Deep Dive: The 2025 Tour de France Tech We're Most Excited About
With this year's Tour de France in full swing, it also means that the bike industry's latest and greatest tech is on full display, with each brand hoping one of their riders will grab their share of the industry's single biggest marketing spotlight, be it a stage win, jersey win, or dare we say, the coveted 'Maillot Jaune.'
Truly a golden opportunity, both for racing glory and to capture the hearts and minds (and dollars?) of racers and recreational riders alike, every upgrade and innovation is delivered with an eye towards decreasing weight, increasing aerodynamics, or lowering friction, for virtually every moving part.
For this year's Tour, the technology and upgrades being rolled out represent our kind of poetry in motion. From wheels to helmets, groupsets to cockpits, here is the technology that the Contender team is most excited about.
New Wheels | Enve, OQUO, Roval, and Reserve
This year, there has been significant development from four major wheel brands: ENVE, UQUO (Orbea), Roval (Specialized), and Reserve (Santa Cruz).
Just before the Tour began, Ogden, Utah-based ENVE released its top-tier wheelset, the ENVE 4.5 Pro. Designed at the special request of UAE Team Emirates XRG (see our recent Journal post here), these wheels feature a shallower rim profile, an updated hub with ceramic bearings, a lighter-weight ratchet, lighter nipples, and even a lighter decal. Notably, this wheel drops almost 200g from its predecessor. With a focus on climbing, it features a 23.5mm internal width, and is optimized for use with a 28mm tire, making it the only ENVE wheel that does not focus on wider road tires. This is a direct response to Vingegaard’s choice of ultralight Reserve 34/37 wheels for the climbing days, which will be the centerpiece of the back half of the Tour.
OQUO, which is owned by Orbea and ridden by the Lotto Cycling Team on their Orbea bikes, released three new wheelsets, the RP50LTD, RA57LTD, and (the soon-to-be UCI illegal) RA80LTD. Each of these wheels are designed around the new OQUO Q10 road hub, a hub that will require no tools to rebuild, with each part being removable by hand. With a 45t Shark Ratchet, the hub blends low rolling resistance with high engagement. With the three depths, each rider has their choice of wheel for each stage.
Going against the status quo, ROVAL, which is owned by Specialized and ridden by Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe and Soudal Quick-Step, released a new line of wheels with the front being deeper than the rear. The new Rapide CLX III wheels are climbing-optimized, with a 51mm front and 48mm rear, complementing the new Rapide Sprint CLX with the 63/58mm profile. In their testing, Roval found that 90% of aero gains come from the front wheel, so having a shallower, lighter rear wheel will increase acceleration, without dropping aerodynamics.
Reserve, which is owned by Santa Cruz, has two new wheelsets being ridden at the tour by Team Visma | Lease a Bike. The first set, the Reserve 57|64, was designed for the new Cervelo S5, optimizing aerodynamics for the flat and punchy stages. The second is the all-new (but still unreleased) 42|49 wheelset, which features carbon-bladed spokes. Rumors suggest that the spokes are designed to optimize stiffness and control on the descent, rather than for weight savings or aerodynamics.
New Helmets, Shoes, Etc. | Giro, Specialized, Selle Italia, Continental
Team Visma | Lease a Bike is riding what appears to be a new Giro Aero Helmet. In the quest for aero helmets that combine breathability, this helmet strikes a balance to ensure a cool head while maximizing aerodynamics. A few of the riders, mainly Victor Campanaerts, are still using the Aerohead as their helmet of choice, but Jonas Vingegaard and Wout van Aert have fully transitioned to using this updated helmet.
Moving to the opposite end of the body, Specialized unveiled a new Remco Evenpoel-specific shoe, the S-Works Torch Remco. This $700 pair of shoes is the lightest in the peloton, with a claimed weight of just 148.2g per shoe in size 41. Utilizing a design similar to the Ares Shoe, this shoe is designed to enhance power transfer while minimizing hotspots.
