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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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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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Results have arrived, the history of tour de france bike tech.

Pure talent isn’t enough to win the Tour de France. You need a fast bike too (just ask Greg LeMond!). This is the history of aero, carbon fiber, and electronic drivetrains, plus a look at future tech like 1x drivetrains and graphene.

Written by: Bruce Lin

Published on: Jun 26, 2023

Posted in: Road

Pure talent isn’t enough to win the Tour de France . To compete against the world’s best, you need a good team, some good luck, and a very, very good bike . For bike nerds, the Tour is the best place to see the latest and greatest bike tech in action.

The basics of a road race bike haven’t changed — two wheels, a frame, and pedals. The bicycle has evolved a lot in 120 years, but over the last 30, there have been huge leaps forward in bike design and construction. These technological shifts have shaped modern Tour de France bikes into the pedal-powered rocket ships they are today.

As we watch the Tour and ogle the flashy new bikes , let’s look back at the history behind three of the biggest technological shifts in the Tour: aerodynamics , carbon fiber , and electronic drivetrains . We’ll also take a quick peek at three pieces of new tech we’ll see on Tour de France winning bikes in the future.

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The Age of Aero: Aero Road Bikes

Since the late 1800s, cyclists have understood that air resistance is the greatest force to overcome. Drop handlebars were perhaps the original aero component, allowing riders to get in lower positions. The first aerodynamic disc wheel dates all the way back to 1895. And in the early 1900s, riders were trying to set the hour record using bikes equipped with aerodynamic fairings before the UCI outlawed them.

Largely due to the UCI’s restrictive regulations, aero bike design stagnated for decades. But in the early 1970s, bike builders began experimenting with aerodynamic frame tubing and designs that could fit within the regulations.

Aerodynamics finally reached the tipping point in the 1989 Tour de France. American Greg LeMond trailed French rider Laurent Fignon by 50 seconds. Commentators thought this deficit was too large for LeMond to close. So, with nothing to lose, LeMond made the bold decision to put aero bars on his bike and to wear an aero helmet for the final time trial.

LeMond’s critics called these new devices ugly and unsafe, questioning if they would make any difference. But he won the stage and, more importantly, beat Fignon in the general classification by eight seconds — the smallest winning margin in history. With an average speed of 54.545kp/h (34.52mph), it was also the fastest time trial ever ridden in the Tour.

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This was the beginning of the aero revolution. Aero bars and aero helmets are now standard equipment in time trials.

Steel was the de facto frame material for over 100 years, but aero steel tubing never really caught on due to the cost, weight, and fabrication challenges. Manufacturers began experimenting with aluminum and carbon fiber frames that were lighter and easier to form, allowing designers to create competitive frames with deep airfoil-shaped tubes.

In 2001, Canadian brand Cervélo introduced the Soloist, which claimed to be the first, true aero road bike. With its “crushed tube” shaping, the Soloist claimed to have 4-6x less drag than traditional round-shaped tubes found on other bikes at the time. Radical geometry adjustments such as shortening the top tube while keeping a consistent seat tube angle helped the rider achieve an aero-optimized riding position as well. Until then, aero frame designs had mostly been limited to track, time trial, and triathlon bikes. In 2003. Cervélo sponsored Team CSC, and several CSC riders used the Soloist on flat stages of the Tour.

The Soloist may seem tame now, but at the time, many were shocked by the enormous three-inch-wide down tube, and the prominent airfoil tube shapes.

Not only did it have groundbreaking aerodynamics, but the early model was one of the few aluminum frames that achieved success against carbon fiber rivals, with a claimed weight of 16 pounds (more on that later). American Bobby Julich used the aluminum Soloist to win Criterium International and Paris-Nice in 2005.

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Aero designs also received a boost when the UCI introduced the 6.8 kg (14.99 lb) minimum weight limit for racing bikes in 2000, still in place today . Bike manufacturers were already able to build bikes below the weight limit — the lightest frames weighed around 700g — but with the new restriction, riders couldn’t use them in competition. Thus, advantages needed to be found elsewhere. Chasing aerodynamic gains was the obvious answer.

Aero bikes like the Specialized Venge, first released in 2011 , took off in popularity, especially after Mark Cavendish and Peter Sagan rode them to several stage victories in the Tour. With its “teardrop-shaped tubes” and a claimed weight of 15 pounds, thanks to FACT 11r carbon, the Venge was the company’s first aero-specific superbike. 

Now manufacturers spend large amounts of time and money on computational fluid dynamics and wind tunnel testing to develop new, more slippery bikes.

“Other than fitness, aerodynamics is the most important single factor that influences your speed on a road bike,” says Mio Suzuki, Senior R&D Engineer leading aerodynamics at Specialized. “As low as 13mph you’ll begin to see speed benefits. Pros riding 20-30mph see an even bigger benefit. There's no question, [aero bikes] definitely make you faster.”

Even GC-winning all-rounders like the Specialized Tarmac and the Pinarello Dogma use extensive wind tunnel testing and aero shaping to gain a subtle advantage. With an increase in aero-optimized performance across all their road bikes, Specialized eventually dropped the Venge in their lineup as the Tarmac SL7 took over the top spot as their aero-race bike in 2022. To stay competitive in the modern Tour de France peloton, all bikes have to use some form of aero shaping.

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Lighter, Stronger, Faster: The Rise of Carbon

The last non-carbon bike to win the Tour de France was Marco Pantani’s aluminum Bianchi Mega Pro XL Reparto Corse in 1998. The Mega Pro XL weighed a mere 15 pounds, utilizing titanium parts and tubular wheels. For the last 20 years, carbon fiber has dominated professional cycling. Now, every bike in the Tour de France peloton is carbon, and that probably won't change.

Carbon fiber originated in the aerospace industry. It's made of loose fibers composed of carbon atoms that are suspended in resin. As mentioned earlier, carbon is a perfect material for constructing lightweight aero frames because it’s easy to form into complex aerodynamic shapes.

But there’s more to the story than that. Carbon is extremely strong for its weight, and it can be engineered to behave differently in different directions. You can design a carbon frame to be rigid in a specific direction, or rigid torsionally, while still having compliance in a different direction.

"There is absolutely no doubt that, as a structural material, carbon is the best one for bicycles,” says Sam Pickman, director of product at Allied Cycle Works . “If you want to change how a metal bike feels, you have very little variables to play with. You have the thickness of the material and tube size.”

“With carbon, you unlock a whole different world,” Pickman says. “What it allows you to do is change and tweak the characteristics that affect how a bike feels along the tube to hone it to do pretty much whatever you want it to do. It just gives you an unbelievable amount of control."

Carbon bikes can be designed to have desirable properties like aero shaping, light weight, and targeted stiffness, without compromising strength or comfort. Comfort may not seem like the most important trait for pro riders, but it can help riders arrive at the finish with less fatigue from road vibration and impacts. That adds up over 21 days of racing.

Bike manufacturers like Peugeot in France and Kestrel in the U.S. began experimenting with carbon frames in the early 1970s. There was a steep learning curve and it would be several years before modern monocoque frames came to market.

French manufacturer, Look , made its first carbon frame, the KG 86, with a lugged construction. The carbon tubes were made by a French company, TVT, which combined Kevlar with layers of woven carbon fiber for additional strength. The tubes were then bonded with epoxy into aluminum lugs. The KG 86 achieved legendary status when Greg LeMond (yes, LeMond again!) rode it to victory in the 1986 Tour de France. It was the first carbon bike to win the Tour. The precise quality of this 100% handmade bike made it just as good to look at as it was to ride, with the claimed weight being 16 pounds. 

Steel and aluminum Pinarellos would dominate for the next decade, but after Marco Pantani’s 1998 Tour win, carbon came into fashion with the advent of Lance Armstrong. Though later stripped of his victories, Armstrong collected seven yellow jerseys aboard Trek ’s OCLV carbon fiber frames. OCLV stands for “Optimum Compaction Low Void” and refers to Trek’s process of placing carbon fiber sheets into a frame mold.

Armstrong won the 1999 Tour on a Trek 5500. (Interesting tidbit: Thanks to Armstrong, 1999 was also the first-ever Tour victory for a Shimano-equipped bike.) Armstrong continued using Trek's 5000 series OCLV carbon frames until the carbon Trek Madone was released in 2003 (though he didn’t race it in the Tour until 2004). The first Madone had an average weight of about 16 pounds, whereas the modern Madone weighs around 17 pounds depending on the size. Increased weights can be attributed to stronger carbon fiber layups and hydraulic disc brakes, a fair trade for powerful stopping capabilities, and increased frame stiffness. 

In the last 30 years, Carbon has proliferated far beyond the Tour and the bike frame into every major component of the bike in all disciplines of cycling. For example, aerodynamic carbon wheels are standard equipment for professional racers. You will see plenty of pro bikes with carbon stems, handlebars, and seatposts. Now, it’s unlikely that we will ever see a non-carbon bike win the Tour again. There is a chance though, we’ll see some new carbon composites win in the future, but more on that later.

