pinarello tour de france

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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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 Winning Bikes by Year (1903 to 2023)

36 different bike brands won the Tour de France in 110 editions. In this article, cycling fan Alex Lee breaks down the top 12 bike brands that have won at least 3 times.

Jonas Vingegaard rode a Cervélo bike to his second Tour de France overall win in 2023 with SRAM Red eTap AXS electronic groupset and Reserve Wheels.

Depending on the stage profile, Jonas Vingegaard’s bike can be a Cervelo R5, S5, or P3.

• Cervélo R5 is an all-rounder, lightweight road race bike for the mountains.
• Cervélo S5 is an aero bike for the flat stages.
• Cervélo P5 is a time trial bike that Jonas rode to win the Stage 16 ITT.

Full specifications and setup of Jonas Vingegaard’s bike.

Cervelo bikes

2023 Cervelo R5 vs S5 vs Caledonia 5 vs Soloist

Cervelo S5 Frame Geometry (2018-2023)

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Pinarello – 15 wins

L’auto – 10 wins, peugeot – 10 wins, gitane – 9 wins, trek – 10 wins, alcyon – 7 wins, eddy merckx – 5 wins, automoto – 4 wins, bianchi – 3 wins, colnago – 3 wins, helyett – 3 wins, la sportive – 3 wins, tour de france winning bikes by year.

Throughout 110 editions (up to 2023), the Tour de France has been won by 36 different bike brands . Many of these brands are unknown to cycling fans today. Few bike brands, such as Colnago, Pinarello , Specialized , and Trek , are synonymous with cycling fans today.

The road bike industry has undergone massive change and innovation in the past 20 years by introducing new technologies such as electronic shifting , carbon fiber frames, disc brakes, and tubeless tires .

This article will go back in history and explore all the Tour de France winning bikes .

Pinarello has a long history in cycling, dating back to 19534, when it was founded by Giovanni Pinarello in Treviso, Italy. With 15 Tour de France wins, Pinarello is the most successful bike brand at the Tour de France.

Pinarello’s dominance at the Tour de France can be summed up in two eras.

• Mid-1990s. Miguel Indurain won four consecutive Tour de France from 1992 to 1995, followed by Bjarne Riis (1996) and Jan Ullrich (1997).
• Mid-2010s. Team Sky (Ineos-Grenadiers) won seven Tour de France with Bradley Wiggins (2012), Chris Froome (2013, 2015, 2016, 2017), Geraint Thomas (2018), and Egan Bernal (2019).

Today, Pinarello’s top-of-the-line bike is the Pinarello Dogma F .

L’Auto (now L’Equipe) is not a bike brand but the French newspaper that started the Tour de France in 1903.

From 1930 to 1939, Henri Desgrange, the newspaper’s owner, required all riders to paint their bikes’ downtube with L’Auto as part of the marketing campaign and publicity stunt to increase the race profile.

During that period, riders competed based on national teams, so there wasn’t any commercial conflict of interest.

Today, most of us know Peugeot as the French automotive brand. Peugeot started making bicycles way back in 1882 and won their first Tour de France with Louis Trousselier in 1905 and their last win came in 1977 with Bernard Thévenet.

In the past 50 years, the bicycle arm of Peugeot has gone through various ownership. Today it’s part of Cycleuope, which owns bike brands such as Bianchi and Gitane.

Here’s an interesting fact; Peugeot has a complete bike lineup from road to mountain, city, kids, and electric bikes.

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Gitane is a French bike brand synonymous with racing from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s. All nine of Gitane’s Tour de France wins occurred during this period with legendary French riders such as Bernard Hinault (4), Jacques Anquetil (2), Laurent Fignon (2), and Belgian Lucien Van Impe (1).

Today, Gitane is part of Cycleuope, which owns the Bianchi and Peugeot bike brands. Gitane produces mostly city and mountain bikes today. They don’t have much presence outside of France.

Founded in 1976, Trek is one of the leading bike brands today with its men’s and women’s World Tour teams.

Trek’s first Tour de France win was in 1999 by Lance Armstrong. For the next seven years until 2005, Lance Armstrong dominated the Tour de France, helping to raise Trek’s profile in the United States and worldwide. In 2012, all seven of Lance’s Tour de France wins were nulled.

Trek’s other three Tour de France wins were with Alberto Contador in 2007, 2009, and 2010 although the 2010 win was later nulled.

Trek offers the riders three types of road bikes; Trek Emonda (lightweight), Trek Madone (aero) and Trek Domane (endurance), and the Trek Speed Concept (TT).

Alcyon was a French bicycle, motorcycle, and automotive brand active from 1903 to 1954. They sponsored their own cycling team from 1905 to 1959 under different names such as Alcyon-Dunlop, Alcyon-Soly, Alcyon-Armor, and Alcyon-Leroux

Their first Tour de France win was in 1909 with François Faber, a Luxembourgian rider. Their last win was in 1929 with Belgian Maurice De Waele. From 1930 onwards, the Tour de France organizers required the teams to paint their bikes’ downtube with L’Auto, the newspaper that started the Tour de France.

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Eddy Merckx is no stranger to cycling fans. He’s widely known as the most successful cyclist of all time , winning the Tour de France (5 times), Giro d’ Italia (5 times), and 34 Tour de France stages .

The Eddy Merckx bike brand was only started in 1980 after he retired. Eddy Merckx was riding bikes built by Masi and Kessels with his name painted on the downtube for his five Tour de France wins.

In 2008, Eddy Merckx sold all his shares in the company to Sobradis, a Belgian holding company. In 2017, another Belgian company, Race Productions, which owns Ridley Bikes, took over Eddy Merckx after struggling with sales for the past decade.

Automoto was a French bicycle and motorcycle manufacturer that started in 1902. It was the dominant bike brand in the mid-1920s, with four consecutive Tour de France wins from 1923 to 1923 with three different riders.

In 1930, it was bought by Peugeot and sadly discontinued in 1962.

Bianchi is the oldest bicycle manufacturing company today. It was founded in Italy back in 1885 by Edoardo Bianchi who was a 21-year-old medical instrument maker.

All of Bianchi’s three Tour de France wins were achieved by Italian riders. Fausto Coppi won in 1949 and 1952 and Marco Pantini won in 1998. Bianchi was present at the World Tour with Team Jumbo-Visma (2014 to 2020) and Team BikeExchange (2021.

Team Arkea-Samsic will ride the Bianchi Oltre (aero) and Bianchi Specialissima (lightweight) at the 2023 Tour de France.

Today, Bianchi bikes are known for their Celeste color, also known as Bianchi Green.

Colnago has a long history, dating back to 1952. It was founded by Ernesto Colnago near Milan, Italy. In May 2020, Chimera Investments LLC, based in the UAE, acquired a majority stake in Colnago.

Colnago’s first Tour de France win was in 1960 by Italian rider, Gastone Nencini. It was a long 60-year wait for their second win until Tadej Pogačar won two consecutive Tour de France in 2020 and 2021. He also won the Best Young Rider and Climber Classification in these two years riding the Colnago V3Rs .

In 2023, Tadej Pogačar will be riding the Colnago V4Rs in an attempt to win his third Tour de France General Classification .

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Helyett is a little-known French bicycle manufacturer started by the Picard brothers in 1926. It took its name from a lead character from a late 19th-century play, Miss Helyett, which is why the Helyett logo has a young women’s face on it.

Frenchman, Jacques Anquetil won three of his five Tour de France onboard a Helyett bike in 1957, 1961, and 1962.

La Sportive’s three Tour de France wins occurred right after World War 1, from 1919 to 1921. Right after the war, Europe was in bad shape and many bicycle manufacturers were either out of business or didn’t have the manufacturing capabilities.

The remaining brands include Alcyon, Armor, Automoto, Clément, La Française, Gladiator, Griffon, Hurtu, Labor, Liberator, Peugeot, and Thomann came together. They provided more than half the peloton with various bicycles and components so that the Tour de France can take place.

Once each brand recovered from the aftermath of World War 1, La Sportive disbanded in 1922.

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Alex Lee is the founder and editor-at-large of Mr. Mamil. Coming from a professional engineering background, he breaks down technical cycling nuances into an easy-to-understand and digestible format here.

He has been riding road bikes actively for the past 12 years and started racing competitively in the senior category during the summer recently.

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Gallery: Tour de France race winning bikes

Race winners from the last 20 years

This article first appeared on BikeRadar.com

With the start of the 2012 Tour de France just around the corner, we've decided to take a look back at the race's winning road bikes from the past 20 years. As expected, carbon fiber dominates the material landscape in more recent years, but you don't have to look too far back to find steel, aluminum and even metal matrices atop the podium.

2011: Cadel Evans' (BMC) BMC TeamMachine SLR01 and Impec

Australian Cadel Evans employed two different BMC road bikes during the 2011 Tour de France. His TeamMachine SLR01 used a more conventional modular monocoque carbon fiber construction but his Impec boasted a far more radical manufacturing method. Instead of using individual carbon plies laid into a mold, all the tubes were woven mechanically at BMC's factory in Grenchen, Switzerland. Each joint was held together by a molded carbon fiber clamshell lug.

Build kits were the same for both bikes, however, comprising a Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 electronic group punctuated by an SRM PowerMeter, Speedplay Zero pedals, a Fizik Antares saddle, Continental tires and Elite bottle cages. A wealth of gear from team sponsor Easton included carbon EC90 tubular wheels, a forged EA90 stem and a traditional-bend bar.

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

Like all Tour-winning bikes of the past decade, Andy Schleck's Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL3 was built around a carbon fiber chassis, although you'd barely know it judging by appearances. The entire frame and fork were covered in gleaming silver paint that did an admirable job of mimicking the look of metal. The bike was personalized with Luxembourg's country colors around the fork blades and on the sides of the top tube, and boasted a quartet of roaring lions.

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SRAM provided most of the build kit, including a Red group, and the wheels were Zipp carbon tubulars. The Specialized logo was found on the FACT carbon cranks and angle-adjustable forged aluminum stem. Completing the package were an FSA bar and seatpost, Prologo saddle, Veloflex tires, Speedplay Zero pedals, Tacx Tao Carbon cages and Gore Ride On sealed cables.

(Astana's Alberto Contador was the original winner of the 2010 Tour de France but the title was given to Schleck following the Spaniard's positive test for clenbuterol.)

2009: Alberto Contador's (Astana) Trek Madone 6-Series

Alberto Contador's second Tour de France victory came aboard a custom Trek Madone 6-Series, which was exquisitely prepared by team mechanic Faustino Munoz. While Schleck's machine was all about Luxembourg, Contador's rig was more of a personal reflection, with the elaborate graphics paying tribute to his past conquests and even his trademark finish line salute.

In contrast to the paint job, the build kit was quite straightforward, including a complete SRAM Red group. A wealth of gear came from Trek subsidiary Bontrager, such as the Race XXX Lite shallow-profile carbon tubular wheels (deeper-section hoops were swapped in for flat stages), Race XXX Lite molded carbon stem and Race XXX Lite VR carbon handlebar. Capping things off were Hutchinson tubular tires, Look Keo 2 Max Carbon pedals, a Cane Creek headset and Contador's typical Selle Italia SLR saddle.

BikeRadar were on hand at that year's race, and we weighed Contador's bike – it was exactly 6.8kg (14.9lb), just as it should be for a climbing specialist.

2008: Carlos Sastre's (Team CSC-Saxo Bank) Cervélo R3-SL

Carlos Sastre took charge of the 2008 Tour de France with a convincing attack on stage 17, blitzing up the slopes of Alpe d'Huez on a Cervélo R3-SL. The lightest in Cervélo's range at the time, the R3-SL epitomized the company's R-series design philosophy at the time – rectangular-to-oval 'Squoval' tube profiles, exceptionally tiny seat stays and big-diameter chain stays, all wrapped in a bare-bones black-and-white paint scheme. Claimed frame weight was a paltry 800g or so.

That day, Sastre's Cervélo was the veritable definition of a pure climber's bike, with ultra-light Zipp 202 shallow-profile carbon tubular wheels for minimal rotating mass. Given the UCI's 6.8kg (14.99lb) rule, the rest of the gear didn't need to be spectacular to make weight. Strapped to the Cervélo frame and 3T fork were a Shimano Dura-Ace 7800 transmission and brakes, an FSA K-Force Light crankset with elliptical Rotor Q-Rings, a 3T cockpit, Prologo Scratch saddle and Speedplay Zero pedals.

2007: Alberto Contador's (Discovery Channel) Trek Madone Pro 5.2

Contador's Madone Pro 5.2 was a significant departure for Trek, who previously shunned the idea of a sloping top tube on their flagship carbon fiber road racer. In addition to the semi-compact geometry, Contador's Madone incorporated what was then a radically aggressive list of integrated features – a 90mm-wide bottom bracket with direct-fit cartridge bearings, a tapered head tube with similar drop-in bearing seats, ultra-wide chain stay spacing, a huge down tube profile and a novel no-cut semi-integrated seatmast.

Contador hadn't quite achieved superstar status at this point, so his bike was basic team issue, right down to the standard paint. Shimano provided the complete Dura-Ace 7800 group and pedals. Contador perched himself atop a San Marco Concor Light saddle, and Hutchinson provided tubular tires. The rest came from Trek house brand Bontrager, including the Race XXX Lite shallow-profile carbon wheels for climbing stages, the forged aluminum Race X Lite stem and anatomic-bend Race X Lite aluminum handlebar.

2006: Oscar Pereiro's (Caisse d'Epargne) Pinarello Prince

Caisse d'Epargne's Pinarello Prince machines have never been tough to spot, with their striking paint jobs and unmistakably curvaceous shapes. According to Pinarello, the distinctively bendy fork blades and seat stays lend a smoother and more surefooted ride, while the stout lower half provides a stiff foundation for efficient pedaling.

Caisse d'Epargne team bikes stuck tightly to the European theme in 2006, with complete Campagnolo Record 10-speed groups (Campag 11-speed wasn't launched until 2008) and matching carbon tubular wheels, Continental tires, Look Keo pedals and Selle Italia saddles. Pinarello also supplied the bars, stems and seatposts out of the company's MOst component range.

(Phonak's Floyd Landis was the original winner of the 2006 Tour de France but his title was stripped following a positive test for testosterone.)

1999-2005: The Lance years

Lance Armstrong's seven-year run of Tour de France victories was not only incredible from a racing point of view, it also marked a period of dominance for bike sponsor Trek and their carbon fiber Madone range. The same went for Shimano, whose Dura-Ace group was used each year.

Armstrong rode a prototype Madone SSLx in 2005. The bike's carbon structure was reinforced with boron fiber to boost stiffness. Weight savings were mostly achieved by drilling out the aluminum head tube inserts and dropouts, yielding a final figure below 1kg. Armstrong also made use of Bontrager's Race XXX Lite semi-anatomic carbon bar for the first time in 2005. According to Trek road bike marketing manager Scott Daubert, total bike weight was just 7kg (15.4lb) – an impressive figure for its day.

Though Trek's new Madone was introduced in 2003, Armstrong didn't use it in the Tour de France until 2004 – and even then it was only without the 'aero wing' on the back of the seat tube used on consumer bikes. The boron-free fiber lay-up was covered in a custom Project One finish called 'Pata Negra'. Aside from the anatomic-bend aluminum bend – 2004 was the last year Armstrong would use it – the rest of the build kit was largely identical to that used in 2005.

Armstrong didn't use the first-generation Madone in 2003 because it "was built with the wrong chain stays and it felt odd to him", Daubert said. Instead, Armstrong stuck to his tried-and-true Trek 5500, below, with a claimed frame weight of 980g. This chassis was also used in 2002.

This was the bike that became famously ensnarled in a spectator's errant musette bag strap, sending the Texan tumbling in 2003's stage 15 to Luz Ardiden. Euskaltel-Euskadi rider Iban Mayo hit Armstrong's fallen bike – breaking the driveside chain stay – but it still managed to finish the stage. According to Daubert, that bike is now hanging in the Trek lobby.

2003 was also the first year Armstrong used Shimano's new 10-speed Dura-Ace group in the Tour, swapping in a front down tube shifter for mountain stages in order to save a few grams. Total bike weight was reputed to be around 7.2kg (15.9lb).

For 2000-2001, Armstrong used Trek's 5900 model, which borrowed an oversized lower headset cup and subtly tapered steerer design from then-subsidiary Klein. This model was built with what was then Trek's lightest 'OCLV 110' carbon fiber. This was the last year for Shimano's 9-speed Dura-Ace group, and Armstrong was still on Mavic wheels then too.

Armstrong's first Tour de France win in 1999 came aboard Trek's 5500 model – it was the first time a rider raced the Tour on a carbon bike from start to finish, according to Trek. It would be another year until the UCI instituted their 6.8kg (14.99lb) minimum bike weight rule, and 1999 was the the last year Armstrong would race with a threaded headset. Daubert told us that Armstrong's bike, seen below, weighed 8.6kg (18.9lb).

1998: Marco Pantani's (Mercatone Uno) Bianchi Mega Pro XL Reparto Corse

You have to go back in time a full 14 years to find the last non-carbon bike used to win the Tour de France – a Bianchi Mega Pro XL built in the company's heralded Reparto Corse race shop from shaped and butted Dedacciai 7000-series aluminum tubing configured in a number of custom geometries to suit the whim of Marco Pantani, 'Il Pirata'.

Pantani's climbing prowess was the stuff of legend at the time, as was his climbing style (often out of the saddle and in the drops) and gearing selection (stuff most riders would only consider for flat terrain). Like Armstrong, Pantani often ran a front down tube shifter to save weight on mountain stages. Aside from that, though, the equipment was fairly standard: a Campagnolo Record 9-speed group, Campagnolo shallow-profile aluminum tubular wheels, an ITM bar and stem and a custom embroidered Selle Italia saddle.

Total bike weight varied from stage to stage but quoted figures hover around 8.1kg (17.9lb).

1997: Jan Ullrich's (Team Telekom) Pinarello Paris

Like Pantani's Bianchi, Jan Ullrich's Pinarello Paris was a custom TIG-welded aluminum affair but with Columbus tubing instead of Dedacciai. Campagnolo featured heavily, with a complete Record group (including original-shaped Ergopower levers) and what were then considered deep-section aluminum tubular wheels.

Ullrich would switch later in the race to carbon tubular wheels (graced with giant 'Campagnolo' and 'Bora' decals) that were reported to have been made in Munich, Germany, by then upstart Lightweight.

Finishing kit included Time pedals, an anatomic-bend 3T aluminum bar and a 3T forged aluminum threadless stem for a total reported weight of about 9kg (19.8lb).

1996: Bjarne Riis's (Team Telekom) Pinarello Keral Lite

Bjarne Riis's 1996 Tour de France machine marked Pinarello's brief experiment in aluminum metal matrix composites. The Keral Lite frame was built with round tubes instead of shaped ones (metal matrix of that vintage was fairly brittle and tough to work with) and the joints were TIG welded. Typically for the time, the front end boasted a threaded 1in steerer.

Equipment included a Campagnolo Record group with Ergopower levers, a mix of both aluminum and carbon tubular rims (the latter supposedly supplied by Lightweight), a 3T traditional-bend aluminum handlebar and quill stem, Look clipless pedals and an original Selle Italia Flite saddle.

1991-1995: Miguel Indurain's (Banesto) custom Pinarellos

Miguel Indurain's five-year reign over the Tour de France comprised the bulk of what would be Pinarello's golden age. Adding on the victories of Riis and Ullrich, Pinarellos would dominate the race for seven years straight.

Indurain used the same Keral Lite TIG-welded metal matrix aluminum composite frame model in 1995 as Riis did in 1996, with the only major differences being geometry and paint. Also like Riis, Indurain used Campagnolo componentry.

1994 would be the last year the Tour de France was won on a steel bike, this time an Oria-tubed, TIG-welded machine badged as a Pinarello but rumored to have been made under contract by legendary Italian builder Dario Pegoretti. According to Pinarello, Indurain always rode a 59cm-square frame geometry, but this particular version boasted a top tube that was dropped by 2cm to create a smaller and more compact front triangle, the aim being increased stiffness.

There were also an extra 2cm of headset spacers to accommodate Indurain's slightly more upright position, which Pinarello said he faithfully maintained across the 15 years he rode for the brand. Indurain rode the same bike, shown below, in 1993. Claimed weight was about 9kg (19.8lb).

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Retro Pro Bike: Jan Ullrich’s Pinarello Paris

It took 84 years for a German cyclist’ to win the Tour de France and Jan Ullrich’s 1997 victory remains the first and the last one for Germany to this day.

Campagnolo featured heavily, with a complete Record group (including original-shaped Ergopower levers) and what were then considered deep-section aluminum tubular wheels.

Ullrich would switch later in the race to carbon tubular wheels that were reported to have been made in Munich, Germany, by then upstart Lightweight.

Finishing kit included Time pedals, an anatomic-bend 3T aluminum bar and a 3T forged aluminum threadless stem for a total reported weight of about 9kg (19.8lb).

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In the interests of accuracy “Jan Ullrich’s 1997 Pinarello Paris was a custom TIG-welded aluminum affair with [Dedacciai] tubing”. (The Dedacciai decals are on the bike) The bike in the photos is a 1997 season bike, but not the one ridden by Ullrich in the Tour De France. The original had slightly different decal placement and fork.

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The Hottest Aero Bikes of the Tour de France - Specialized, Canyon, Pinarello & Cervelo

First Published Jul 4, 2022

The Tour de France is a great place to see the fastest road bikes being ridden by the best riders in the world. But which are the best of the best? Here are our top picks.

Specialized Tarmac SL7

Now, you’re just going to have to trust us when we say that we came up with this list before the race had started in Copenhagen. Our first pick was always going to be the Specialized Tarmac SL7 because the fastest rider in the race is undoubtedly Fabio Jakobsen.

His acceleration in the final 50m of the opening road stage was devastating. You just shouldn’t be able to win sprints from that position, but the Dutchman did and it crowned a difficult return to the top of bike racing for the rider that the world nearly lost to a terrible crash in Poland.

His bike is standard team-issue with a Shimano Dura-Ace R9200 groupset and Roval Rapide CLX II wheels.

> Review: Roval Rapide CLX

For the fast sprints of the opening stages, riders have commonly opted for massive chainrings in previous editions of the Tour de France. As far as we know, Shimano officially doesn’t yet have anything bigger than the standard 54T chainring for its new Dura-Ace 12-speed groupset, but we’ve seen Astana riders using 11-speed chainrings with the new 12-speed stuff so that seems to be an option if riders want to go bigger.

> Review: Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL7

That said, the opening two sprints haven’t been overly fast, so the standard 54T chainring will likely have been big enough.

Mounted onto Jakobsen’s Roval Rapide CLX II tubeless-ready wheels is a set of mystery S-Works tyres. We first spotted these in the opening races of the year, so it won’t be long before this new tubeless tyre from Specialized is official.

If you’ve got a spare £13,200, you can go out and buy exactly the same bike as Jakobsen. But you can’t buy his explosive kick or his fearless sprinter’s brain.

The Cervelo S5 underwent a redesign at some point during the winter with the Canadian brand seemingly keen to take advantage of the UCI’s relaxation of the frame design rules. A lot of the tubes have become deeper, but if you want a more in-depth look at the new frame, check out Mat’s article from before the Tour got underway.

Van Aert has been counting the seconds so far in the race and we’re not talking about time. The Belgian superstar has netted 3 2nd place stage finishes, which is a slightly unfortunate record that no one has achieved since the 1930s.

> Review: Vittoria Corsa Speed TLR Tyres

His bike features a few interesting component choices, most notably the tyres, which are the Vittoria Corsa Speed tubeless model rather than the standard G2.0 road race tyre. The Corsa Speed is generally reserved for time trials as it is quite delicate and not the best in the wet.

The Jumbo-Visma S5 features a Shimano Dura-Ace R9200 Di2 groupset with 54/40T chainrings, an 11-30T cassette and 140/160mm rotors. Fizik saddles sit atop the carbon seatpost and the front end features a very smart integrated cockpit.

Canyon Aeroad

Under the likes of Mathieu van der Poel, any bike is going to be pretty speedy, but the Canyon Aeroad will likely net a fair few stage wins and possibly even some time in the Yellow Jersey.

> Check out Van der Poel's Canyon Aeroad

The Aeroad is being used by 3 teams in this year’s race with Alpecin-Deceuninck, Movistar and Arekea-Samsic all racing on the aero machine.

Alpecin’s and Arkea’s builds are remarkably similar with full Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 12-speed groupsets and Dura-Ace wheels. While Alpecin uses Vittoria tyres and generally look to be riding tubeless throughout the team, Arkea has tubular continental tyres.

Movistar, meanwhile, are sponsored by SRAM and so they get the Red eTap AXS groupset and Zipp wheels.

> 25 of the best SRAM Red eTap AXS bikes from Specialized, Canyon, Trek, Cannondale and more

Oh, and those teams are ones to keep an eye on as we expect to see a new Canyon Ultimate appear when the race heads into the mountains.

Pinarello Dogma F

The Pinarello Dogma F might not be the first bike that you think of when it comes to a roundup of the hottest aero bikes given that Ineos don’t have a sprinter, but in Filippo Ganna, they have a rider that could rip the race to pieces.

The Dogma F is, like the Tarmac SL7, the one bike that Pinarello provides to the pros for all road stages. Ineos kits their bikes out with full Shimano Dura-Ace R9200 Di2 grouspets and the 12-speed system is matched with Dura-Ace wheels.

Interestingly, Ineos is now a team that is fully on board with disc brakes and tubeless tyres. The riders will be rolling on the Continental GP5000S TR tyres and most riders look to be running 28mm rubber.

> Check out the tech behind the Dogma F here

Which is your favourite? Let us know in the comments below.

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Tour de France bikes 2023: who’s riding what?

All the bikes and tech on display at the 2023 Tour De France

Jean Catuffe/Getty Images

Paul Norman

The 2023 Tour de France covers 3,404km (2,115 miles) over its 21 stages. That’s 54km more than last year’s Tour.

However, the bigger news is that time trial kilometres are down from two time trials totalling 53km last year (including the Prologue) to just one at 22.4km this year. It finishes at 974m in altitude and has a 2.5km Cat 2 climb to the finish, with an average 9.4 per cent gradient.

For several years, there's been an individual time trial on the penultimate stage, but this year, it’s on the Tuesday of the final week.

Given how a time trial can upset the final result, as in the 2023 Giro d’Italia, or cement it, as in last year’s Tour, it’s a surprising move.

That means the teams’ road bikes are increasingly to the fore. As usual, there’s some very flashy tech on show and we can expect more to be announced in the run-up to the Grand Départ and probably to be unearthed by the sharp-eyed as the race proceeds.

Read on for a complete list of the bikes in this year’s Tour de France, along with the kit they’re fitted with, and our pick of some of the new bikes and tech to keep an eye out for at the 2023 Tour de France .

Also check out our guide to prize money in this year's race, our explainer on leaders jerseys , a comprehensive Tour de France jargon buster and our round-up of how to watch the Tour , wherever you are in the world.

Tour de France 2023 bike brands

The 2023 Tour de France peloton is made up of 22 teams of eight, 176 riders in total. The 18 WorldTour squads receive an automatic invitation to compete, while four second-tier Pro Continental teams get a wildcard invitation. Between them, 19 bike brands are represented.

That’s two up on last year’s Tour, although the majority of brands are the same as in last year’s race. Even Ridley and Factor, who saw their teams demoted to the UCI’s second division, are back this year thanks to wildcard invitations for Lotto-Dstny and Israel-Premier Tech respectively.

New bike brands this year are Bianchi, Look and Dare, while out this year is De Rosa. Specialized continues to sponsor three teams, as in 2022, but Canyon is down from three to two.

Bianchi was absent last year, but is back with Arkéa-Samsic. It had its first race win back in 1899 and its bikes were ridden by Fausto Coppi, Felice Gimondi and Marco Pantani as well as a who’s who of other top-drawer racers, so it’s a prestigious return for the brand. On the other hand, De Rosa is an equally famous name from cycling’s past that has departed the Tour.

Bike brands represented at the 2023 Tour de France:

• Bianchi : Team Arkéa-Samsic
• BMC : AG2R Citroën Team
• Cannondale : EF Education-EasyPost
• Canyon : Alpecin-Deceuninck, Movistar Team
• Cervélo : Jumbo-Visma
• Colnago : UAE Team Emirates
• Cube : Intermarché-Circus-Wanty
• Dare : Uno-X Pro Cycling
• Factor : Israel-Premier Tech
• Giant : Team Jayco-AlUla
• Lapierre : Groupama-FDJ
• Look : Cofidis
• Merida : Bahrain Victorious
• Pinarello : Ineos Grenadiers
• Ridley : Lotto-Dstny
• Scott : Team DSM-Firmenich
• Specialized : Bora-Hansgrohe, Soudal-QuickStep, TotalEnergies
• Trek : Lidl-Trek
• Wilier Triestina : Astana-Qazaqstan

Read on for more details of each team’s bikes, wheels and other kit.

What’s new in Tour de France tech?

New bike launches.

Since last year’s Tour, the Colnago Prototipo ridden to second place by Tadej Pogačar has finally become the Colnago V4Rs and been released for us to review – and anyone with deep enough pockets to buy.

Rather like the Colnago, the new Look 795 Blade RS ridden by Team Cofidis has been in plain sight for months, but was only officially launched earlier in June.

Its profile is similar to many other pro bikes with front-end integration, aero tubes and dropped seatstays, but is a departure from Look’s previous pro-level race bikes.

As per the usual playbook, Look says the new bike is stiffer and more aero.

There are more subtle changes to the Canyon Aeroad . Canyon has yet to announce details, but there are slight changes to the tube profiles and the seatpost clamp has moved from the rear of the seat tube to the top of the top tube.

The changes to the Cannondale SuperSix EVO are equally small but significant, with the fourth generation of the bike lighter and more aero – and in LAB71 format significantly more expensive.

Other new bikes bubbling under include an update to the Factor O2 VAM , BMC's new aero road bike and a new Ridley bike , also aero.

One thing all these bikes have in common is there's not a cable or brake hose in sight. In part, that's down to all the groupsets ridden now having wireless connections between the shifters and the derailleurs.

It's also due to the brake hoses running exclusively internally. Since they're invariably hydraulic, there's no loss of braking efficiency, however sharp the bends and no matter how convoluted the routing becomes.

Tubeless wheels and tyres have mostly taken over

Almost all teams are now running tubeless tyres in place of the pros’ favourite tubulars. There are good reasons for this beyond the lack of potentially carcinogenic and addictive solvents in the tub cement (more of an issue for the team mechanics than the riders).

Matej Mohorič of Bahrain Victorious has claimed tubeless tech can lower rolling resistance by up to 15 watts per tyre. Paired with the latest aero wheel designs, that’s a huge margin.

You’re also less likely to need a wheel swap at a crucial point in the race, with sealant helping to cope with punctures, although unlike tubs you can’t ride a flat tyre to the finish or while waiting for the team car to give you a wheel swap.

28mm tyres are also increasingly taking over from 25mm, even on the smooth tarmac generally enjoyed on the Tour. Riders often sub in time trial tyres for road tyres, due to their lighter weight, although they in general offer less puncture protection than the best road bike tyres .

One team that has remained on tubs is Astana-Qazaqstan, although it’s in the process of swapping from Corima wheels that don’t offer a tubeless rim, to HED which does.

Component choices

As in previous years, Shimano dominates the teams’ drivetrain choices, with just three teams on SRAM (Jumbo-Visma, Movistar, Lidl-Trek) and one (AG2R-Citroën) on Campagnolo – one down on 2022 with the defection of UAE Team Emirates to Shimano at the beginning of 2023.

There's more on Campagnolo Super Record below, but an unlaunched update to SRAM Red AXS has been spotted. With SRAM focusing on the launch of its updated Force AXS groupset earlier in 2023, it seems likely that a new version of Red AXS will be announced sooner rather than later.

We've seen an increasing acceptance of single chainrings in races earlier in the season, such as Paris-Roubaix , and that may extend to flatter stages in the Tour, when the small chainring is little used.

Expect 2x setups to take over in the mountains again though, yet even there Primož Roglič showed that a single ring with a wide-range cassette was a winning option.

There’s more variation in wheels than drivetrains, with the aforementioned Corima and HED, as well as Reserve, Vision, DT Swiss, Roval, Newmen, Black Inc, ENVE, Bontrager, Zipp and Cadex all represented.

Campagnolo goes wireless

Campagnolo is providing its Super Record groupset to just one team this year, AG2R Citroën. However, it has dispensed with wires, with the recent launch of the new Super Record Wireless groupset.

As with SRAM Red AXS , the consumer version of Super Record Wireless uses smaller chainrings paired to cassettes starting with a 10-tooth sprocket and rising to just 29 teeth as the largest sprocket option. However, the pros are likely to stick to closer ratios for all but the toughest stages.

There are a couple of interesting things to watch out for here: first, are all the riders using the latest Wireless groupset?

When Shimano Dura-Ace went 12-speed last year, there were still teams using the older 11-speed Dura-Ace long after the official launch, due in large part to the new groupset’s scarcity.

Will Campagnolo have got its manufacturing and distribution ducks in a row better than Shimano?

Second, with SRAM Red AXS, there are a series of chainring options designed specifically for the pros, which are larger than the chainrings on the complete cranksets available for consumer purchase.

That’s partly because pros like to push larger gears at their elevated riding speeds (winner Jonas Vingegaard averaged over 42kph throughout the entire Tour last year).

It’s also because the chainline and the degree of curvature of the chain as it passes over the jockey wheels and cassette make small, but significant, differences in drivetrain friction. Therefore, riding in a larger sprocket nearer the middle of the cassette is an easy marginal gain. It’s also the reason why OSPW systems are used by the pros.

Will we see AG2R Citroën riders using larger chainrings, perhaps borrowed from the previous generation of Super Record, with Campagnolo Super Record Wireless at the Tour?

Tour de France 2023 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) too are on top-spec bikes and equipment – there’s no second best here.

Read on for a breakdown of who’s riding what.

AG2R Citroën Team (ACT)

• Framesets: BMC Teammachine SLR01/Timemachine Road/Timemachine (TT)
• Drivetrain: Campagnolo Super Record Wireless
• Wheels: Campagnolo Bora WTO/WTO Ultra
• Finishing kit: BMC, Power2Max, Look, Pirelli, Fizik, Elite, Wahoo

Alpecin-Deceuninck (ADC)

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

Astana-Qazaqstan (AST)

• Bikes: Wilier Triestina Filante SLR/0 SLR/Turbine (TT)
• Groupset: Shimano Dura-Ace/SLF Motion jockey wheels and bottom bracket
• Wheels: Corima/HED
• 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

Bora-Hansgrohe (BOH)

• Bikes: Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL7/Shiv (TT)
• Wheels: Roval
• Finishing kit: Roval, Specialized, Wahoo

Cofidis (COF)

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

EF Education-EasyPost (EFE)

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

Groupama-FDJ (GFC)

• Bikes: Lapierre Xelius SL 10.0/Aircode DRS/Aérostorm DRS (TT)
• Wheels: Shimano Dura-Ace / PRO
• Finishing kit: PRO, Continental, Prologo, Elite, Garmin

Ineos Grenadiers (IGD)

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

Intermarché-Circus-Wanty (ICW)

• 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 / O2 VAM / Hanzo (TT)
• Groupset: Shimano Dura-Ace/FSA chainset
• Wheels: Black Inc
• Finishing kit: Black Inc, Rotor, Maxxis, Selle Italia, CeramicSpeed, SwissStop, Elite, Hammerhead

Jumbo-Visma (TJV)

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

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: Ridley Noah Fast Disc/Helium SLX Disc/Dean Fast (TT)
• Groupset: Shimano Dura-Ace/Cema bearings
• Wheels: DT Swiss
• Finishing kit: Deda, 4iiii, Vittoria, Selle Italia, Tacx, Garmin

Movistar Team (MOV)

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

Soudal-QuickStep (SOQ)

• Bikes: Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL7/Roubaix/Shiv (TT)
• Finishing kit: Roval, Specialized, CeramicSpeed, Tacx, Supercaz, Garmin

Team Arkéa-Samsic (ARK)

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

Team DSM-Firmenich (DSM)

• Bikes: Scott Foil RC/Plasma 5 (TT)
• Wheels: Shimano Dura-Ace
• Finishing kit: Syncros, Vittoria, Elite, Wahoo

Team Jayco-AlUla (JAY)

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

TotalEnergies (TEN)

• Finishing kit: Roval, Specialized, Tacx, Garmin

UAE Team Emirates (UAD)

• Bikes: Colnago V4Rs/K.one (TT)
• Wheels: ENVE
• Finishing kit: Colnago, Look, Continental, Prologo, Elite, Wahoo

Uno-X Pro Cycling (UXT)

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

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