his performance. 

2019: Egan Bernal (Team Ineos) Pinarello Dogma F12

While the team may have undergone a name change and re-brand, there was no shock at the top of the Tour de France standings as Team Sky, now Team Ineos, took another title.

The 2019 Tour was a historic moment, however, as Egan Bernal became the first Colombian to ever win the yellow jersey and the youngest rider - at the time - in the modern era, at 22-years-old.

It took  Pinarello  another two years to bring out the Dogma F12 after the launch of the Dogma F10, on which Thomas won last year’s Tour de France. In that time, Pinarello said it had improved the aerodynamics, saving eight watts at 40kp/h, and made the frameset stiffer and lighter too.

Bernal stuck with rim brakes in 2019, twinned with Lightweight wheels for the climbing days and Shimano Dura-Ace wheels on the fast and flat days.

The Shimano Dura-Ace R9100 made up the rest of the components.

2018: Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) Pinarello Dogma F10 X-Light

Thomas won the 2018 Tour d France aboard a Pinarello F10 X-Light - which uses a slightly different carbon fibre compared to previous iterations, resulting in a weight drop of around a kilogram.

The geometry remains fixed, as does the use of an asymmetric bottom bracket, plus the wind cheating concave down tube is designed to incorporate bottles in optimal position.

The Tour's first Welsh winner opted for an integrated 40mm Talon handlebar and 130mm stem, with a  Fizik Arione  saddle that carries his optimum position marked in pen. The saddle height was around 78.5cm and Thomas rode with 175mm cranks - which are longer than most opt for.

The groupset is  Shimano Dura-Ace,  with a 53/39 crankset and 11-30 at the back, alongside a Stages power meter. The wheels fitted when we saw the bike were carbon tubular Dura-Ace hoops, wearing Continental Competition tyres and the paint job carries a speed line for every Team Sky victory.

Read more and see the bike via video

2017: Chris Froome (Team Sky), Pinarello Dogma F10

Froome's third consecutive Dogma win. By this point, the employees at  Pinarello 's painting factory in Treviso were probably quite used to applying (apparently) last minute yellow paint jobs  before the roll into Paris.

The  F10 had some minor tweaks from the F8 , but no major overhauls - quite simply, Pinarello and Team Sky felt it was a pretty good bike. Pinarello made the F10 a little bit more aero, a little bit stiffer, and very slightly lighter.

The diet the frame had been on meant that Froome didn't need the X-light model he used when the F8 was in production, so his frame is as per an off-the-peg creation in terms of weight.

When we saw it, Froome had opted for a 53/39 standard set up with an 11-28 cassette, though the chainrings themselves are  osymetric - a preference which can help improve pedalling efficiency.

On flatter stages, Froome used deeper wheels, but when  we had the chance to video it , the bike was shod with shallow Shimano Dura-Ace C40 wheels and pro-only Continental Competition Pro Ltd tubular tyres.

The bars, stem, and bar tape are all Shimano's own brand, Pro, fitted with a K-Edge out from computer mount and Fizik saddle.

See more:   Chris Froome's 2017 Tour de France winning Pinarello Dogma

Like Bradley Wiggins before him, Froome rode the Bolide  time trial bike  during the ITT stages of the race.

Froome opted for 175mm cranks, used a chain catcher to guard against necessary trauma. The saddle height was 79.6cm - 1mm lower than that 79.7cm on his road bike. There was grip tape on his saddle, which helped him maintain the ideal position and he opted for a 58/48T chainring set up with 11-28 cassette.

In a touch of perfectionism, the 3D printed handlebar was made from titanium and moulded perfectly to fit its rider.

Read more:   Chris Froome's Tour de France Pinarello Bolide

2016 & 2015 : Chris Froome (Team Sky) Pinarello Dogma F8

To represent his Kenyan upbringing and passion for wildlife as an ambassador for the charity United for Wildlife, Froome's 2015 and 2016 winning bikes featured unique rhino decals. 

The  osymetric  chainrings are present, with a chainguard to guard against unfortunate chain-drop moments. The rest of the drivetrain was Shimano Dura Ace, with an 11-28 cassette and Stages power meter.

Froome's preference for having two shifting buttons close together meant the satellite shifters were stripped down, also saving him weight in the meantime too. 

The wheels we shot the bike with were Shimano's Dura-Ace C50s, bottle cages were 15g Leggero's from Elite and the bars were Pro.