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Battery-Powered: Electronic Drivetrains

Derailleurs have been around nearly as long as the bike itself. Derailleur systems were already being designed and built in the late 1800s, but Tour de France founder Henri Desgrange didn’t allow riders to use derailleurs in the Tour until 1937. He was afraid the technology would make the race too easy. Before derailleurs, riders had two cogs on their rear hub and they had to stop and flip the rear wheel around to change their gearing.

Until very recently, all derailleurs were actuated using cables. Then, in 2009, Shimano unveiled its Dura-Ace Di2 electronic drivetrain . SunTour, Mavic , and Campagnolo had all experimented with electronic drivetrains in the ‘90s and early ‘00s. But Dura-Ace Di2 was the first commercially viable electronic drivetrain. Shimano’s Di2 groupsets radically improved shifting with only a minor weight penalty of about 80g vs their mechanical counterparts. 

It ignited an electronic drivetrain revolution. Other manufacturers soon followed suit with Campagnolo releasing Super Record EPS and Record EPS in 2011, and SRAM releasing Red eTap in 2015.

For racing, electronic shifting provides a clear advantage.

“The biggest advantage is just how easy it is to shift,” says JP McCarthy, Road Product Manager for SRAM. “It may sound like a small thing, but cycling is a sport obsessed with marginal gains. Bikes are so good now that performance gains have to be squeezed out of the tiniest details. By making the act of shifting just a bit less physically or mentally demanding, an electronic drivetrain can allow riders to dedicate more focus and energy to other tasks like handling and producing power.”

Electronic groups also produce more consistent shifts.

“The [electric] motors on the derailleurs actuate at the same rate every time,” says Nick Legan, Road Brand Manager for Shimano North America. “You will hit the gear you want every time, perfectly. It does give you a competitive edge.”

“An electronic setup is actually exceptionally weatherproof,” says Legan. “You don’t have to worry about water, grit, and mud. As long as there's power in the battery, the shifting doesn't degrade.”

Despite these claims, many pros were initially hesitant to go electronic, fearing reliability issues. Then in 2011, Cadel Evans broke through . Not only did he become the first Australian to win the Tour, but he was the first to win with an electronic drivetrain. His BMC Teammachine SLR01 was equipped with Shimano Dura-Ace Di2, and he suffered no Di2-related mechanicals on his path to victory.

In 2012, Bradley Wiggins backed up this success by winning the Tour with a Dura-Ace Di2 equipped Pinarello Dogma 65.1. Amazingly, nine of the last ten Tours have been won using an electronic drivetrain (Vincenzo Nibali won in 2014 with a mechanical Campagnolo Super Record drivetrain).

With all the current Tour de France GC favorites on electronic drivetrains , it's clear that it’s the new standard.

“If you're looking for every little last performance advantage, electronic is the only way to go,” says Legan. “it is just a little bit faster, and a little consistent than a mechanical setup. At that level, it really matters.”

“The pros don't ride mechanical anymore,” says McCarthy. “At some point, you won’t see mechanical bikes winning any major races anymore.”

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What to look for in future of Tour de France bikes

1x drivetrains.

I've been talking up 1x road drivetrains for years, and we've already seen them make brief appearances in 1-day races and even Grand Tour stages. The big, and most recent example that I'm thinking of is Primoz Roglic , who switched to a 1x-equipped road bike for the Stage 20 uphill time trial in the 2023 Giro d'Italia. 

There will ALWAYS be 1x haters out there (plenty were quick to mock the chain drop Roglic experienced during his TT), but pro teams and racers aren't concerned with armchair engineers. They just want to go as fast as possible. In Roglic's case, he needed a bike perfectly set up to climb steep grades as fast as possible. The 1x drivetrain gave him super easy gearing, and helped him to overturn a 26-second deficit on Geraint Thomas to take the win.

Will 1x drivetrains work in every scenario? Heck no. They only make sense in purely uphill or purely flat stages (and TTs) where riders and mechanics can optimize the gearing for the stage. But since Grand Tours can be won and lost by a few seconds, it makes more and more sense to optimize bikes for single key moments. They may or may not show up in this year's Tour de France, but expect 1x road bikes to make plenty more cameos in the coming years. 

Tubeless tires

In 2019, Deceuninck–Quick-Step rider Fabio Jakobsen won a stage at the Tour of California on tubeless tires. This was a  historic win since tubular tires have been the standard in professional racing over 100 years. It's not just Quick-Step now. In the last 4 years, tubeless tires have made their way deeper into into the peloton.

Specialized sponsored teams like Quick-Step are using the brands super-fast S-Works Turbo RapidAir tire. The defending champs, Jumbo-Visma,  along with EF Education use Vittoria's Corsa Pro G2.0 tire. Ineos and UAE, the home of two-time winner Tadej Pogacar, are riding the Continental GP 5000 S TR this year. Many teams still run tubulars, but I would bet money that this year's Tour winner will ride the majority of the stages on a tubeless setup. 

Tubeless technology has already become the standard for mountain and gravel bikes, and the benefits for rolling resistance, puncture protection, and serviceability are hard to ignore. I suspect tubeless will become the top choice for top racers and the Tour de France in the near future.

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This is the big one. Graphene is a new, super-strong material that could change carbon frame construction as we know it. It’s an allotrope, or a different form of carbon (carbon can also take the form of diamond, graphite, and charcoal). Explained more simply, it is a single atomic layer of graphite arranged in a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice.

Its primary use in cycling would be as a carbon fiber additive. It improves strength because it chemically bonds to both the resin and the carbon fiber, increasing the “interfacial shear strength.” Instead of the resin and carbon fibers being separate, you get a single material that is stronger and more uniform.

Frames made using graphene will be stronger and weigh up to 50% less. Also, graphene is incredibly conductive. There is potential to build graphene circuitry into graphene bike frames so riders can have built-in electronic drivetrain wires, integrated sensors, or other electronics.

Some manufacturers are already experimenting with putting graphene in frames and other cycling components. But it will likely be several years before we see these products hit prime time in races like the Tour de France. The UCI will likely need to change its restrictive weight limit for riders and manufacturers to take full advantage of graphene.

What did I miss? What's your opinion on disc brakes and tubeless tires in the Tour? What new tech are you excited to see? Let us know in the comments!

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Tour de France pro bikes you can buy yourself — from Trek, Giant, Canyon, Merida, Bianchi, Pinarello, Colnago + Wilier

First Published Jul 2, 2023

The Tour de France is underway and here are some of the team bikes that you can buy yourself – as long as you’re willing and able to drop a whole lot of money on it. 

Bike brands often sell more affordable versions of models that sponsored teams ride, with spec downgrades to make price points, but that's not what we're covering here. No, these bikes are either virtually identical to those ridden in the Tour or have just a few differences. Essentially, they're of a similar level.

Sometimes there will be differences in components. A race team might have a deal with a certain manufacturer, for example, while the bike brand has commercial reasons for speccing product from a different company. Mainly, though, the components shown here are the same as you'll see used in the Tour

To keep things manageable, we’ve stuck with bikes that are finished in team livery or at least the same colours as the relevant team. If team colours don’t interest you, all of the framesets shown here come in other finishes too. 

Check out all of the bikes being raced in the 2023 Tour de France

Every frameset that you see in the Tour de France is commercially available, or it will be soon – that's one of the UCI's rules. Even if a bike brand doesn't offer a complete bike built up with the same components used by a particular team, you could put together a copy of anything ridden by the pros... as long as you're prepared to throw enough money at it. 

Here are bikes you can get your hands on that are the closest to those ridden by the pros at the Tour de France.

Alpecin-Deceuninck: Canyon Aeroad CFR Disc Di2 £8,799

Canyon offers its Aeroad CFR Disc Di2 in an Alpecin-Deceuninck finish. As the name suggests, it’s built up with a Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupset, which is what the team riders use.

The bike you can buy is specced with DT Swiss wheels and a Rotor ALDHU24 crankset and INspider power meter, whereas the pros are on Shimano all the way.

Canyon-SRAM:  Canyon Aeroad CFR eTap £9,999

Canyon also offers its Aeroad CFR in a Canyon-SRAM replica. As a UCI Women’s World Tour team, Canyon-SRAM will be racing the Tour de France Femmes which starts on 23rd July 2023. 

Canyon-SRAM riders use SRAM Red eTap AXS groupset components, including power meters, and Zipp wheels, all of which are found on this bike. The team uses Schwalbe tyres while you get Continental GP 5000s here, but the build is extremely close to what you’ll see the pros using.

