Tour de Fit: How Pro Bike Setups Are Evolving
In pro cycling, bike setup for the Grand Tours has long embodied aggressive positioning, with slammed stems (i.e., no spacers), deep drops, oversized chainrings, and stems so long they’d look out of place on most people's bikes. Fortunately, as bike technology continues to evolve–including the “comfort = speed” ethos that many are adopting–rider fit is also evolving, with optionality and personalization firmly coming back into fashion.
There also used to be a running joke: if you signed with Team Soudal Quick-Step, you got a 130-140mm stem whether you liked it or not, and then picked your frame size to match. But thankfully, those dog(matic) days are fading. Modern fitting tools like Retül have shown how proper fit directly impacts power output, and riders and teams are listening. Now, setups are tuned for much more than just getting as low as possible. They are about balancing aerodynamics, efficiency, and long-haul comfort.
Want to dial in your own bike like the pros?
Read on for Contender’s take on the insights and adjustments that are most essential.
Low and Long: Stack Height And Stems
In recent years, road bike racers have been running more spacers under their stems, signaling a slight shift toward higher stack setups compared to the slammed, ultra-aggressive positions that dominated the 2000s and 2010s. This trend isn't universal, but it reflects an evolving balance between aerodynamics, power output, and long-term comfort.
One of the clearest examples is Tudor Pro Cycling Team's pro and 2025 Tour of the Alps winner, Michael Storer, who has been riding around 30mm of spacers under his stem during the Tour. Despite being a climbing specialist, his position favors long-term efficiency over a super-aggressive front end. Between more aggressive modern frame geometries and the rise of integrated one-piece cockpits, many riders are leaning on spacers for micro-adjustments. Bikes like the Specialized Tarmac SL8 or Cervelo S5 are already long and low, so riders don’t need to slam their stems to get race-ready. The takeaway? Stack is back. Not in excess, but in just enough moderation to balance speed, power, and sustainability over the ~3-week, brutal demands of a Grand Tour.
All of which raises a rhetorical question: if power is increased from a higher stack, then why don’t pros raise the stack even more dramatically, like 2-3.5cm of spacers on most bikes? Some racers outside the Tour actually do, but primarily for very flat courses. The reason they don’t move them super high is for handling and aerodynamic cross-sections in the descents. If you have ever cornered a road bike at super high speed, you know how much weight you push over the front end. From a handling perspective, a lower front end tends to feel and perform much better.
But not everyone is going higher; there is still a lot of low-end out and about. American pro Sepp Kuss, who rides for Team Visma-Lease a Bike, is 6’ tall, and rides a 54 Cervelo R5 slammed all the way (which gives us neck pain just to think about). The same is true with EF Education–EasyPost rider Ben Healy, who rides a size 51 Cannondale SuperSix EVO, slammed all the way with a 130mm stem, even though he is 5’9. Wout Van Aert also has his setup slammed all the way. Full agro from these riders! We assume a gradual pivot to more spacers may be a little slower, but soon enough, more people will follow suit, with pros reliably serving as the proverbial domino for what ultimately makes its way to the masses.
Deeper Is Not Always Better: Frame & Wheel Choice
One of the biggest evolutions in Tour setups is how teams balance the tradeoffs between aero frames and climbing bikes. It used to be simple: ride the lightest bike possible for the mountains, and save the aero frame for flat stages and sprints. But now, with modern aero bikes getting lighter and riding better, and the marginal gains from aerodynamics becoming undeniable, more riders are opting to ride aero bikes like the Cervélo S5 even on major climbing stages. These frames may be a few hundred grams heavier than pure climbers like the R5, but on long mountain stages with windy descents and flat valley roads, the aero benefit often outweighs the weight penalty.
There’s also a clever equipment hack behind the choice. Riders often switch to shallower, lighter wheels for climbing stages, because reducing rotational mass offers a more noticeable performance gain than shedding static frame weight. But here's the catch: pairing ultra-light wheels with a climbing frame can drop the bike below the UCI’s 6.8kg minimum weight limit. By running a slightly heavier aero frame like the S5, riders can run the light wheels they want without going under the legal weight limit. It’s a smart workaround that keeps the bike UCI-compliant while still delivering all the benefits of low rotational mass and improved climbing responsiveness.
In addition, grueling, high-altitude climbing stages also mean descents that are cut from the same cloth, along with being tight and twisty. More aero-focused bikes like the S5, Teammachine R, Scott Foil, etc, are better for these descents. Aero aside, they typically have more aggressive trail figures (note: trail is the distance between the point where the steering axis and the tires actually contact) and lower bottom brackets, meaning these bikes descend with more stability, and corner with more speed.
RPMs Are King: Gearing And Crank Length
Another trend you’ll spot more often in recent Grand Tour bike setups is riders switching to shorter crank arms, even on the biggest and tallest of riders. This is not new knowledge, but it is still happening at a large scale among the popular riders. Cranks that used to be 172.5mm or 175mm are getting swapped out for 165mm or even 160mm, regardless of rider height. It’s not about comfort so much as efficiency. Shorter cranks open up the hip angle, which makes it easier to hold an aggressive aero position without compromising power.
They also help with smoother cadence and better handling in tight corners or technical descents, which matters more than ever on modern race routes, which have become increasingly challenging. We have an article on why you may want shorter cranks. Check that out for more information. A lot of people saw that Tadej rode 165mm cranks for his last win, and this inspired a wave of people to buy 165 cranks to be ‘like Mike,’ err…Tadej. And while we do like shorter cranks, 165 is not some magical number, it's proportional to your leg length. In this year’s Tour de France, Vingegaard is running SRAM Red E1 160mm cranks, while teammate Visma-Lease a Bike Matteo Jorgenson is running 165mm cranks. As context, Matteo is 6’3”!
In addition, we're seeing bigger front chainrings showing up more frequently on race bikes. Think 54-tooth or even 56-tooth rings, which used to be reserved for time trials. The point isn’t just top-end speed. Larger chainrings let riders sit in a better spot on the cassette where the chainline is straighter and more efficient. Running a big ring and staying in the center of the cassette out back means fewer cross-chain issues, less drivetrain friction, and smoother shifting under load. Ultimately, it’s all about making the bike work better as a holistic system, and when paired with shorter cranks, it’s a setup that keeps showing up more and more in the WorldTour.
In stages that may have gravel or cobbles, pros might even run bigger chainrings and bigger cassettes to match. Everything they can do is chainline-based, trying to keep the straightest chain possible. Not only is it more efficient, but on the rougher cobble stages, it keeps you from dropping a chain.
Like Bar Tape, Wrapping Things Up
Tour bikes might still look aggressive, but today’s setups are a lot more calculated. Between more stack, shorter cranks, bigger rings, and strategic frame choices, riders are optimizing for real-world performance, not just tradition or aesthetics. If you’re trying to embody or replicate a pro bike setup, don’t just go for the slammed look. Think about why they’re making these choices. Comfort, efficiency, and smart setup matter more than ever, and that’s what actually makes you faster.
Learn More
Curious about any of the bike setup concepts above? Have questions about how to dial in your own bike like the pros?
We’d love to help out. Feel free to give us a call at 801-340-0344, drop by the shop, or email us at info@contenderbicycles.com