2023 Tour de France Bikes: a closer look at the peloton's speedsters

Published on July 13, 2023

The bikes for the Tour de France 2023 are obviously the most powerful on the market. At this level, nothing can be left to chance, and it's only logical that the world's best cyclists should have state-of-the-art equipment at their disposal for the biggest race on the calendar. Every gram counts, so it's hardly surprising to find only carbon frames and carbon wheels in the peloton. The International Cycling Union imposes a minimum weight of 6.8 kg to avoid overkill, which is detrimental to the solidity of the bikes, and therefore to the safety of the riders. The weight of Tour de France bikes is therefore close to this regulatory limit. Before we take a look at some of the bikes used in the Grande Boucle, let's see how much a Tour de France bike costs, and how you can ride a professional bike at a reduced price.

Tour de France 2023 racing bikes

The Tour de France is the most widely publicized cycling race, broadcast in almost every country in the world. It's a great showcase for brands, and they often go to great lengths to ensure that their new models are ready for the event.
This year, there are 19 brands taking part in the race. The average cost of the jewels they offer riders is rather prohibitive: the price of a Tour de France bike varies between €9,000 and €18,000, depending on the team! When you consider that some 1,000 bicycles are present on the Grande Boucle... that's a lot of money criss-crossing France in July!
Fortunately for them, the professional teams don't buy these bikes, or not at public price. Most of the time, the brands make the bikes available free of charge. Instead, they rely on the spin-offs for the general public who have seen them race.

Certified Pre-Owned Bikes: professional team equipment at reduced prices

As we've just seen, the cost of a bike for the Tour de France is very high... And it's even more exorbitant when you consider that it's possible to get ride a bike used by the professionals less than 5 years ago for a much lower price.
Indeed, in such a short space of time, technology evolves very little. Buying a Certified Pre-Owned bike will give you the pleasure of riding a professional cyclist's bike at a reduced price. Among the selection of Certified Pre-Owned road bikes from The Cyclist House, you'll find many of the peloton's stars of recent years.
To ensure your satisfaction from the very first ride, our bikes are scrupulously checked and cleaned. All our bikes undergo a 114-point inspection by our mechanics.
What's more, when you choose The Cyclist House for the purchase of your pre-owned bike, you benefit from a one-year warranty and a 30-day "money-back guarantee".

Ride the bike of a four-time Tour de France winner? It's possible, thanks to the magic of Certified Pre-Owned ! See the bike

⏩ Already own a bike you'd like to sell first? No problem, we'll buy it from you ! 💰

The bikes of the Tour's professional teams

With almost 56,000 meters of ascent and a passage through all of France's major mountain ranges, the Tour de France 2023 is particularly demanding. To adapt to this route, bikes are generally lighter. For some time now, handlebars have also been narrower (under 40 cm) to allow riders to adopt more aerodynamic positions.
But these aren't the only changes we've seen in the peloton this year. Each brand took advantage of the event to introduce its latest innovations. The Cyclist House team presents you a small selection of the bikes of the peloton's stars and their main innovations.

The Cervélo R5 and S5 for Jumbo-Visma

You don't change a winning team... After winning 3 of the 4 distinctive jerseys last year, Jumbo is keeping the same Cervélo models this year: the R5 for the mountains and the S5 (with its pretty triangular stem!) for the faster stages, all now equipped by SRAM.
On some stages, we saw title-holder Jonas Vingegaard and the redoubtable Wout Van Aert use a 1x groupset, a choice not yet widely available on the road. The advantages of this single-plate configuration are a slight aero gain and a lower risk of chain jump (given that there's one less derailleur...).

Colnago V4RS for UAE Team Emirates

The other big favorite, Tadej Pogacar, has opted for a Colnago V4RS, now equipped with Shimano's top-of-the-range Dura-Ace drivetrain. This model was already in use last year under the Prototipo name, which was, as we all know, a prototype.
As a reminder, UCI regulations require teams to use bikes that are already on the market or will be within the next 12 months.

The new BMC Masterpiece and Teammachine SLR01 for AG2R Citroën Team

At AG2R, not everyone is in the same boat for this Tour de France 2023. Ben O'Connor and Benoit Cosnefroy are benefiting from BMC's prototype: the Masterpiece. A true masterpiece developed jointly by BMC and the Red Bull Formula 1 team. The two are also spoiled for choice when it comes to drivetrains, with the brand-new Campagnolo Super Record Wireless groupset.
The rest of the team still uses the BMC Teammachine SLR01.