Astana Qazaqstan Team: Wilier Filante SLR €11,300  and Wilier 0 SLR €11,300

The Wilier Filante SLR aero road bike (above) and the lightweight Wilier 0 SLR (below) are each available in gorgeous Astana Qazaqstan Team finishes, as well as various other paint jobs. They’re both available in several different component specs with prices starting at €8,400. 

Check out our Wilier Filante SLR review

A build including Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 – the groupset used by Astana Qazaqstan – will set you back €11,300.

> Check out Mark Cavendish’s Wilier Filante SLR

The spec also includes a Prologo saddle and Vittoria tyres, which is what the Astana boys use, although you’ll get Wilier’s own wheels, made with Miche, whereas the team bikes are fitted with Corima (or in some cases HED). That aside, this setup is close to the one you’ll see ridden in the Tour de France.

Bahrain Victorious: Merida Reacto Team £8,500  and Merida Scultura Team £8,000  

Although Bahrain Victorious riders are using Pearl White bikes for the Tour de France, you can buy both Merida Reacto aero road bike (above) and Scultura lightweight road bike (below) in standard team finishes. 

Read our review of the Merida Reacto Team-E 2021  

The Reacto and the Scultura frames are each available in a top-level CF5 version, as used by the pros, and in a cheaper and slightly heavier CF3 build. Both of the bikes above are CF5.

The component specs are extremely close to those used by the pros too, with Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupsets, Vision wheels, Continental tyres, and Prologo saddles. 

Check out our Merida Reacto 6000 review

The Scultura Team comes with a Merida handlebar and stem whereas Bahrain Victorious use FSA/Vision products, but that’s about the only significant deviation.

Lidl-Trek:  Trek Madone SLR 9 eTap Project One Icon £16,150  and Trek Emonda SLR 9 eTap Project One Icon £14,600  

Trek-Segafredo has just changed its name to Lidl-Trek and riders will race the Tour de France on bikes that feature Trek’s eight new Project One Icon paint schemes – Project One being Trek’s custom programme.

Former world champion Mads Pedersen, for instance, has a bike with a Chroma Ultra-iridescent finish, for example. That paint job is priced at £3,850… and then you have to factor in the price of the bike that goes underneath it. Even the least expensive Project One Icon finish is £1,650.

Trek’s Madone (above), which the US brand bills as its “fastest road race bike ever”, features IsoFlow technology – a huge hole in the seat tube, essentially – that’s said to provide an aerodynamic benefit and save weight.

Trek releases radical Madone SLR, its “fastest road race bike ever” 

Lidl-Trek uses SRAM Red eTap AXS groupsets and Bontrager wheels which you can choose through Project One, although you have to spec Bontrager tyres rather than the team’s Pirellis.

The Trek Emonda SLR AXS (above) – the lightweight road bike in the range – is also available in the new Project One Icon finishes.

If you’re happy to go without the super-posh finish, Trek Madone SLR 9 eTaps start at £14,500 through Project One and Trek Emonda SLR 9 eTaps cost from £12,950.

Ineos Grenadiers: Pinarello Dogma F Dura Ace Di2 Team Replica £12,400

If you’re a fan of Ineos Grenadiers, you can buy a Pinarello Dogma F in team colours… as long as you have a big stack of cash to throw at it.

Read our review of the Pinarello Dogma F Super Record EPS 2023

The bike is specced with a sponsor-correct Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupset. Although Ineos Grenadiers occasionally stray from Shimano for race wheels, this build comes with frequently used Dura-Ace C50s.

The saddle is a departure, though. Although that looks like a £400 Fizik Antares Versus Evo Adaptive 00 pictured, you’ll actually get one from Pinarello’s Most brand. The official spec shows Pirelli P Zero Race rather than Conti tyres too.

Arkea Samsic: Bianchi Oltre RC €13,849 

This one is a bit of a cheat because it’s not a team edition, it’s just that Arkea Samsic happens to use the Oltre RC in this colour scheme and with almost the same build: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupsets and wheels.

Okay, the pros use Continental tyres and Selle Italia saddles rather than the Pirelli and Bianchi options fitted here, but aside from the team logos, those are the only real differences.

Arkea Samsic will be riding the final stage of this year's race on the Bianchi Oltre RC Tour de France Limited Edition  (above).

> Bianchi introduces Tour de France Oltre RC road bike

Just 176 of these are available, that figure chosen because it's the number of riders starting this year's Tour. The price of these is €15,500 (around £13,280) + VAT.

Team DSM: Scott Foil RC Pro £10,499

Again, we’re bending the rules with this one. Rather than being a true team edition bike in a special finish, Team DSM just happens to go with standard Scott paintwork and a similar component spec. 

With a Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupset and wheels, Vittoria Corsa tyres, and pretty much everything else from the Scott-owned Syncros brand, the build on this stock model is almost exactly the same as the pros use. The only real difference is the lack of a Shimano Dura-Ace power meter, but you could always get that upgraded.

UAE Team Emirates: Colnago V4Rs frameset £4,999.95

Colnago offers its top-level V4Rs in a UAE Team Emirates finish. It’s not the most eye-catching finish ever – it’s pretty low key, to be honest – but you get a UAE flag on the seat tube, and red fork lowers with UAE Emirates logos.

Check out our review of the Colnago V4Rs 

Team Jayco Alula: Giant TCR Advanced SL Disc Team Frameset £2,999

You can’t buy a complete bike in a Team Jayco Alula finish in the UK, but you get the TCR Advanced SL Disc frameset – which is exactly the same as the pros use.

Getting it built up with a Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupset, Cadex wheels and Vittoria tyres would be easy enough with the usual proviso: you'll need a hefty wodge of cash to cover it.

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Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.

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Unfortunately with almost all of these you'll be obliged to buy them with handlebars about 10cm wider than the pros are running and no option to swap them for something narrower!

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Right, then you buy the bike and the team changes sponsor, colors or folds.. Then it's either dated or collectable just how you look at it..

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Tour de France bikes ranked: cheapest to most expensive

Which team has the most expensive bike in the Tour de France peloton?

Tom Hallam-Gravells

Online production editor.

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The Tour de France isn’t only cycling’s biggest race, it’s also one of the largest sporting events in the world, attracting the best riders who battle it out for the famous yellow jersey.

Competing at the race requires incredible talent, but riders also rely on the best bikes and most cutting-edge technology currently available. Naturally these bikes come with hefty price tags - ones that can’t be easily justified to any sceptical spouses - but just how much would a Tour de France bike set you back?

Alex and Ollie decided to rank every team’s bike from cheapest to the most expensive. They’ve only picked the drop-bar bikes that teams will use for the majority of stages and provided estimates of the costs.

These will vary to what’s commercially available as teams often use customised set-ups, but we can let them off if their estimates are slightly off.

22: Uno-X | Dare VSRu | £5600 / $7115

Debutants Uno-X boast the cheapest bike in the Tour de France peloton, the Dare VSRu with Shimano ’s Dura-Ace Di2 groupset.

Like the team, it’s a new brand to the Tour de France and probably one many may not have heard of, but the Taiwanese company has made inroads in the industry in recent years.

Velo Collection (Michael Steele) / Getty Images

Both Uno-X and Dare are making their Tour de France debuts.

21: Intermarché-Circus-Wanty | Cube Litening | £6543 / $8315

There’s a big jump from Uno-X to Intermarché-Circus-Wanty who ride Cube Litening bikes.

The team has an option of the Litening Aero or the lighter Litening Air. It combines these with Newmen wheels and Shimano components, plus fancy CeramicSpeed pulley wheels.

=19: Groupama-FDJ | Lapierre Xelius SL | £8000 / $10,150

We’re only three bikes in and we’ve already reached five figures in American dollars.

French team Groupama-FDJ has been partnered with Lapierre since 2002 and this season it's been riding the Xelius SL. That’s a long partnership in the world of cycling but the team has been using Shimano components for even longer, over 25 years. It’s the same again at the Tour de France with Shimano’s Dura-Ace groupset and wheels used across the bikes.

=19: Bahrain Victorious | Merida Reacto/Scultura Team | £8000 / $10,150

Next up is Bahrain Victorious who ride Merida Reacto and Scultura bikes along with Shimano components and Vision wheels.

Bahrain Victorious is a fairly new outfit, founded in 2017, and it's been partnered with Merida since its inception.

18: dsm-Firmenich | Scott Foil RC | £9199 / $11,750

dsm-Firmenich just breaches the £9000 barrier with its Scott Foil RC. Like many teams on this list, it uses Shimano components and wheels.

The French outfit first started riding Scott bikes in 2021 and since then its taken six Grand Tour stage wins, but none at the Tour de France. Will that change in 2023?

17: Alpecin-Deceuninck | Canyon Aeroad CFR | £9799 / $12,450

At the time of writing (on the first rest day), Alpecin-Deceuninck has been the most successful team at this year’s race, bagging a hat-trick of stage wins through sprinter Jasper Philipsen . Those victories came atop the Canyon Aeroad CFR which, once again, is specced with Shimano components and wheels.