The winning machine was polished off with a 121mm stem, Fizik Antares 00 saddle with carbon rails and  Continental Competition Pro Ltd tubular tyres.

See more:   Chris Froome's 2016 Tour de France winning Pinarello Dogma F8

2014: Vincenzo Nibali (Astana), Specialized S-Works Tarmac

Vincenzo Nibali managed to break up the Pinarello domination in the Tour in the early 2010s, as he rode to victory in 2014 aboard an S-Works Tarmac painted with decals that hark to his nickname - Lo Squalo - or 'the Shark'.

This Tarmac became the first edition to feature a size specific carbon-layup, improving ride quality by better catering for the individual's needs and desires. Nibali added an FSA stem to his machine too, with Corima Viva wheels and a Campagnolo Super Record groupset also included. 

Specialized even customised the Italian's bike for the final day, adding yellow stickered wheels from Corima and a custom FSA stem with yellow decals to the already painted yellow frame. 

During time trial stages, Nibali rode the brand's slippery Shiv TT bike. He finished fourth on the 54 kilometre stage 20 solo event to comfortably maintain his place on the top step of the podium, finishing seven minutes 52 seconds ahead of second-placed Christophe Peraud overall. 

Read more: Vincenzo Nibali’s 2014 Specialized S-Works Tarmac

2013: Chris Froome (Team Sky), Pinarello Dogma

The Dogma model before the F8 was the  Dogma 65.1 Think 2 , and it's that iteration which Froome rode to his first Tour de France victory in 2013.

Its standout features were the asymmetric design and wavy forks, seatstays and chainstays. The 65.1 gained its name from the use of a new carbon fibre material: Torayca high-modulus 65 as opposed to the 60 ton carbon of previous years’ models. According to Pinarello, this helped the bike become lighter, and therefore more reactive, which Froome managed to showcase expertly throughout his stellar ride.

Froome's model was of course fitted with osymetric chainrings, Fizik saddle, and the old-faithful looking SRM data-box of days gone by.

2012: Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky), Pinarello Dogma

Wiggins rode onto the Champs-Élysées in 2012 on Pinarello's Dogma 65.1, the brand's newest machine, as he secured his maiden Tour de France title. Despite flaunting the sleek bike in Paris that day, Team Sky actually opted for their main rider to stick to the Pinarello Dogma 2 for the rest of the race.

Similarly, Sky ensured Wiggins felt comfortable throughout the three weeks, keeping him on a Shimano Dura-Ace mechanical 10-speed groupset (q for the majority of the time. 

Across both the bike he used in Paris and what he used throughout the rest of the Tour, Wiggins also added a Fizik Arione saddle and yet more osymetric chainrings to complete his machine. 

2011: Cadel Evans (BMC Racing Team), BMC Team Machine

Cadel Evans Tour winning machine

Cadel Evans was the first ever Australian to take the Tour victory 'down under', and he did so aboard his BMC Team Machine. The 2011 Tour de France winning machine was the first bike in history to win the biggest bike race in the world with electronic shifting.

Evans' Team Machine featured a relatively chunky carbon lugged design, that even featured an aero seatpost - something more rarely seen back in the early 2010s. The bike was clad with Shimano's first iteration of Dura-Ace Di2, 7970, and featured an SRM power meter too. 

Evans also rode 50mm deep Easton carbon tubular wheels which put together an aero package, that we think, wouldn't look overly out of place today - bar the rim brakes of course!

2010: Andy Schleck (Team Saxo Bank) Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL3

Andy Schleck battling the alpine gradients

Andy Schleck was only officially crowned the 2010 Tour de France champion in early 2012, after the original winner, Alberto Contador, received a doping ban that led to the revoking of his title.

Schleck rode a Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL3, which can be seen above in a dazzling chrome colourway. The eventual winning bike featured mechanical shifting in the form of SRAM Red 10-speed, along with rim brakes.

Carbon wheels were still the order of the day in the form of Zipp's 202 lightweight wheels. Interestingly too, there was no power meter to be seen on the 2010 Tour winner's bike, making Schleck the last winner before power data became more mainstream.

2009: Alberto Contador (Astana) Trek Madone 6.9 Pro

The Spanish climbing legend did retain his 2009 title, this time with a dominant 4m11s winning margin over Andy Schleck. Alberto Contador rolled down the Champs-Élysées on his Trek Madone 6.9 Pro, fully equipped with yellow flashes.

