New Colnago bike for the Mont Ventoux
Before the start of the 16th stage with the legendary finish on Mont Ventoux, we took a closer look at the bikes of the top 5 riders in the overall standings at the time:
- Tadej Pogačar's Colnago Y1Rs (currently 1st place overall)
- Jonas Vingegaards Cervélo S5 (2nd place, 4:15 behind)
- Florian Lipowitz Specialised S-Works Tarmac SL8 (3rd place, 9:03 behind)
- Oscar Onley's Lapierre Xelius DRS (4th place, 11:04 behind)
- Kevin Vauquelin (slipped to 6th place after the stage, 13:20 behind, he was overtaken by Primož Roglič)
The big favourite for overall victory changed his bike for the Mont Ventoux. Although he is sticking with the Colnago Y1Rs, the matt black Y1Rs from Colnago saves around 100 grams compared to his previous white bike. The lighter V5Rs, which will once again be ridden today by Nils Politt and Marc Soler, would save 300 grams. "But the stages are now so fast that the aero model is actually always the better choice," a team mechanic told TOUR.
In terms of gearing, "Pogi" rides the 55/38 chainring combination from Carbon-Ti and a Dura-Ace cassette with 11-34 teeth. His handlebars, like the Colnago frameset, measure 370 millimetres wide at the top bar. The distance between the handlebar ends is 400 millimetres. The stem of the fully integrated cockpit is 125 millimetres long.
Marginal Gains
Another little hack for small aero gains: The dropout on the fork is glued shut.
Earlier in the Tour de France 2025, we had already taken a look at the racing bikes of UAE Team Emirates - XRG. Only noble helper Nils Pollit from the team from the Emirates was riding the Colnago V5Rs on the tenth stage. We also saw Politt on the V5Rs and Tadej Pogačar on the Colnago Y1Rs (TOUR-Test) on stage 12.
No experiments: Colnago Y1Rs is 1st choice. So far?
Tadej Pogačar, who was behind Ben Healy in the overall standings at the time, must have reckoned that the battle for the overall classification would not only come to a showdown on the 13.5-kilometre final climb to Hautacam with an average gradient of 7.8 per cent, but that it would start beforehand. Our tech briefing underlines this choice "We see no reason to do without aero features today because of 200 grams, the mountain is not steep enough for that." it says there.
Pogačar rode a 55/40-tooth chainring from accessory specialist Carbon-Ti and a Dura-Ace cassette in 11-34 gradation in stage 10, which had significantly more metres of climbing than stage 12 with 15 kilometres less total distance. Although tyre sponsor Continental had introduced a new tyre, the Archetype, before the Tour of France - according to the manufacturer in close collaboration with the UAE team - the Slovenian is riding the familiar Grand Prix 5000 TT.
Jonas Vingegaard also sat on the heavier but aerodynamic Cervélo S5 up to that point. The R5 was on the support vehicle. Like Vingegaard, Pogačar and his team also had a plan B in their pockets. There were two spare wheels of the lighter V-model on the support vehicles. In total, the yellow carrier even had four spare wheels on the tenth stage.
Julian Schultz
Editor