© Velo Collection (TDW) / Getty Images

Philipsen and his Canyon bike have taken three stage wins (at the time of writing).

16: Movistar | Canyon Aeroad | £9999 / $12,750

Movistar similarly uses Canyon bikes but unlike Alpecin-Deceuninck, its are paired with SRAM ’s RED eTap AXS groupset and Zipp wheels. That brings up the cost slightly, falling £1 short of the £10,000 mark.

15: Israel-Premier Tech | Factor Ostro VAM | £10,500 / $13,350

We’re not even halfway through but the £10,000 barrier has already been breached courtesy of Israel-Premier Tech ’s Factor Ostro VAM.

Alongside the aero Ostro VAM, the team also rides the O2 VAM which was only recently released - and Factor says that it’s “the world’s fastest climbing bike”.

Factor says the new O2 VAM is "the world's fastest climbing bike".

14: Cofidis | Look 795 Blade RS | £10,600 / $13,500

It’s been a big Tour de France so far for French team Cofidis which picked up its first stage win at the race since 2008 after Victor Lafay triumphed on stage 2.

That victory came atop a Look bike who only partnered with Cofidis at the beginning of 2023, and it’s already proving to be a looky partnership.

Lafay ended Cofidis' long 15-year drought without a Tour de France win.

13: Lotto Dstny | Ridley Noah Fast/Helium | £10,700 / $13,650

Lotto Dstny is one of the oldest teams in the pro peloton, dating back to 1985. It's endured a difficult couple of years and was relegated from the UCI WorldTour at the end of 2022. As a result, it had to rely on an invite from the organisers but it received one and it's at the race riding Ridley bikes.

12: Arkéa-Samsic | Bianchi Oltre | £11,928 / $15,150

Arkéa-Samsic just misses out on the top 10 with its Bianchi Oltre.

Shimano is proving to be a popular option in this list so far and it's back again here too, with Arkéa-Samsic’s bikes specced with Shimano components and wheels.

11: Team Jayco AlUla | Giant Propel | £11,999 / $15,250

The eleventh most expensive bike falls agonisingly close to the £12,000 mark, clocking in at £11,999. That’s for Jayco AlUla ’s Giant Propels which are fitted with - you guessed it - Shimano groupsets plus CADEX wheels and tyres.

10: Ineos-Grenadiers | Pinarello Dogma F | £12,400 / $15,750

When we’ve previously compared the cost of pro bikes, Ineos Grenadiers ’ Pinarellos have always ranked much higher. This time the Pinarello Dogma F is only tenth on the list, although it still costs an eye-watering £12,400/$15,750.

Ineos Grenadiers has won seven Tours de France since partnering with Pinarello in 2010.

9: Astana Qazaqstan | Wilier 0 SLR | £12,480 / $15,860

Next up is Astana Qazaqstan which is unique from everyone on the list so far as it has two wheel sponsors, Corima and HED. These are used on the Wilier 0 SLR which, in Ollie’s opinion, has one of the coolest paint jobs at this year’s race.

=7: EF Education-EasyPost | Cannondale SuperSix EVO LAB71 /SystemSix | £12,500 / $15,885

EF Education-EasyPost has ridden Cannondale bikes since 2015 and that will continue for the foreseeable future after it agreed a new sponsorship deal on the first rest day of the Tour de France - although it strangely doesn’t have an end date.

The team currently has a choice of either Cannondale’s SuperSix EVO LAB71 or its aero offering, the SystemSix.

=7: Jumbo-Visma | Cervélo S5 | £12,500 / $15,885

Defending Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard and his Jumbo-Visma teammates ride Cervélo bikes, including the aero S5.

Simon Richardson managed to get his hands on Vingegaard’s bike ahead of the race and there were some interesting features.

=4: BORA-hansgrohe , TotalEnergies and Soudal Quick-Step | Specialized S-Works Tarmac | £13,000 / $16,520

The £13,000 barrier is breached by three teams who all use Specialized bikes along with Shimano groupsets.

They’re all also finished with Specialized finishing kit and componentry meaning that they all clock in at the same price of £13,000.

3: AG2R Citroën | BMC Teammachine | £13,800 / $17,540

AG2R Citroën claims the bottom spot on the podium with their BMC Teammachine. It's one of the rare teams on the list that also uses Campagnolo groupsets.

Alongside the Teammachine, the team’s riders are also using an unreleased prototype BMC . Not much is known about it but we managed to get our hands on Ben O’Connor ’s bike during the opening weekend of the race.

2: UAE Team Emirates | Colnago V4Rs | £14,000 / $17,800

Tadej Pogačar is hoping to reclaim the Tour de France title he lost in 2022 and he’s doing it atop a Colnago V4Rs. There are lots of cool features and components on the UAE Team Emirates bikes and Pogačar’s specifically is heavily customised.

1: Lidl-Trek | Trek Madone SLR 7 Gen 7 | £14,500 / $18,450

The most expensive bike at the 2023 Tour de France, according to our calculations, is Lidl-Trek ’s Trek Madone SLR 7 Gen 7.

The bike caught plenty of attention when it was released last year thanks to its unique seat tube which contains a hole at the top.

Other notable features include custom paint jobs with each rider getting to create their own design as a part of Trek’s Project One. The results are seriously cool as we found out when we encountered Mads Pedersen ’s bike.

Oliver Bridgewood

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PhD Chemist turned cycling enthusiast, bringing the lab coat to GCN Does Science

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Shimano is a bike component manufacturer based in Osaka, Japan. The company is one of the industry’s most popular manufacturers and it makes up around three-quarters of the bicycle component market by value.

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2023 rankings

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2023 Tour de France Bike Brands and Models Guide

The Tour de France is the pinnacle of professional cycling where bike manufacturers showcase their best equipments. Follow cycling expert, Alex Lee to discover the bikes and gear each team is using.

This article provides a detailed rundown of all the bikes and equipment used by the 22 teams competing in the 2023 Tour de France.

The Tour de France is cycling’s pinnacle event of the year. This represents the perfect opportunity for bike and equipment manufacturers to increase visibility. Many bike brands use the Tour de France to launch and showcase their latest products to cycling fans each year.

While all the bike frames are sponsored, not all other components, such as the groupset, wheelset, saddles, pedals, tires, and power meters, are sponsored. The teams who don’t have a sponsor for a particular component will buy their preferred brands. It’s often hard to differentiate between sponsored or purchased equipment.

Key takeaways

• Each team will have a choice of aero , lightweight , and TT bike depending on the stage’s profile. Colnago, Cube, Pinarello , and Specialized , don’t differentiate between lightweight and aero bikes. So the teams riding these brands only have a choice of a road and TT bike.
• Canyon and Specialized (3 teams) and Canyon (2 teams) have the biggest presence in 2023.
• Shimano dominates the groupset presence with 18 teams using their latest 12-speed Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 R9270 groupset, followed by the three teams on SRAM Red eTap AXS and only one team on Campagnolo Super Record EPS .
• There are 12 wheelset brands present in 2023. Each wheelset manufacturer provides the riders with various rim depths from shallow (30 to 45mm) to mid (45 to 55mm) and deep (above 55mm), depending on the day’s terrain.
• Shimano wheels has the biggest presence, with five teams running its latest R9200 wheelsets in 36/50/60mm rim depths.
• Roval , Specialized’s bike components brand wheelsets are ridden by the three teams sponsored by Specialized.

2023 Tour de France Riders’ Gear

Wout van Aert’s Red Bull Helmet at the 2023 Tour de France

Mark Cavendish’s Sunglasses at 2023 Tour de France

Mark Cavendish’s Shoes at 2023 Tour de France

Mark Cavendish’s Bike at 2023 Tour de France

Jasper Philipsen’s Bike at 2023 Tour de France

AG2R Citroën Team

• Climbing bike : BMC Teammachine SLR01
• Aero bike : BMC Timemachine Road SLR01
• TT bike : BMC Timemachine
• Groupset : Campagnolo Super Record EPS
• Bottom bracket : CEMA
• Wheels : Campagnolo Bora WTO Ultra 33 / 45 / 60
• Components : BMC integrated bars
• Pedals : Look Kéo Blade
• Power meter : Power2Max
• Tyres : Pirelli P Zero Race SL
• Bike computer : Wahoo Elemnt Roam / Bolt
• Saddle : Fizik

Alpecin-Fenix

• Climbing bike : Canyon Ultimate CF SLX
• Aero bike : Canyon Aeroad CFR
• TT bike : Canyon Speedmax CF SLX
• Groupset : Shimano Dura-Ace Di2
• Wheels : Shimano Dura-Ace C36 / C50 / C60
• Components : Canyon handlebars and stems
• Pedals : Shimano Dura-Ace R9100
• Power meter : Shimano Dura-Ace R9200-P
• Tyres : Vittoria Corsa Pro

