Wout van Aert just won his first Paris-Roubaix on his trusty Cervélo S5 aero bike, outsprinting Tadej Pogačar in the famous Roubaix velodrome.
Unlike Pogačar’s wild Colnago Y1Rs, his bike didn’t feature any particularly progressive or experimental spec choices – the Belgian superstar stuck with a tried-and-tested setup that doesn't deviate greatly from his day-to-day race bike.
Where hyper-specialist bikes once ruled the roost, van Aert's bike shows just how much Roubaix tech has changed in a few short years.
Let's take a closer look at the bike that conquered the Queen of the Classics.
Van Aert's Cervélo S5's spec hasn't changed much in a several years. Ashley Quinlan / Our MediaVan Aert sets his S5 up slammed, with the twin-vane handlebar fitting flushly with the top tube. Ashley Quinlan / Our MediaVan Aert was running a 1x SRAM Red AXS drivetrain, with a 56T front chainring. Visma-Lease a Bike waxes its chains for the entire team. Van Aert was running 32mm Vittoria Corsa Pro TLR tyres. This was the standard choice across the pro peloton at this year's race. However, unlike some of his teammates on the men's and women's Visma-Lease a Bike Squads, van Aert chose not to have his tyres glued to the rim for this year's race. The has previously claimed this helps with re-sealing in the event of a tyre burp or if the rim should suffer a minor crack. The front tyre measured out at just shy of 34mm wide on his Reserve 42 front wheel. This features a 25.4mm wide internal channel, with a mini hook design. The tyres were just 33mm wide on the Reserve 49 rear wheel, thanks to the rear wheel's narrower 24.8mm internal rim channel. Ashley Quinlan / Our MediaThis setup left ample clearance under the S5's fork crown. In any case, had van Aert had designs on going any wider like Pogačar, he would have needed to switch to the slower Corsa Pro Control tyre because the Corsa Pro tops out at 32mm. Van Aert used a Garmin Edge 850 bike computer – and ensured it wasn't going anywhere in the event of a spill by using the tether. Thankfully, he dodged disaster in this year's race to take the win. Van Aert's bike featured the same black tape over the seatpost cavity as Pauline Ferrand-Prévot's bike. This stop grit getting into the hole, and may even provide a microscopic aero advantage. Van Aert was using the new Prologo Choice saddle. This features two carbon wings that shroud the carbon rails inside. This is said to confer a small aerodynamic benefit, while the 3D-printed padding is customised to suit van Aert's personal needs. Ashley Quinlan / Our MediaVan Aert stays sponsor-correct with his Wahoo Speedplay pedals. The golf ball-like dimples underneath, which are also said to help smooth airflow. Ashley Quinlan / Our MediaVan Aert's bike takes pride of place on the Roubaix Velodrome infield after his victory. Ashley Quinlan / Our Media
Ashley is BikeRadar’s road lead, heading up our road, gravel and urban bike tech coverage. A trained journalist, he has been working in the bike industry for over a decade and riding for much longer. He joined BikeRadar in 2022 as senior technical editor.
He has written for road.cc, ebiketips, RoadCyclingUK, Triathlon Plus magazine and Red Bull, plus worked in PR for some of the industry’s biggest brands, and content marketing for an emerging e-scooter company.
Ash is a road cyclist, and has completed La Marmotte Granfondo Alpes and the Étape du Tour (twice) – something of an irony, given his non-climbing stature. He’s firmly getting to grips with gravel riding too, although the road is where his heart is. One day, he’ll buy an XC mountain bike before it’s ‘too late’.
He enjoys testing products he thinks can make a tangible difference to a rider’s experience, from wheelsets to rain jackets, groupsets to tyres. Ash is always keen to share his nuanced findings in features about his tests, recognising one person’s perfect solution might be another’s worst nightmare.
In 2025, Ash is targeting his first 200km audax and hopes to give bikepacking a try.