Canyon Aeroad CFR and Ultimate CFR for Alpecin-Deceuninck and Movistar

Both Jasper Philipsen's team and Spain's Movistar usually ride the Canyon Aeroad CFR with its sophisticated aerodynamics, but they prefer the Ultimate CFR for the mountains. When it comes to equipment, choices differ. Movistar opts for SRAM, while Alpecin opts for Shimano Dura-Ace. It's worth noting that Alpecin-Deceuninck's strongman, Mathieu Van der Poel, has a special livery.

Bora Hansgrohe / Soudal Quick-Step / Total Energies: full house for Specialized

By equipping three teams at the highest level, the American brand Specialized is the best represented brand in the Tour de France. Unsurprisingly, all three teams opted for the very best: the Tarmac SL7. Indeed, even if there was some suspense about its appearance this July, the SL8 model isn't quite ready yet. However, there's a slight difference for Total Energies, which (due to a lack of resources comparable to the other 2?) is still using a Cassette with 11 speeds, not 12.
With 24 professional riders out of 176 equipped, including Julian Alaphilippe and Fabio Jakobsen, Specialized had a strong chance of winning again at the 2023 Tour de France. In the end, it was Jay Hindley who was the first to raise his arms on his Tarmac.

Trek Madone for Lidl-Trek

Lidl-Trek boasts a state-of-the-art bike: the Madone SLR 9 AXS Gen 7. The great feature of this marvel is the cavity above the seat tube, called IsoFlow Technology, which accelerates the flow of air through the frame. This technical innovation, which gives the impression that the seatpost rests on nothing, is said to save one minute per hour compared with the old version! For the mountains, riders use the Trek Emonda SLR 9, less aero but lighter.

Look back on the Tour de France with Cofidis

French brand Look is back at the highest level, equipping the Cofidis men's and women's professional teams. The 795 Blade RS model has been chosen for the Tour de France. Look Combo handlebars Aero Handlebar is particularly well designed, with the possibility of easily changing the stem and the HandlebarIt's also possible to adjust the inclination.
The whole unit is fitted with Shimano Dura-Ace, Corima wheels and pedals... from Look, of course!

Lapierre: French top-of-the-range for Groupama-FDJ

Thibaut Pinot, David Gaudu and their team-mates have the right to a rather special bike on the roads of the Grande Boucle. The Xelius SL 10.0 Symbiosis Edition has been designed by the French firm Lapierre, in partnership with the Obvious trio of artists who exploit artificial intelligence. The term is slightly overused these days, so make no mistake: the work of Lapierre and Obvious goes far beyond a simple ChatGPT invention! The idea was to combine creativity, technology and performance to create a unique bike, as beautiful as it is fast. And they succeeded! The frame features multiple references to science fiction, technical progress and dystopia. The gears refer to the bike, and the flowers to the rider who makes the most of it.
In terms of performance, we're back to Lapierre's top-of-the-range quality, with a highly polished machine and an incredible weight of just 6.9 kg!

Ineos Grenadiers remains loyal to Pinarello

Winners of 7 of the last 12 Tour de France races, the Ineos-Grenadiers team continues to place its trust in the Italian brand Pinarello, its historic equipment supplier. Once again this year, former yellow jersey Egan Bernal and Tom Pidcock, among others, are riding the Dogma F12 model. Carbon fiber and nanoalloy make this bike one of the best in the peloton. Riders use it on every stage. Only the wheels sometimes change: in the mountains, the team prefers Princeton Carbon Works to Shimano.

German Cube bikes for Intermarché Circus Wanty

The Belgian team, which reached the top 10 of the overall classification for the first time last year thanks to Louis Mentjes, is once again using bikes from the German brand Cube. The models favored by the riders are the Litening Aero C:68 X for the flat and the lightweight Litening Air C:68X SLT for the mountains. The frame of this climber's bike weighs just 800 g! Fully assembled, it is within the 6.8 kg limit authorized by the UCI. That's enough to influence the famous watts/kg ratio!

Team Jayco Alula with Giant Propel Advanced SL

The Australian Jayco Alula team is equipped by one of the world's leading manufacturers: Giant. On this Tour de France, the Taiwanese firm is obviously providing their best bike, the Propel Advanced SL with its truncated ellipse-shaped tubes and D-shaped fork steerer tube... Very aerodynamic indeed! In the mountains, riders generally opt for the lighter TCR Advanced SL.

Before finding all these marvels on our site very soon, don't hesitate to discover the previous versions of these models in our road selection. We can't guarantee that you'll knock off Strava's KOM/QOM, but you're sure to find something to please you! 😉