Astana-Qazaqstan Team

• Climbing bike : Wilier Filante SLR
• Aero bike : Wilier Zero SLR
• TT bike : Wilier Turbine SLR
• Bottom bracket : CeramicSpeed
• Wheels : Corima WS Black 32 / 47
• Components : Wilier integrated handlebars
• Bike computer : Garmin Edge 840 / 1040
• Saddle : Prologo

Bahrain Victorious

• Climbing bike : Merida Scultura
• Aero bike : Merida Reacto
• TT bike : Merida Time Warp TT
• Wheels : Vision Metron 45 / 60 SL
• Components : Vision Metron 6D handlebars
• Power meter : Shimano Dura-Ace R9100-P
• Tyres : Continental GP 5000s TR

2023 Tour de France Bikes and Gear

Tour de France Winning Bikes by Year (1903 to 2023)

2023 Tour de France Sunglasses Brands and Models Guide

2023 Tour de France Helmets Brands and Models Guide

Bora-Hansgrohe

• Climbing bike : Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL7
• TT bike : Specialized S-Works Shiv TT
• Wheels : Roval Rapide CLX II / Alpinist CLX II
• Components : Roval Rapide Handlebar
• Tyres : Specialized S-Works Turbo / Turbo Cotton / Rapid Air
• Saddle : Specialized

• Climbing bike : LOOK 785 Huez RS
• Aero bike : LOOK 795 Blade RS
• TT bike : LOOK 796 RS
• Components : LOOK handlebars and stems
• Pedals : Look Kéo
• Power meter : SRM
• Tyres : Michelin Power Competition
• Saddle : Selle Italia

EF Education-EasyPost

• Climbing bike : Cannondale SuperSix EVO LAB71
• Aero bike : Cannondale SystemSix LAB71
• TT bike : Cannondale SuperSlice
• Components : Vision Metron 6D
• Power meter : Power2Max NG Road

Groupama-FDJ

• Climbing bike : Lapierre Xelius SL3
• Aero bike : Lapierre Aircode DRS
• TT bike : Lapierre Aérostorm DRS
• Components : PRO handlebars and stems

Ineos-Grenadiers

• Climbing bike : Pinarello Dogma F
• TT bike : Pinarello Bolide
• Components : MOST handlebars and stems

Intermarche-Circus-Wanty

• Climbing bike : Cube Litening Air C:68X
• Aero bike : Cube Litening Aero C:68X
• TT bike : Cube Aerium TT
• Wheels : Newmen Advanced SL R 50 / 65
• Components : Cube integrated handlebar/stem
• Power meter : Rotor inPower
• Bike computer : Bryton Rider S800

Tour de France Race Guide

2023 Tour de France on TV Broadcasts Availability

2023 Tour de France Prize Money Breakdown

How is the 2023 Tour de France Time Limit Calculated?

What is the meaning of Tour de France Jersey Colors?

Why is the Tour de France So Popular?

Israel-Premier Tech

• Climbing bike : Factor O2 VAM
• Aero bike : Factor Ostro VAM
• TT bike : Factor Slick
• Wheels : Black Inc 30 / 45 / 60
• Components : Black Inc one-piece handlebars
• Power meter : FSA Powerbox
• Bike computer : Hammerhead Karoo 2

Jumbo-Visma

• Climbing bike : Cervélo R5
• Aero bike : Cervélo S5
• TT bike : Cervélo P5
• Groupset : SRAM Red eTap AXS
• Wheels : Reserve 34/37, 52/63
• Components : Cervélo integrated handlebars and stems
• Pedals : Speedplay
• Power meter : SRAM Red

• Clmbing bike : Trek Émonda SLR 9
• Aero bike : Trek Madone SLR 9
• TT bike : Trek Speed Concept
• Wheels : Bontrager Aeolus RSL 37 / 51 / 62
• Components : Bontrager handlebars and stems
• Pedals : TIME
• Saddle : Bontrager

Lotto Dstny

• Climbing bike : Ridley Helium
• Aero bike : Ridley Noah Fast
• TT bike : Ridley Dean Fast
• Groupset : Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 /
• Wheels : DT Swiss ARC 1100 / PRC 1100
• Components : Ridley integrated handlebars and stems

Movistar Team

• Wheels : Zipp 202 / 303 / 404 Firecrest
• Power meter : SRAM Red AXS

Soudal Quick-Step

• Components : PRO handlebars

Team Arkea-Samsic

• Climbing bike : Bianchi Specialissima
• Aero bike : Bianchi Oltre RC
• TT bike : Bianchi Aquila

• Climbing bike : Scott Addict RC
• Aero bike : Scott Foil RC
• TT bike : Scott Plasma 5
• Components : Syncros handlebars and stems
• Saddle : Syncros

Team Jayco Alula

• Climbing bike : Giant TCR Advanced SL
• Aero bike : Giant Propel Advanced
• TT bike : Giant Trinity Advanced Pro
• Wheels : Cadex 36 / 42 / 65
• Components : Cadex bars and stems
• Saddle : Cadex

UAE Team Emirates

• Climbing bike : Colnago V4Rs
• TT bike : Colnago TT1
• Wheels : Enve SES 3.4 / 4.5
• Components : Deda handlebars and stems

UNO-X Pro Cycling Team

• Climbing bike : DARE MA-AFO
• Aero bike : DARE VSRu
• TT bike : DARE TSRf
• Components : DARE handlebar and stem
• Bike computer : Garmin Edge 830 / 1030

Tour de France Records and Stats

How Many Rest Days in the 2023 Tour de France?

How Many Riders at the 2023 Tour de France?

How Many Stages in the 2023 Tour de France?

Tour de France Time Trial Winners’ Average Speed

What is the 2023 Tour de France Distance?

What is the Fastest Average Speed at the Tour de France?

Which Rider the Most Tour de France Appearances?

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.

Mr. Mamil's content is for educational and entertainment purposes only. The content is not a substitute for official or professional advice. Please do your own due diligence.

Mr. Mamil participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. We also participate in various other affiliate programs, and at times we earn a commission through purchases made through links on this website.

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On select cycling vacations, you’ll stay at a mix of hotel levels, from Explorer to Luxury to Ultimate Luxury. Rest assured, no matter which level of hotel you’re at, our trip designers carefully select every accommodation.

Activity Level

Road : 1-3 hours of riding. Up to 25 mi (40 km). Up to 1,000 ft (300 m).

Gravel: 1-3 hours of riding. Up to 20 mi (35 km). Up to 1,000 ft (300 m).

Hiking: 1-3 hours of hiking. Up to 5 mi (8 km). Up to 1,000 ft (300 m).

Road : 2-4 hours of riding. 20-35 mi (35-60 km). Up to 2,500 ft (750 m).

Gravel: 2-4 hours of riding. 15-30 mi (25-45 km). Up to 2,000 ft (300 m).

Hiking: 2-4 hours of hiking. 4-8 mi (6-12 km). Up to 1,500 ft (450 m).

Road : 3-5 hours of riding. 25-55 mi (40-85 km). Up to 4,500 ft (1,500 m).

Gravel: 3-5 hours of riding. 20-40 mi (35-60 km). Up to 3,000 ft (900 m).

Hiking: 3-5 hours of hiking. 6-10 mi (9-16 km). Up to 2,000 ft (600 m).

Road : 4+ hours of riding. 40-70 mi (60-110 km). Up to 8,000 ft (2,400 m).

Gravel:  4+ hours of riding. 30-50 mi (45-80 km). Up to 4,000 ft (1,200 m).

Hiking: 4+ hours of hiking. 7-15 mi (11-24 km). Up to 4,000 ft (1,200 m).

What are your trip styles?

Classic - reserve:.

Savor the finer things as you relax in luxurious 5-star accommodations and wine, dine, and ride in some of the most unforgettable destinations around the world.

Classic - Signature:

Explore beautiful destinations by bike, enjoy extra inclusions, savor delicious local cuisine, and enjoy the perfect mix of accommodations.

Classic - Discover:

Enjoy a casual cycling vacation with fantastic routes and comfortable accommodations.

Train like the pros in some of their favorite riding destinations.

See the pros in action at the biggest cycling events of the year.

Cross Country:

Tackle an epic adventure that takes you point-to-point across mountains, countryside, and more.

Self-Guided

Enjoy a bike tour on your schedule with just your chosen travel companions.

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Sometimes it’s more convenient and comfortable to have your own room while on vacation. We understand and that’s why we offer a Single Occupancy option. The additional price guarantees a private room all to yourself

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Will Wout van Aert Race the Tour de France? Why Visma-Lease a Bike Needs WVA More Than Ever

Van aert is inching back to full training after his devastating crash, but his race schedule is tbd. here's why his return to the tour should be a no-brainer..

Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! >","name":"in-content-cta","type":"link"}}'>Download the app .

Wout van Aert is back on the bike already after his horror crash, but will he be back at the Tour de France with Visma-Lease a Bike this summer for its big brawl with Tadej Pogačar?

That’s the question that’s rattling through Flanders right now.

Van Aert logged 18 hours of training last week to complete a stunning comeback from a crash in late March that left him with a punctured lung, broken collarbone, and seven cracked ribs.

He’s not slated to race his sixth-straight Tour de France this July – the Giro d’Italia and Olympic Games were his priorities – but it’s starting to look like Visma-Lease a Bike might need him at the grand boucle more than it ever has before.

Two-time defending champion Jonas Vingegaard is still deep in his own rehabilitation from injury while his rivals are racing hot toward the Tour’s grand départ .

With the timelines of any “comeback” uncertain for Vingegaard, Van Aert could be the key to Visma-Lease a Bike lighting up the TdF for a third year in a row.

Visma-Lease a Bike wasn’t able to confirm Van Aert’s future schedule when asked Tuesday by Velo .

However, hints at a him lining out for the Tour of Norway later this month put weight behind rumors blowing through Belgian media that WVA will return to the Tour this summer to help Visma-Lease a Bike foil Giro pink jersey Pogačar in his quest for the grand tour double.

“Wout isn’t at the stage where we can make that decision yet,” team director Merijn Zeeman told Wielerflits of Van Aert’s schedule. “In the best-case scenario, Norway is feasible for him. But we can’t say anything definite about that now.”

It’s all an unknown for Vingegaard: ‘We don’t know how my recovery will be’

Van Aert is one of two very big moving pieces in the Visma-Lease a Bike masterplan right now.

The squad is keeping faith that Tour de France dominator Vingegaard can rebound from the battered lung and broken bones he sustained at Itzulia Basque Country in the week after Van Aert was hospitalized.

Vingegaard even suggested himself in a video update Tuesday that while he’s back on the bike, his form isn’t a guarantee.

“I feel good, it’s improving day by day,” Vingegaard said via social media . “I still have some things to recover from but it’s going better and better. Of course, I hope to be there at the start of the Tour de France.

“We don’t know exactly how my shape and how my recovery will go,” he continued. “But I will do everything I can to get there in my top shape.”

Van Aert and Vingegaard’s summers could be interlinked.

The recovery of one could impact the calendar of the other as Zeeman and his staffers face decisions that might make-or-break Visma-Lease a Bike’s season.

Vingegaard or not, Visma-Lease a Bike needs WVA

Van Aert is currently dovetailing saddle time with rehab work at Belgium’s leading “LAB” facility as he looks toward the summer.

With seven and a half weeks to go until the grand départ , there’s every chance the 29-year-old will be tip-top for the Tour.

He didn’t join Tiesj Benoot, Dylan van Baarle, Matteo Jorgenson, Steven Kruijswijk, and Sepp Kuss this week on a recon of the Tour’s stage 9 gravel sectors, but that’s no surprise given he’s still got a half-dozen healing bones.

In the meantime in Troyes: exploring de Tour de France gravel stage pic.twitter.com/Z5F6P31HvH — Team Visma | Lease a Bike (@vismaleaseabike) May 6, 2024

Visma-Lease a Bike will pin all its hopes on the full comeback of its Belgian “Big” as the questions continue to swirl over the status of Vingegaard.

Visma-Lease a Bike also wasn’t able to confirm Vingegaard’s pre-Tour plans to Velo on Tuesday, but the Dane admitted he’s in a race against time to match the “100 percent” benchmark that’s been set on his return to defend his maillot jaune .

Tour-bound Pogačar is currently slaying the Giro d’Italia , and yellow jersey contenders Primož Roglič and Remco Evenepoel are back to full-scale training after they also came down in the brutal Basque crash.

It will be the most competitive grand tour in years – and if Pogačar races in France the way he’s erupting the race in Italy this week, it will be intense from day one.

Top brass in Visma-Lease a Bike HQ are hopeful Vingegaard will recover fully for June 29, but the margins are looking tight.

Vingegaard already opted to skip an altitude camp this month, and a planned DNS at Critérium du Dauphiné means he likely wouldn’t race before he lines out alongside Pogačar and Co. at the grand départ in Nice.

If Vingegaard makes it to the Tour he could still be a few watts short. In which case, Visma-Lease a Bike will need to be all-guns blazing – Wout included – for its battle royale with Pogačar and his all-swinging UAE Emirates “super team”.

Jonas is back riding on his bike outside again. Hear what he has to say about his recovery and the Tour de France. pic.twitter.com/Rf1d3odoeM — Team Visma | Lease a Bike (@vismaleaseabike) May 7, 2024

Van Aert could work out the cornerstone of a Visma-Lease a Bike Tour de France defense in the face of a full parade of GC powerhouses.

In the 2022 Tour, the “Swiss knife” Belgian was a GC watchdog for Vingegaard on every gradient available. And just as importantly, he served to defizz Pogačar by tempting him into wild long-range attacks, hilltop sprints, and more.

If Visma-Lease a Bike is able to pop Pogačar at this summer’s Tour in as spectacular a fashion as it did the last two summers, the option could be there for Van Aert to jump out a few days early and extend his recovery for the Olympic Games.

The Paris time trial and road races follow hot on the heels of the Tour’s big finish in Nice and are so important to Van Aert that they influenced his initial choice to debut at the Giro d’Italia.

So important, in fact, they’d be worth the tarnish of a Tour de France DNF.

And if Vingegaard doesn’t beat the ticking clock to be competitive at the Tour de France?

Van Aert gives Visma-Lease a Bike a co-captain to share the spotlight and lift the pressure from GC next-in-line Kuss.

Van Aert could run free and rampage through stages on days that #GCKuss is on pause. It would build just the right training load for him to be raging and ready for his push at his elusive first gold medal at the Games.

Van Aert spoke in a recent Visma-Lease a Bike documentary of his angst at having to watch his teammates take on Paris-Roubaix while he was banged-up and in bandages.

If he’s fit for the Tour de France, it’s hard to see WVA happily choosing to sit out the Tour de France, too.

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Jonas Vingegaard’s Tour de France Participation Remains Uncertain

“We cannot go to the Tour for Jonas to defend the title if he is not 100 percent,” says Visma-Lease a Bike team director Richard Plugge.

In the Spanish magazine Revelo , Plugge gave an extensive interview about safety in cycling, the future of the sport from a business standpoint, and the fate of the team for this season—with or without Vingegaard as the team leader at the Tour.

Last week, Vingegaard returned to riding outside—a major hurdle after suffering a broken collarbone and fractured ribs in the crash at Itzulia Basque Country . Plugge told Revelo that Vingegaard’s general health was the first hurdle to overcome, saying that “we had as a team was to assess whether Jonas could return to being a fully capable person… After a fall like the one he suffered, we have to be cautious and go day by day with his recovery.”

And while Vingegaard has returned to riding outdoors, the Tour de France starts in a mere six weeks. That’s a tight recovery window for a rider like Vingegaard, who’s considered one of the only racers capable of going head-to-head with Tadej Pogačar , who’s clearly in top form at the moment. It also means he’ll miss the team’s preparation camp at altitude ahead of the Tour, potentially impacting his ability to train as effectively as he normally would and not giving him much time to prepare with his teammates.

“It is clear that we contemplate two scenarios: one in which Jonas goes to the Tour and another in which he does not,” Plugge admitted to Revelo. “It all depends on his recovery. In the end, we cannot go to the Tour for Jonas to defend the title if he is not 100 percent. It’s something we’re not going to go through.”

He also noted that Van Aert is recovering well at the moment—his injuries in a crash eight days ahead of Vingegaard’s were less severe, though he still missed a significant chunk of the early season and has yet to return to racing. But even Van Aert may not be on the start line for Visma-Lease a Bike this year, Plugge said. (Here’s hoping that if Van Aert missed the Tour, he’ll be fresh for cyclocross season.)

Plugge also discussed the lack of safety in many races, citing many incidents in recent seasons where fans on the road created unsafe environments for racers and, in some cases, even caused serious crashes. As Plugge put it, “We have to protect the health of our athletes and our business… And we must take action as soon as possible.”

Molly writes about cycling, nutrition and training with an emphasis on bringing more women into sport. She's the author of nine books including the Shred Girls series and is the founder of Strong Girl Publishing . She co-hosts The Consummate Athlete Podcast and spends most of her free time biking and running on trails, occasionally joined by her mini-dachshund.

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Do you remember when the president best known for biking in Delaware was Trump not Biden?

Joe Biden is probably better known as the presidential bike guy. The Commander in Chief is frequently photographed riding, and once falling off, his bike in Rehoboth Beach.

But did you know former President Donald Trump also was known, albeit briefly, for biking in Delaware?

