Review: Tadej Pogačar’s new Continental Archetype tyre for the Tour de France is as supple and grippy as they come

The Continental Archetype is a new tubeless-ready race tyre, developed in partnership with Tadej Pogačar and his UAE Emirates - XRG team for the 2025 Tour de France.

Designed to be faster than Continental’s existing fastest race tyre (the Grand Prix 5000 TT TR), the Archetype is available in a Tour de France-branded limited-edition run in only a 30mm nominal size, optimised for the team’s specific use case.

This approach has its downsides for everyday racers and enthusiasts, but if top-level suppleness, grip and light weight are what you crave above all else from a performance tyre, it’s hard to find much fault.

The new Continental Archetype costs £94.99 / $103.90 / €105.95. You’ll need to hurry if you want to own a set, though.

Continental Archetype details and specifications

The Continental Archetype is a tubeless-ready tyre, with a singular focus on being the fastest race tyre choice for Tadej Pogačar and his merry band of domestiques at the 2025 Tour de France (and, probably, beyond).

It will be used exclusively by UAE Team Emirates - XRG at the 2025 Tour de France.

Continental says the sole 700x30c size on offer is optimised for the wide, ENVE SES 3.4 and 4.5 wheels the team uses. The 30mm size was chosen to aerodynamically complement those wheels’ 32mm-wide external profile, according to Continental.

That said, ENVE states the SES 4.5 is aerodynamically optimised for a 27mm-wide tyre, while it says the 3.4 is optimised for a 29mm-wide tyre – these sit outside the ETRTO’s latest safety recommendations (which state 25mm-wide hookless rims should be used with at least a 29mm-wide tyre).

The SES rims are older than that revision, but pro teams must follow the latest recommendations, as per the UCI rules.

“Is it faster? You’ll have to ask the most successful team in the UCI World Rankings,” so states Continental’s press material. This gets short shrift from us – in fact, Continental doesn’t offer corroborating data of any kind to shore up its claim that the Archetype is the fastest race tyre it has ever produced.

Nevertheless, Continental says the tyre features a 2x220 TPI (threads-per-inch) carcass, the same as the Grand Prix 5000 S TR, which has been used commonly by Pogačar and co. in recent times.

The brand’s Grand Prix 5000 TT TR was technically its fastest road tyre until now, as corroborated by Bicycle Rolling Resistance's data, thanks to a lighter and thinner construction – but the team opted for the all-rounder likely because the TT TR is only available in 25 and 28mm sizes.

Conspicuous by its absence, Continental doesn’t state that the Archetype has a dedicated puncture protection layer (in the Grand Prix tyres, it’s called a ‘Vectran Breaker’). Fresh out of the box, it felt notably thin even compared to the TT TR.

Continental says the compound includes its ‘Active Comfort Technology’, though, which takes the form of an elastomer layer to help absorb vibrations.

The Archetype is also said to use Continental’s BlackChili compound and Lazer Grip tread (both of which feature on the Grand Prix 5000 tyres), but the compound surface is certainly tackier to the touch and the tread a finer, stickier iteration.

In short, while the rubber might have been developed from the standard set by the older tyres, all indications point to these being new versions of the technologies – something Continental has been tight-lipped about when pressed.

An equivalent 700x30c Grand Prix 5000 S TR tyre is claimed to weigh 325g, with the Archetype shaving 35g from this. On our scales, it weighed 292g.

For further context, a 28c GP5000 TT TR weighs 252g.

The Archetype is available for a limited run for the 2025 Tour de France, but it’s likely we’ll see the tyre continue to be used by pro riders, should it perform to expectations. In turn, we may see a new generation of Grand Prix tyre evolve from it.

Continental Archetype installation and setup

I tested the Archetype tyre on a Hunt 50 Carbon Disc wheelset, with a 22mm internal rim width. At 80psi (5.4 bar), this inflated to 31mm wide.

It’s fair to say the vast majority of riders won’t own the ENVE wheels Team UAE Emirates - XRG uses – so a better-value, but contemporary, wheelset felt the best choice for testing.

Fitting was as easy as it comes, the flexible bead slipping onto the rim and seating easily with only a track pump.

This pleased me, given my experience with tyres with more flexible beads is hit and miss – examples from Challenge and Vittoria are notable culprits of failing to seat easily.

Continental Archetype performance

In use, the grip is prodigiously good for a race tyre such as this. I struggle to think of a road bike tyre that offers such a sensation of being stuck to the blacktop when cornering quickly.

This helps to generate lots of confidence, alongside the high level of suppleness. While the benchmark for ‘ride feel’ probably remains Vittoria’s Corsa Pro TLR tyre (thanks to its 320 TPI cotton casing), the Archetype’s light – and importantly, thin – construction brings it remarkably close.

Here, though, its weaknesses will be plain to everyday riders, even in the context of top-level race tyres.

Already, the central strip is showing the first signs of wear after a few hundred kilometres of riding, and having been ridden on my local, often grit- and flint-strewn roads, I’ve noticed a couple of knicks in the outer compound.

While the tubeless sealant hasn’t yet been pressed into action, I’m left wondering how long they will last. I certainly predict that Pogačar will opt to use the Grand Prix 5000 S TR when the road is less well paved, to lower the risk of flatting.

Time will tell if the tyre proves race-disruptingly fragile, of course, but remember, the likes of Pogačar don’t have to foot the bill of replacing their tyres – and have mechanics on hand to refresh them every day or so when racing.

So, running it could be a calculated risk, because undoubtedly, the Archetype tyre feels incredibly fast – close to the best I’ve tried in this regard (the Pirelli P Zero Race TLR RS).

Continental Archetype bottom line

The Continental Archetype tyre ticks all the right boxes – it’s very fast-feeling, naturally, but excels for grip and suppleness. These are confidence-inspiring factors that are useful for improving overall speed.

I’m also impressed that such a flexible tyre is so easy to fit. Mechanics will also probably appreciate this, given they may be pressed into replacing them more often than they might be used to.

That said, the compromise is understandable in the racing scenario the Archetype is designed for.

I hope the next generation of Grand Prix tyres incorporate some of the performance elements here with the necessary resilience for real-world use – if they do, they’ll represent a decent step forward.