The Madone of 2009 sits in a different postcode to the aero-optimized Trek Madone we know today. The Madone sat as Trek's all-round race bike, with oversized OCLV carbon construction that was influenced by a design ethos based on stiffness and light weight.

'El Pistolero' didn't use a power meter, and used SRAM's 10 speed Red mechanical shifting. Bontrager, Trek's in-house component manufacturer, provided the deep-section carbon wheels and finishing kit to the Spaniard's bike.

2008: Carlos Sastre (Team CSC) Cervelo R5

Carlos Sastre post stage 21

We end our dive into the history books with a nice Cervelo-bookend here, with Carlos Sastre winning the Tour 14 years ago aboard the same line of bikes that Jonas Vingegaard used in last year's race.

The two iterations bare more slightly resemblance than the previously discussed Trek Madones, but 14 years of research and development has certainly seen some changes. 

Sastro's 2008 winning machine featured Zipp 202 lightweight carbon wheels and Shimano Dura-Ace 7800 ten-speed shifting. 3T, who worked closely with Cervelo through this time provided the finishing kit.

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Michelle Arthurs-Brennan the Editor of Cycling Weekly website. An NCTJ qualified traditional journalist by trade, Michelle began her career working for local newspapers. She's worked within the cycling industry since 2012, and joined the Cycling Weekly team in 2017, having previously been Editor at Total Women's Cycling. Prior to welcoming her daughter in 2022, Michelle raced on the road, track, and in time trials, and still rides as much as she can - albeit a fair proportion indoors, for now.

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Tour de France bikes 2024: who’s riding what?

All the bikes and tech on display at the 2024 Tour De France

Paul Norman

The 2024 Tour de France starts on 29 June in Florence, making a loop through Cesenatico, home of 1998 winner Marco Pantani before heading to France.

This year’s route is unusual, looping anticlockwise past Paris before crossing the Pyrenees and finishing after 3,493km in Nice.

There are two time trials – 25.3km on stage 7 in Burgundy and the final 33.7km stage from Monaco to Nice, which will see the riders on their fast, specialist equipment. 

As usual, there’s some very flashy tech on show throughout the race and we can expect more to be announced in the run-up to the Grand Depart. This will probably include Trek’s new skinny-tubed Madone look-alike, the unreleased updated Pinarello Dogma F and the refreshed Canyon Aeroad .

More will certainly be unearthed by the sharp-eyed tech nerds at BikeRadar as the race proceeds.

Read on for a complete list of the bikes in this year’s Tour de France, along with the components they’re fitted with and our pick of some of the new bikes and tech to keep an eye out for.

Tour de France 2024 bike brands

The 2024 Tour de France peloton consists of 22 teams of eight, making 176 riders in total.

The 18 WorldTour squads receive an automatic invitation to compete, while four second-tier Pro Continental teams receive a wildcard invitation. Between them, 19 bike brands are represented. 

New brands this year are ENVE with its Melee, which costs over £10,000 in a consumer build with Ultegra. This is ridden by Team TotalEnergies.

Van Rysel's £9,000 RCR Pro bike – the most affordable in the pro peloton – is used by Decathlon-AG2R. 

A notable leaver is Lapierre, which had been a feature of top-level men’s cycling for 22 years. Its place as bike provider to the Groupama-FDJ team has been taken by Wilier, now one of three brands to sponsor two teams, along with Specialized and Canyon.

Lotto-Dstny has changed from Ridley to Orbea bikes this year.

Bike brands represented at the 2024 Tour de France:

• Bianchi: Arkéa-B&B Hotels
• Cannondale: EF Education-EasyPost
• Canyon: Alpecin-Deceuninck, Movistar Team
• Cervélo: Visma-Lease a Bike
• Colnago: UAE Team Emirates 
• Cube: Intermarché-Wanty
• Dare: Uno-X Mobility
• ENVE: Team TotalEnergies
• Factor: Israel-Premier Tech
• Giant: Team Jayco-AlUla
• Look: Cofidis
• Merida: Bahrain Victorious
• Pinarello: Ineos Grenadiers
• Orbea: Lotto-Dstny
• Scott: Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL
• Specialized: Bora-Hansgrohe, Soudal-QuickStep
• Trek: Lidl-Trek
• Van Rysel: Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale
• Wilier Triestina: Astana-Qazaqstan, Groupama-FDJ

What’s new in tech?