Selle Italia unveiled an updated SLR Saddle for this year's tour. Updating their design, while still offering both leather and 3D-printed uppers. The design is at the low end of the UCI length limit, leaning into the snub-nose design that has become popular in recent years. The saddle weighs just 118g in its lightest configuration.
Tour riders on Continental Tires are using a limited edition Archetype tire for the tour. Based on the successful GP5000 line, this is a racer's dream. Available only as a 700x30, this tire is 35g lighter than the GP5000 S TR in the same width. These tires have a low maximum pressure of just 65 PSI on the hookless ENVEs they were designed around, and 73 PSI for their hooked counterpart. As of now, these tires will only be available during the tour, and once they sell out, they are gone.
New Bikes | Cervelo S5 and R5, BMC Teammachine SLR and R
Bike releases are usually less scheduled around the tour, but Visma | Lease a Bike has two new steeds for the ride around France. Launched on July 8th (see our Journal post here), the new Cervelo S5 is a lighter and more aerodynamic than its predecessor, ideal for the Tour's flatter or rolling stages. However, the team is also riding a new R5, more suited for climbing stages. This bike is doing better at flying under the radar, but from what we’ve seen, it improves on the formula from the previous R5. Allegedly, there is a slight geometry change to match the S5 for a seamless transition between the two bikes. From the spy shots we have seen, it features a UDH (universal derailleur hanger) like the S5. Both bikes also feature a brand-new, one-piece cockpit design, exclusive to each bike.
Not wanting to be left on the climbs, BMC released an all-new Teammachine SLR in June, which we summarized here. This climbing-focused bike is the choice weapon for the Tudor Pro Cycling Team for the high-altitude mountain stages, and, likely, the Stage 13 uphill time trial. This bike meets the UCI weight limit, with the frame weighing 17% less than its predecessor. This complements the more aero-inspired Teammachine R, ensuring each rider has the perfect pick for every stage.
New Groupsets | Campagnolo, SRAM
Team Cofidis has been using the latest Campagnolo Super Record 13 groupset. This is the first 13-speed 2x groupset to be ridden on the World Tour, with Campagnolo beating both SRAM and Shimano to the 13th cog (for the second time, following the release of Ekar in 2020). This groupset is completely wireless, featuring two unique batteries for the front and rear derailleurs, and it reintroduces the traditional thumb shifter, a feature omitted from the 12-speed iteration.
While we haven’t seen it quite yet in the Tour, the new Cervelo S5 and R5 do have the technical capability to run the 13-speed SRAM Red XPLR groupset for the high-mountain stages. It's worth noting that there is some precedent here, with some pro riders already taking the 1 x 13-speed approach in this year's Strade Bianche one-day, mixed surface race. Given the added gearing range, and with these bikes being designed with the intention for direct-mount, we would not be surprised to see this drivetrain make an appearance at this year's Tour. The R5, being under the weight limit, would welcome the additional weight and sturdiness offered by RED XPLR.
Miscellaneous | OQUO One-Piece Cockpit, Crank Lengths
In addition to all these upgrades, the Lotto Cycling Team is riding an all-new OQUO one-piece cockpit on each of their bikes, a feature that will also be available on many of the forthcoming 2026 Orbea Orca models.
Finally, Crank length continues to be a hotly discussed topic as well. Vingegaard has swapped to 160s, and the 6’3” Matteo Jorgenson has dropped to 165mm cranks.
Bottom Line
As evidenced by the array of new developments above, cycling's proverbial arms race continues to lead to a tidal wave of development, all with the end goal of a podium spot or prized jersey, on the biggest stage cycling has to offer.
Already, this year's Tour has provided fantastic fireworks, with 3-time winner Tadej Pogacar feeling unexpected heat from EF Education–EasyPost rider Ben Healy (current yellow jersey wearer, as of this writing) along with his usual arch-nemeses (Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenoepel).
As the race now moves further into the high mountains, the future remains unwritten, but is guaranteed to a page-turner. We'll be watching, with a keen eye towards the tech making it all possible.
Learn More
Interested in learning more about any of the tech above--or potentially seeing it on your bike? Come on down to the shop, drop us a line, or give us a shout at (801) 364-0344.