12 ways a Tour de France bike differs from yours

Unlike many other equipment-intensive sports, such as Formula 1, if you’ve got deep pockets you too can buy and ride a pro-level bike. But, in most cases, the bikes the pros are riding will differ significantly from the highest retail spec available to consumers.

That’s often due to swap-outs, either for a rider's specific needs or to show off new parts, as bike brands and component sponsors pay to have their latest wares on show rather than the standard ones. 

The only pro-level bike you can buy off-the-shelf that’s a replica of the team bike ridden at the Tour de France is the Cannondale SuperSix Evo Lab71 Team, priced at £12,500 / $15,000, albeit this too might not be an exact match.

Here’s a run-down of the ways in which the bikes on show at the Tour de France are different from lower-priced bikes, and even the premium-spec machines, available to consumers.

Frame weight

Although some bike frames, such as those ridden by Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard, are made in one (high) grade of carbon fibre, others such as Remco Evenepoel’s Specialized Tarmac SL8 are available in different versions. 

The pros will be riding the more premium frame, in Evenepoel’s case the S-Works frame made of Fact 12r carbon fibre, as opposed to the Fact 10r frameset used for lower-spec Tarmacs. 

Premium frames tend to be made of higher-modulus carbon fibre, possibly with more advanced manufacturing techniques, which enables a frame with similar or greater strength and stiffness to be made with lower weight.

Groupset and gearing

Pros will push big gears, particularly on flat stages. While some will choose Shimano’s standard Dura-Ace 54/40-tooth chainrings, or SRAM or Campagnolo’s equivalent, a 56-tooth large ring is not uncommon. Every rider will have their sponsor’s top-spec 12- or 13-speed electronic groupset.

Some riders are experimenting with 1x groupsets for flatter stages, which aren't always available off-the-shelf (albeit, Vingegaard's S5 is). They may not need the gear range offered by 2x cranksets – and the single chainring without cut-outs, and absence of a front derailleur, improve aerodynamics.

Vingegaard, for example, had a single-chainring SRAM Red AXS groupset fitted to his Cervélo S5 ahead of this year’s Grand Départ in Lille.

Power meter

Power meters are standard for pros’ bikes, giving them the data to gauge their efforts on climbs, breakaways and stage finishes.

Although they’ll often be the power meter that’s available with a groupset, such as those from SRAM and Shimano, in other cases they’ll come from smaller power meter specialists, such as Power2Max.

Crank length

Most off-the-shelf bikes are sold with cranks that are between 170mm and 175mm long, dependent on the frame size. 172.5mm is the default for mid-sized frames. 

Pros increasingly opt for significantly shorter cranks though, making it easier to spin higher pedalling cadences. Vingegaard is riding with 160mm cranks, and Pogačar with 165mm cranks.

Geraint Thomas uses a more standard 172.5mm length.

Wheels

Pros will ride their sponsor’s top-spec carbon wheels. Their wheel sponsor may be different from their bike sponsor, so their wheels may differ from those fitted to retail specs. 

Frames and wheels (and sometimes tyres) are increasingly designed as a system, to ensure optimal aerodynamics, so it’s not uncommon to see similar wheels to those fitted to retail bikes. The pros may have ultra-premium specs available, though, such as the latest Roval Rapide Sprint and ENVE SES 4.5 Pro wheels.

They’ll have multiple wheel depths to choose from too, deeper for flatter stages, and shallower and lighter for mountain stages. Your bike will come with just the one set of wheels, of course.

Tyres

Until recently, tubular tyres glued to the rim were the go-to choice for the pros, but tubeless tyres have pretty much taken over. Some riders may choose to use clinchers with TPU or latex inner tubes for specialist stages such as time trials, though, for their potentially lower weight and rolling resistance.

28mm or 30mm tyres are now typical in the pro peloton – another change from a few years ago, when 23mm was the standard tyre width.