The all-rounder reigns.

While a few years ago, many teams had a separate aero bike for flat stages, then climbed on a lightweight bike when the road pointed uphill, most teams now have one bike for all stages. 

Lightweight bikes are now almost as aero as the aero bikes of a few years ago. In some cases, such as the Cannondale SuperSix, they're claimed to be more so.

With most pro bikes close to the 6.8kg UCI bike weight limit , there’s no reason to have a separate climbing bike, so one bike can now do it all.

No Campagnolo

Campagnolo has been a feature of the Tour for almost 100 years, but in the last few the number of teams using its groupsets has dwindled. Last year, there was one, this year there are none.  

That means all teams at the 2024 Tour de France will use Shimano Dura-Ace or the latest SRAM Red AXS groupset on their bikes. 

There are no wheels from Campagnolo or its Fulcrum companion brand either.  

Will Campagnolo return to the pro peloton? Time will tell, but for now, its momentum appears to be in gravel, with a new second-tier Ekar GT groupset joining the original Ekar in February.

1x will become even more important

The first outing of single-chainring only bikes on the race circuit a few years ago with Aqua Blue Sport ended unhappily, but 1x hasn’t died in the pro peloton.

Jonas Vingegaard rode a 1x bike on two road stages of last year’s Tour and there have been several other notable instances of riders using the tech – not least Primoz Roglič, when he won the penultimate-stage time trial at the 2023 Giro d’Italia to clinch the overall victory. 

Will 1x go mainstream at the Tour? For pro riders, a major issue is the potentially larger jumps between gear ratios than with a 2x setup.

The increasing number of sprockets available makes this less of a problem though, with 12-speed cassettes providing one- or two-tooth jumps between the most-used ratios.

Now, a new 13-speed SRAM Red XPLR groupset has been spotted on gravel bikes ridden at Unbound. Having 13 ratios to choose from could help to increase acceptance of 1x setups in the Tour, with their simplicity, aero benefits and lower weight making them attractive.

Riders will take risks with tyre choices

As with disc brakes, it’s taken a while for the pros to see the benefits of tubeless tyres . But almost all teams have now swapped to these from glued-on tubular.

While inopportune flats were a fact of life with tubs, the sealant in tubeless tyres provides some protection to help keep you riding. Wheel and bike changes with thru-axles have become much slicker too.

That looks to have led some riders to swap to lightweight time trial tyres in place of their sponsors’ standard road tyres at the 2023 Tour. At the expense of reduced puncture resistance, most time trial tyres are lighter and faster-rolling than their road equivalents. We expect more riders to follow suit this year.

Tour de France 2024 bikes

All 18 WorldTour teams ride the Tour de France and every one of them gets the pick of the best bikes from their sponsors’ ranges. That includes all teams using 12-speed wireless/semi-wireless electronic groupsets on their road bikes and a choice of top-spec carbon wheels.

The invited Pro Continental teams (Israel-Premier Tech, Lotto-Dstny, TotalEnergies, Uno-X Mobility) too are on top-spec bikes and equipment – there’s no second-best here.

Alpecin-Deceuninck (ADC)

• Bikes: Canyon Aeroad CFR / Speedmax CFR Disc (TT)
• Groupset: Shimano Dura-Ace
• Wheels: Shimano
• Finishing kit: Canyon, Shimano, Vittoria, Selle Italia, Elite, Wahoo

Arkéa-B&B Hotels (ARK)

• Bikes: Bianchi Specialissima RC / Oltre RC / Aquila (TT)
• Wheels: Vision
• Finishing kit: Bianchi, Continental, Selle Italia, Elite, Wahoo

Astana-Qazaqstan (AST)

• Bikes: Wilier Triestina Filante SLR / 0 SLR / Turbine (TT)
• Finishing kit: Wilier, Look, Vittoria, Prologo, Tacx, Garmin

Bahrain Victorious (TBV)

• Bikes: Merida Scultura Disc Team / Reacto Disc Team / Time Warp (TT)
• Wheels: Vision Metron
• Finishing kit: FSA/Vision, Continental, Prologo, Elite, Garmin

Bora-Hansgrohe (BOH)

• Bikes: Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL8 / Shiv (TT)
• Groupset: SRAM Red AXS
• Wheels: Roval
• Finishing kit: Roval, Specialized, Hammerhead

Cofidis (COF)