While Trump hasn't been photographed on or taking a tumble from two wheels in the First State, he did sponsor a cycling race here that was supposed to become America's answer to the Tour de France.

Thirty-four years ago this month, Wilmington was the "host city" for the Tour de Trump, a 1,107-mile, 10-day cycling event in six states named for and sponsored by Trump.

The May 3 to 13, 1990, race with 13 stages brought fleeting hoopla to the city. It featured two-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond, the then-greatest cyclist in the world, five Olympic gold medalists and national media coverage.

Trump in 1989 began the lucrative cycling event with a $250,000 purse as a marketing tool and a substitute for the defunct Coors International Bicycle Classic. The inaugural race, considered a success, kicked off in Albany, New York.

The following year, Trump wanted Delaware to participate in an expanded race to help entice visitors to the three Atlantic City, New Jersey, casinos he once ran. Trump organizers said Delaware was, demographically and logistically, a perfect spot.

The late Wilmington city councilman Ted Blunt told The News Journal in 1990 that he also played a part in enticing Trump to Delaware for the second annual event.

Blunt played basketball at Winston-Salem College in New Carolina and had a friendship with NBC commentator Billy Packer, who played guard for Wake Forest University. While attending an event together at the University of Delaware, Packer, an inaugural Tour de Trump organizer, told Blunt that Delaware could be a good place for part of the cycling event because of its scenic routes.

Blunt agreed and helped set up meetings with state, Wilmington, and New Castle County officials.

On Feb. 13, 1990, around 11:15 a.m. Trump's helicopter, named "Ivana," a nod to his estranged first wife whom he would divorce 10 months later, landed in Brandywine Park at 18th and Washington streets, near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Trump hopped out of the helicopter and into a waiting limousine. He took a tour of the race course with Wilmington commerce director J. Brian Murphy, who told The News Journal in 1990 that Trump was "a very down-to-earth guy" and seemed most interested in talking about a Mike Tyson boxing match.

Trump was driven to the Hotel du Pont, where he announced that Delaware would be where the Tour de Trump would begin.

"Do I know how to draw a crowd or what?” Trump said to an organizer after viewing the Hotel du Pont's jam-packed Gold Ballroom and a slew of TV cameras and journalists, according to a 2016 story in Politico.

Being rich is nothing new in Delaware, home to the enormously wealthy du Pont family. But being rich and famous and flaunting your fortune in Delaware is something to see.

Trump's appearance was considered the hottest ticket in town. The crowd that day included then-Gov. Mike Castle, Wilmington Mayor Dan Frawley, and then-Congressman Tom Carper — all made speeches — along with other Delaware politicians, movers and shakers, and heavy hitters.

Who wasn't in attendance? Delaware's Democratic Sen. Joe Biden.

Three decades later, Biden would become locked in a tight race for the presidency against Trump in 2020 and again in 2024. (Republican Sen. Bill Roth, who died in 2003, also skipped the Trump media circus.)

"With last year's Tour de Trump, everyone kept saying, 'What is it, where is it and what's it going to be?' " Trump said as he hyped the crowd.

"And it turned out to be a tremendous success. This year, every city on the East Coast was fighting to be the host city. And not only is Wilmington a city (on the Tour), but the starting city.

"It's amazing what's happened in Wilmington," Trump said, adding, "It's a great honor to be here."

Trump mentioned "a five-year commitment" to the city, about the length of his marriage to model  Marla Maples .

The commitment to Delaware would only last two days.

Trump kept a tight-lipped smile in place at the Hotel du Pont and mugged for photographers when Castle gave him a promotional Tour de Trump T-shirt, according to News Journal archives.

Trump, never known as a vegetable lover, picked at a salad he was served but left well before a luncheon was underway.

His entire visit lasted 90 minutes.

On the way out, Trump ignored most media questions about his rocky personal life (he was having an affair with future wife Maples) and only reacted when a photographer asked, "When are you going to rename your helicopter?"

The future 45th president of the United States turned to the photographer and burst out laughing before departing.

On a cloudy, drizzly Thursday, May 3, the "prologue" time trials for the 1990 Tour de Trump started and finished in Rodney Square. It drew anywhere from 15,000 to 30,000 spectators, depending on who was asked that day.

The 3.1-mile route loop traveled along King Street and included a cobblestone climb up Monkey Hill in Brandywine Park. Some spectators admitted they came to Monkey Hill just to see some possible crashes on the slippery rocks. (Only one cyclist rose to the challenge.)

Despite the gloomy skies, the atmosphere was carnival-like with open tents and cafe tables on Market Street, people hawking T-shirts and refreshments, and a huge screen that broadcast the race and DuPont Co. commercials.

The 28-year-old LeMond, Sports Illustrated's "1989 Sportsman of the Year," was the biggest draw and was considered a favorite to take home the cycling crown.

Trump, however, was a no-show.

About a week earlier, news broke that Trump was considering selling or refinancing every asset he had. A Forbes magazine article said that due to a soft real estate market and problems at the Atlantic City casinos, there was speculation that he was having cash problems. Trump vehemently denied it.

Trump also didn't show up for the first of 13 stages of the Tour de Trump that officially began on Friday morning, May 4, 1990, in Wilmington. Professional cyclist Raúl Alcalá, 26, of Monterrey, Mexico, wore the leader's neon pink jersey.

The pack left Wilmington, traveled down Route 52, and eventually biked through downtown Newark.

Fans, some hoisting Bloody Marys with celery stalks, watched as the 133 cyclists whizzed down Newark's Main Street. They sprinted past Klondike Kate's and the Deer Park Tavern "like a swarm of angry bees," News Journal sports columnist Jack Chevalier wrote.

Several hundred fans stood in the parking lot of the Newark Country Club as the cyclists breezed through the town and rode to Cecil County, Maryland.

Cyclists eventually made their way 98 miles to Baltimore. Other stops in the 10-day race included Fredericksburg, Richmond, Charlottesville and Winchester, Virginia; Harrisburg, the Lehigh Valley, and Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania; New York City, Catskill and Albany, New York.

Trump pulled another disappearing act and was not around when the 1990 race concluded in Boston.

He didn't appear to give the $50,000 check to winner Alcalá, who finished what he started in Wilmington. Now retired, Alcalá is considered the most successful Mexican cyclist.

LeMond, who in April 1987 nearly died after being accidentally shot by his brother-in-law while turkey hunting and later had an emergency appendectomy, had a disappointing run and ended up placing 78th. He would say he was fighting an upset stomach early on and blamed his poor performance on a lack of training due to a busy schedule.

The excitement of the race was short-lived and the future President's involvement was over after May 1990.

Trump ended his sponsorship when he was mired in debt from his casinos, payments to soon-to-be ex-wife Ivana, and operating expenses from luxury assets such as a helicopter, yacht and airplane. The race was estimated to have cost him about $2 million yearly or $4.7 million today.

Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino of Atlantic City spokesman Dave Coskey said in November 1990 that the race gave "great exposure to the Trump name, but it didn't bring any new business to the casino." Interestingly enough, although the 1989 race ended in Atlantic City, the 1990 event didn't go anywhere near the resort.

Trump would return to Delaware several times during his presidency when he traveled to Dover Air Force Base to pay respect to the dignified transfer of the remains of service members killed in Afghanistan.

The Wilmington-based DuPont Co. took over sponsorship of the bike race in 1991 and renamed it the Tour DuPont.

The 11-stage, 1,100-mile race ran for five years. LeMond won the Tour DuPont in 1992, the last major win of his career. 

In 1993, a young rising cycling star named Lance Armstrong finished second. He would capture the crown in 1995 and again in 1996.

DuPont ended its involvement after the 1996 cycling event. Just four months earlier, du Pont family heir John E. du Pont, whose father had owned the historical Bellevue Hall mansion in Bellevue State Park that was sold to the state, murdered Olympic wrestler Dave Schultz at his Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, estate.

Although it had only a brief moment in the spotlight, the Tour de Trump helped raise the sport’s profile in the United States the president of USA Cycling said in a 2016 story in Politico.

The city still hosts a cycling event.

The Wilmington Grand Prix , considered one of the premier criterium-style bike races in the U.S., returns for its 16th edition from May 17-19. It is an early-season stop on USA Cycling’s (USAC) National Racing Calendar, which is made up of the top bike races in America, according to its website. It's free and open to the public.

It includes professional racing through Wilmington’s Brandywine Park, as well as men’s and women’s professional and amateur racing.

Last year’s Gran Fondo, a mass participation of cyclists, attracted participants from 18 states, including Texas, Colorado and Florida, and five countries, including Australia, Great Britain, Mexico and Canada.

Still, some aspects of the Tour de Trump live on.

Delaware history: Do you remember Kahunaville, the 'biggest, baddest nightclub in the Mid-Atlantic region'?