Even on road stages, some riders will choose to fit time trial tyres to help keep weight and rolling resistance down. Tyre brands may also offer special-edition or pro-only tyres, such as the Continental Archetype.

To reduce the risk of crashing if they get a flat tyre, tyre inserts are sometimes used.

Handlebar width

Pro riders like narrower handlebars than those typically fitted to a retail-spec bike. Although the UCI will soon impose minimum handlebar widths, for the moment pros will choose narrower bars for the aerodynamic advantage offered by a more tucked-in position. 

They’ll often angle the brakes inwards to add extra aero, although UCI regulations limit to what extent they can do this.

A few years ago, pros would often choose really long stems to stretch out their position too, again to confer an aero gain. That’s less typical now, particularly with integrated bar/stems being fitted to top-spec bikes, although bar/stems may be made in a size specifically to satisfy a star rider.

Custom parts

Pros will often have custom parts swapped out for those on a standard retail bike too, because more niche brands will be paying their team for the riders to use them. Ceramic bearings are more-or-less standard, with CeramicSpeed components a common choice, in place of steel.

Some teams will have oversized pulley wheel systems replacing the standard jockey wheels on their rear derailleur. Star riders will have their own branding, such as Pogačar‘s carbon chainrings, which carry his own TP logo.

Brake pads, rotors and even thru-axles may not be the standard fare in the quest for every marginal gain.

Pogačar has a custom 3D-printed saddle too and riders may have other bespoke components such as headset caps and bike computer mounts. Star riders and national champions may have their own custom paintjobs.

All bikes must have a race number holder on their seatpost and an electronic transponder attached to their right fork blade, which (naturally) a consumer bike won't.

Bike fit

Pros ride thousands of kilometres a year between racing and training, so it’s not surprising that many are extremely fussy about how their bike fits.

Measurements such as saddle height and position on the saddle rails are typically set to the millimetre by their mechanics, with some riders infamously sensitive to changes.

Riders will review their position regularly and fine-tune it to ensure maximum power output and comfort, whereas – albeit generally advised – this is less of a given for everyday riders.

Bike weight

The combination of top-spec frames and components means that many pro bikes will weigh close to the UCI’s 6.8kg weight limit, particularly for mountain stages. 

On flatter stages, pros may be prepared to sacrifice some extra weight in favour of aero gains, although even then it’s unlikely that a modern aero bike in pro spec will weigh much over 7.5kg, even in a larger size and when fitted out with pedals, bottle cages and a computer mount.

Cleaning

Each pro team is backed up by almost as many bike mechanics as it has riders. After each stage, bikes and their drivetrains will be thoroughly cleaned and checked to ensure everything is in perfect condition and alignment.

Components such as chains and cassettes may be swapped out and bar tape is often replaced between stages too. 

It's like riding a new bike, every day.

Price

The top-spec bikes sold by teams’ bike sponsors, with top-spec wheels, groupsets and other components, come at a price. A typical Tour de France bike will cost upwards of £10,000 / $12,000, although there are exceptions. 

We reckon Pogačar‘s Colnago V5Rs would cost around £14,500 / $16,500 to buy, plus he’s also riding the even more expensive Y1Rs aero bike on flatter stages. He’ll have multiple bikes available too, in case he has to change bikes mid-race because of a mechanical issue.

That’s before you get onto the riders’ time trial bikes, which make their road bikes look cheap. Top-tier time trial bikes are sold frameset-only. Pogačar’s Colnago TT1 frameset starts at £6,500 / $8,100 for the frameset and Remco Evenepoel’s Specialized Shiv costs about the same.

Add top-spec one-piece wheels and a specialist groupset to that. Plus, top riders will have 3D-printed cockpits designed to match their arms and position perfectly. 

A typical time trial bike will cost well over £20,000 / $25,000. Each rider will have at least two and will only ride the bike for 33km on the stage 5 time trial – the second time trial on stage 13 is too steep for a time trial bike to be effective, because they're significantly heavier than road bikes.