• Bikes: Look 795 Blade RS / 796 Monoblade RS (TT)
• Wheels: Corima
• Finishing kit: Look, SRM, Michelin, Selle Italia, Elite, Wahoo

Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale Team (DAT)

• Bikes: Van Rysel RCR Pro / XCR (TT)
• Wheels: Swiss Side Hadron 2 Ultimate
• Finishing kit: Deda, Look, Continental, Fizik, Elite, Wahoo

EF Education-EasyPost (EFE)

• Bikes: Cannondale SuperSix EVO LAB71 / SuperSlice (TT)
• Finishing kit: FSA/Vision, Wahoo Speedplay, Vittoria, Prologo, Elite, Wahoo

Groupama-FDJ (GFC)

• Bikes: Wilier Filante SLR / 0 SLR / Turbine (TT)
• Wheels: Shimano Dura-Ace
• Finishing kit: Wilier, Continental, Prologo, Elite, Garmin

Ineos Grenadiers (IGD)

• Bikes: Pinarello Dogma F / Bolide (TT)
• Wheels: Shimano Dura-Ace / Princeton CarbonWorks
• Finishing kit: MOST, Continental, Prologo, Elite, Garmin

Intermarché-Wanty (IWA)

• Bikes: Cube Litening C:68X Pro / Aerium (TT)
• Wheels: Newmen Advanced SL
• Finishing kit: Cube, Look, Continental, Prologo, Elite, CeramicSpeed, Bryton

Israel-Premier Tech (IPT)

• Bikes: Factor Ostro VAM / Hanzo (TT)
• Groupset: Shimano Dura-Ace/FSA chainset
• Wheels: Black Inc
• Finishing kit: Black Inc, Rotor, Continental, Selle Italia, CeramicSpeed, SwissStop, Elite, Hammerhead

Lidl-Trek (LTK)

• Bikes: Trek Émonda SLR / Madone SLR / Speed Concept (TT)
• Wheels: Bontrager Aeolus
• Finishing kit: Bontrager, Time, Pirelli, Wahoo

Lotto-Dstny (LTD)

• Bikes: Orbea Orca Aero, Orca / Ordu (TT)
• Wheels: Oquo
• Finishing kit: Vision, Vittoria, Selle Italia, Tacx, Lizard Skins, Garmin

Movistar Team (MOV)

• Bikes: Canyon Aeroad CFR / Speedmax CF SLX (TT)
• Wheels: Zipp
• Finishing kit: Canyon, Time, Continental, Fizik, Lizard Skins, Garmin

Soudal-QuickStep (SOQ)

• Bikes: Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL8 / Roubaix / Shiv (TT)
• Finishing kit: Roval, Specialized, CeramicSpeed, Tacx, Supercaz, Garmin

Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL (DFP)

• Bikes: Scott Foil RC / Plasma 5 (TT)
• Finishing kit: Syncros, Vittoria, Elite, Wahoo

Team Jayco-AlUla (JAY)

• Bikes: Giant Propel Advanced SL Disc / TCR Advanced SL Disc / Trinity Advanced Pro (TT)
• Wheels: Cadex 36, 42, 65
• Finishing kit: Cadex, Giant

Team Visma-Lease a Bike (TVL)

• Bikes: Cervélo R5 Disc / S5 / P5 (TT)
• Wheels: Reserve 52/63
• Finishing kit: Cervélo, Wahoo Speedplay, Vittoria, Fizik, Tacx, Garmin

TotalEnergies (TEN)

• Bikes: ENVE Melee / Specialized Shiv (TT)
• Wheels: ENVE
• Finishing kit: ENVE, Selle Italia, Continental, Tacx, Garmin

UAE Team Emirates (UAD)

• Bikes: Colnago V4Rs / TT1 (TT)
• Finishing kit: Colnago, Continental, Prologo, Elite, Wahoo

Uno-X Mobility (UXM)

• Bikes : Dare VSRu / TSRf (TT)
• Wheels: DT Swiss
• Finishing kit: Dare, Schwalbe, Pro, CeramicSpeed, Elite, Garmin

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Cycling is a unique sport in that you can watch the race on Sunday and buy the same bike on Monday. The pace of development the last couple of decades has massively reduced the gap between a pro race bike and a bike you or I can buy.

The UCI even has a rule that any product used in a pro race must be available to buy at least nine months later. It’s intended to control costs, by stopping bike and equipment suppliers producing very expensive one-off components. So you almost could pop into a bike shop, buy an expensive top-end bike, and race it in the Tour de France. But there are a few subtle differences that still help to mark out a pro race bike.

Frames and forks are all made from carbon fibre these days, long gone are the days of steel, aluminium and titanium. Carbon is light and stiff, it’s also very expensive. In the old days, riders would have custom made frames, and that has happened with carbon frames in the past, but these days the pros ride the same size frames you can buy in the shops.

Carbon is also used for the wheels, with deep section aerodynamic carbon wheels being commonplace in the pro peloton even on races where cobbles are involved.

The one key difference to your bike is the use of tubular tyres. These are very traditional tyres that are sewn up with an inner tube inside and literally glued to the rim. Clincher and tubeless tyre technology is getting better all the time, so why do the pros prefer tubulars? It’s because they can ride along the ride with a flat tyre more safely, the tubular tyre won’t easily separate from the rim in the same way a clincher tyre likely will.

Electronic gears are commonplace too. There might be a few riders that prefer the feel of mechanical gears, but really the entire peloton has switched over to electronic groupsets. A few public mishaps notwithstanding, the electronic groupsets are very reliable and the batteries only need occasional charging.

Pros possess serious horsepower and can push big gears that would make you wince. The classic 53/39t chainset is a very common sight, you’ll rarely see a 50/34 compact unless there’s a really steep mountain climb.

Cassettes have shifted away from 11-23 and 11-25 to 11-28 and 11-30 in recent years, noticeable with the advent of 11-speed groupsets.

There’s a trend, and we’re not sure we’d advocate it, of riders downsizing the frame in order to get a very low front end and short stack. They then dial in their fit using long stems and saddles slammed back on the rails. Long and slammed stems are a common sight, as much to do with aesthetics and vanity as based on professional fit data. We’ve noticed a few riders bucking this trend and riding correct size frames and using stem lengths that wouldn’t look out of place on a shop bought bike.

Other details that mark out a pro race bike are the out-front computer mount that most bikes are equipped with. You’ll often see the details of the stage taped to the stem or top tube as well. A chain catcher is a backup in case the chain drops off the chainring, while not something that is common has in the past completely ruined race efforts.

The last two details you can’t buy. The first is a race number mount seen here on the seat stay bridge. There are all sorts of solutions to fixing the race number to the frame, some mechanics really get creative and glue or zip tie to the frame or seatpost. Finally, there’s a GPS transponder attached to the back of the saddle, used to relay position and performance data to the race organisers.

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David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes . 

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Tadej Pogačar’s time trial bike leaves no stone unturned in quest for Tour de France victory

A furiously expensive saddle, carbon mods, and as little paint as possible

In racing terms, the action on any given time trial is perhaps less frenetic than a road stage of the Tour de France . They’re a slow burn with ever-building tension, but for tech nerds who get excited about the most marginal of gains, they are an absolute gold mine awash with shiny nuggets. Race leader Tadej Pogačar’s TT bike is a rich seam in itself, with plenty of mods and some brand-new parts that haven’t been seen before, so let's dive right in, or save it for when there's a lull in proceedings during the stage 7 time trial .

The images herein are gleaned from a UAE Team Emirates tweet, but handily Colnago has also posted a decent gallery of the bike, which we've included below.

A post shared by COLNAGO (@colnagoworld) A photo posted by on

An very expensive saddle

First up we have a brand new saddle from UAE Team Emirates sponsor, Prologo. I do have some insider information on this: There’s a claimed seven-watt benefit to the saddle, thanks to aero improvements and improvements in rider posture. While the leading edges seem to be at the forefront of any good aerodynamicist's mind, this new saddle aims to smooth the airflow as it detaches from the rider's back, with an elongated rear and heavily dropped side shrouds to shield the rails and seat clamp. 

In addition to aero benefits, the shape is claimed to allow ‘maximum pelvis rotation’, primarily for greater comfort. Finally, and to give me a lovely segue into more weight weenie mods, the weight of the saddle is a claimed 140g, which is very, very light. It’s also very very expensive, with a price tag of £1,020, and it appears to only work with a proprietary aftermarket seat clamp system thanks to narrower than usual, flat rails. 

Aftermarket seatpost

Speaking of weight weenie-ism, the saddle sits atop a non-standard seatpost from Spanish boutique carbon gear brand, Darimo. The standard Colnago TT01 seat post features a giant rail at the top for a great degree of fore-aft adjustment, but opting for a custom seatpost can do away with this and simply put the saddle where it’s needed, shaving grams. Word on the street is that this aftermarket seatpost tips the scales under 130g, thanks to it being sliced off at the absolute safe insertion limit. I also have it on good authority that Darimo is supplying aftermarket seatposts for the Israel-Premier Tech team too.

This seatpost has been developed with the two brands and will be available as an add on to the TT01 via the Colnago website if you really want to emulate this particular setup.

No paint, no logos

Even on a road bike, where there’s less material, ditching paint for raw carbon can save you somewhere in the region of 300g. On a TT bike, the gains are even greater, so it’s no surprise to see Pogačar eschew any fancy paint. His Colnago would ordinarily have simple white logos, but given he’s in yellow these have been stuck over with yellow vinyl. Likewise, his wheels have been stripped of their logos in an effort to save a few grams. The rear is an Aerocoach Aeox Ultra Orbit wheel, and while the front is unbadged it’s reportedly a deeper new Enve model.

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Lightweight rotors

Brake rotors are mostly metal, for us mortals anyway. Pogačar, like his teammates, is running Carbon-Ti rotors, and while he has the option to use a full aero set with a solid carbon centre, the Slovenian has instead opted for the lighter more spindly X-Rotor at €220 a pop. 

One big carbon ring and SRM cranks

Matching the brake rotors, Pogačar is also using a chainring from Carbon-Ti. We do see him use a 2x setup frequently, but here it’s set up 1x. That will save a fair amount of weight as you can ditch a whole chainring, bolts, and the front derailleur, and also add some aero gains too. I have had it confirmed that it is a 60t ring for the first time trial, though he may use a 2x for the second race against the clock later in the Tour. 

This ring is then mounted to SRM cranks rather than Dura-Ace ones. This swaps the Shimano power meter too, with a spider-based setup used here. This swap alone is a £1,600 upgrade to what is already a very expensive bike. 

It’s very common for the disc rear to have a hidden valve, the port to which we can see taped over easily. What is less common is to hide the front valve entirely. Given the depth of the front rim it’ll require the use of valve extenders anyway, so it's a simple case of inflating the tyre to the desired pressure, then unscrewing the extender and taping over the hole. Now you’ve reduced your rotational mass and taken something asymmetrical out of the airflow at the front of the bike - an easy win for sure. 

Lightweight derailleur hanger

As per his road bike, and his teammate’s too, the rear derailleur is mounted to the frame via a Frames and Gear aftermarket derailleur hanger which we also spotted on his road bike . It's lighter, and apparently stiffer to make shifting even more crispy. We can’t actually see this, but it’s there. 

Raw carbon extensions

Poggi has been using non-standard TT extensions since the Giro d’Italia. At the time his new units were flat black and badged up with Enve logos. Here the shape remains unchanged, so I’ve no reason to suspect they are new, but they are raw carbon this time, so I suspect they’re just slightly lighter, as well as looking trick. 

Cooler brake pads

Nestled within the front and rear brake callipers are aftermarket brake pads from AbsoluteBlack. These feature a raised lattice that sticks out above the pad into the airflow and are said to aid brake performance by keeping temperatures down. There is also graphene involved in the mix thanks to its thermally conductive properties. 

An old tyre

This is something I don't think I've seen as yet. Pogačar appears to be running an old, quite worn rear tyre. It's not the TT version of the GP5000 I don't think, though the actual model has been sharpie'd out. My hypothesis is that this is perhaps an older, non tubeless GP5000 S, run with latex inner tubes. Perhaps the additional wear on the tread has made it thinner and therefore more supple, and ultimately faster, though we have no confirmation on this front. 

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Will joined the Cyclingnews team as a reviews writer in 2022, having previously written for Cyclist, BikeRadar and Advntr. He’s tried his hand at most cycling disciplines, from the standard mix of road, gravel, and mountain bike, to the more unusual like bike polo and tracklocross. He’s made his own bike frames, covered tech news from the biggest races on the planet, and published countless premium galleries thanks to his excellent photographic eye. Also, given he doesn’t ever ride indoors he’s become a real expert on foul-weather riding gear. His collection of bikes is a real smorgasbord, with everything from vintage-style steel tourers through to superlight flat bar hill climb machines.

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