Did you know? Greek monument at Tatnall was once a 1920s Wilmington gas station

The time trial taking place on Friday, May 17 is held at Monkey Hill. It was inspired by the Tour DuPont and, before that, the Tour de Trump.

"Do you remember?" is an occasional News Journal/Delaware Online feature that looks at the history behind long-gone Delaware buildings, objects, businesses, and places.  

If you want to read more stories from Patricia Talorico, visit    delawareonline.com/staff/2646617001/patricia-talorico You can find her on  Instagram , X  and  Facebook . Email   [email protected] . Sign up for her   Delaware Eats newsletter.

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Tour de France 2024

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2024 tour de france information.

The 111th edition of the Tour de France starts in Florence, Italy, on Saturday, June 29 and ends three weeks later in Nice on Sunday, July 21. It is the first time the Tour starts in Italy and the first time it finishes in Nice to avoid the preparations for the 2024 Paris Olympics Games, which begin just a week later.

The route of the world's biggest race covers a total of 3,492km with some 52,320 metres of overall elevation, passing through four nations – Italy, San Marino, France, and Monaco. It features two individual time trials for a total of 59km, four mountain-top finishes, a series of gravel sections on stage 9, and a final hilly time trial to Nice. The official route was unveiled on October 25 in a special ceremony in Paris.

Tour de France champion  Jonas Vingegaard  (Jumbo-Visma) won his second GC title last year and, if he can recover from his crash injuries in time , will be back to defend his title against top rival Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), who finished second overall. Vingegaard is likely to face a huge challenge from not just Pogačar, but also Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) and former teammate turned rival Primož Roglič (Bora-Hansgrohe).

Join Cyclingnews' coverage of the 2024 Tour de France with live coverage, race reports, results, photo galleries, news and race analysis.

• Tour de France 2024 route

The 2024 Tour de France includes 52,230 metres of vertical gain across 3,492km of climbs, sprints and time trialling from Italy into France, with fewer high climbs than in the past and shorter stages. 

It is a balanced three weeks of racing that includes eight flat stages, four mountain-top finishes and two individual time trials, the final test against the clock is a hilly time trial to Nice that could create suspense. The race has 25km of racing above 2,000 metres and 27 mountains classified as second, first, or HC.

Florence, Italy, will host the team presentation, and stage 1 will roll out from Piazzale Michelangelo to open the Grand Tour for the first time. The first two stages are just over 200km each and include climbing, with the third day in Italy a flatter affair at 225km from Piacenza to Turin. 

Stage 4 heads into France and straight away to the Alps, with climbs across Sestriere, the Col de Montgenèvre and the Col du Galibier before a fast descent to Valloire. After two days with opportunities for breakaways and fast finishers, the first time trial comes on stage 7 at 25km. The first week ends with back-to-back stages ending in the champagne capital of Troyes to the southeast of Paris, including stage 9, which is a far tougher day due to the 14 sectors of gravel.

Week two of the 2024 Tour starts with a four-day ride south to the Pyrenees via the Massif Central and the rural France Profonde, with stages to Saint-Amand-Montrond, Le Lioran, Villeneuve-sur-Lot and then Pau. The Tour celebrates the Bastille Day holiday weekend in the Pyrenees with consecutive mountain finishes - stage 14 finishes in Pla d'Adet after climbing the Col du Tourmalet and the Hourquette d’Ancizan while stage 15 climbs the Portet d'Aspet and the Col d’Agnes for the finish up to Plateau de Beille.

Following the second rest day in Gruissan on the Mediterranean coast near the border with Spain on Monday, July 15, the final week leads into the Alps. The contenders should face a final shakeout once the race reaches stage 20, as the 2,802-metre high Cime de la Bonette and final ascent to Isola 2000 will be decisive. The final stage of the 2024 Tour is a 34km hilly time trial from Monaco to Nice.

Check out all the details of the 2024 Tour de France route .

• There's no way to Jumbo-proof the Tour de France - 2024 route analysis
• ‘I think it’s a good parcours for me’ - Jonas Vingegaard keen on 2024 Tour de France route
• Mark Cavendish: 'It might be the hardest route I've ever seen at the Tour de France'
• Jasper Philipsen sees 'a very difficult end' for sprinters in 2024 Tour de France
• Tour de France 2024 gravel stage 'increases chance of bad luck' says Plugge
• Remco Evenepoel tempted by 2024 Giro d'Italia-Tour de France combo
• Regal reveals for Tour de France, Tour de France Femmes 2024 routes - Gallery
• As it happened: All the information about the 2024 Tour de France route unveiled
• Tour de France 2024 routes – All the rumours ahead of the official presentation

Tour de France 2024 Contenders

Defending Tour de France champion  Jonas Vingegaard will again have a strong Jumbo-Visma team to support his quest for a third title, but this time, former team leader Primož Roglič has turned to rival as he looks to give Bora-Hansgrohe top billing. Vingegaard will also face huge challenges from Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep). 

In the flat stages, look for last year's green jersey victor Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) to contest for another title against Fabio Jakobsen , now with Team dsm-firmenich, and Caleb Ewan , now with Jayco-AlUIa. And fastman Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) is back for an 18th pro season to mix it up in the sprints, on the hunt for a record-breaking 35th Tour de France stage victory.

And there will be opportunities across the three weeks for breakaway riders to shine, including the likes of Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-QuickStep), Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck).

Tour de France 2024 stages

• Tour de France past winners
• Stage 1 | Florence - Rimini 2024-06-29 205km
• Stage 2 | Cesenatico - Bologna 2024-06-30 200km
• Stage 3 | Piacenza - Turin 2024-07-01 225km
• Stage 4 | Pinerolo - Valloire 2024-07-02 138km
• Stage 5 | Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne - Saint-Vulbas Plaine de l'Ain 2024-07-03 177km
• Stage 6 | Mâcon - Dijon 2024-07-04 163km
• Stage 7 | Nuits-Saint-Georges - Gevrey-Chambertin (ITT) 2024-07-05 25km
• Stage 8 | Semur-en-Auxois - Colombey-les-Deux-Églises 2024-07-06 176km
• Stage 9 | Troyes - Troyes 2024-07-07 199km
• Rest Day 1 | Orléans 2024-07-08
• Stage 10 | Orléans - Saint-Amand-Montrond 2024-07-09 187km
• Stage 11 | Évaux-les-Bains - Le Lioran 2024-07-10 211km
• Stage 12 | Aurillac - Villeneuve-sur-Lot 2024-07-11 204km
• Stage 13 | Agen - Pau 2024-07-12 171km
• Stage 14 | Pau - Saint-Lary-Soulan (Pla d'Adet) 2024-07-13 152km
• Stage 15 | Loudenvielle - Plateau de Beille 2024-07-14 198km
• Rest Day 2 | Gruissan 2024-07-15
• Stage 16 | Gruissan - Nîmes 2024-07-16 187km
• Stage 17 | Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux - Superdévoluy 2024-07-17 178km
• Stage 18 | Gap - Barcelonnette 2024-07-18 179km
• Stage 19 | Embru - Isola 2000 2024-07-19 145km
• Stage 20 | Nice - Col de la Couillole 2024-07-20 133km
• Stage 21 | Monaco - Nice (ITT) 2024-07-21 34km

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Tour champion Vingegaard still hopes to be in 'top shape' for this year's race after bad crash

Two-time defending Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard is back on his bike, just a month after a bad crash that left him several broken ribs and a collapsed lung

PARIS — Two-time defending Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard is back on his bike, just a month after a bad crash that left him several broken ribs and a collapsed lung.

And the Danish rider is still hoping to compete at this year’s Tour, which starts in seven weeks.

“I feel good, it’s improving day by day,” Vingegaard said in a video released by his team, Visma–Lease a Bike. “I still have some things to recover from, but it’s going better and better. Of course I hope to be there at the start of the Tour de France. We don’t know exactly how my shape and how my recovery will go, but I will do everything I can to get there in my top shape.”

Vingegaard was hospitalized in Spain last month following the crash that involved other top riders during a chaotic Tour of the Basque Country. He also sustained a broken collarbone and a pulmonary contusion during the accident, which came less than three months before the start of the Tour de France on June 29.

He was back in the saddle on Tuesday.

“This is the first time back on the bike for me riding outside, and it’s really nice to finally be able to ride like normal again,” Vingegaard said in the video, standing by his bicycle. “Finally to be able to ride on the road is really amazing and I’m really looking forward to taking the next steps.”

Before the crash, Vingegaard had been considered one of the top favorites at the Tour again alongside his rival Tadej Pogacar, who is aiming for a Giro d’Italia-Tour de France double this year.

Vingegaard was hardly moving when he was put into an ambulance wearing an oxygen mask and neck brace after the crash with less than 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) remaining in the stage. The pileup also took out Primoz Roglic and Remco Evenepoel, along with several other riders, many of whom needed hospital treatment.

AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports