{"id":245306,"date":"2025-07-07T13:03:22","date_gmt":"2025-07-07T13:03:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/245306\/"},"modified":"2025-07-07T13:03:22","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T13:03:22","slug":"tadej-pogacars-soon-to-be-illegal-rims-these-tour-de-france-wheels-will-be-banned-in-six-months","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/245306\/","title":{"rendered":"Tadej Poga\u010dar’s soon-to-be illegal rims: these Tour de France wheels will be banned in six months"},"content":{"rendered":"

New UCI<\/a> rules will render some of the wheels used at this year’s Tour de France<\/a> obsolete in the pro peloton in six months’ time.<\/p>\n

From 1 January 2026, the maximum height of bicycle rims for mass start road events will be 65mm, with anything deeper banned. The measure was announced last month as part of a wave of regulation updates, all with the goal of improving safety in professional cycling.<\/p>\n

Strolling through the team paddock across the Tour’s Grand D\u00e9part, Cycling Weekly spotted multiple wheels that won’t be UCI legal next year, some as deep as 80mm.<\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

Among them was the rear wheel of defending champion Tadej Poga\u010dar<\/a> (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), which was 67mm deep, 2mm beyond the new limit.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Poga\u010dar ran a 67mm rear wheel on stage one.<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Tom Davidson)<\/p>\n

Poga\u010dar’s front wheel, on the other hand, was well within the new rules at 60mm.<\/p>\n

Why did he run different widths? Strong gusts were forecast on day one in Lille and ended up ripping the race into echelons<\/a> \u2013 teams tend to go for shallower rims at the front for better handling in crosswinds. This is because they have less surface area for the wind to hit.<\/p>\n

The rear wheel is impacted less because it has the rider’s weight on top of it.<\/p>\n

The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Last year’s Tour winner went for a mismatched set-up, with a 60mm wheel at the front.<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Tom Davidson)<\/p>\n

Biniam Girmay (Intermarch\u00e9-Wanty) also went for mismatched wheel depths, running 66mm at the back, and 60mm at the front.<\/p>\n

\"Biniam<\/p>\n

Girmay’s wheels were mismatched, too. <\/p>\n

(Image credit: Tom Davidson)<\/p>\n

Girmay’s wheelset is made by German company Newmen. According to the brand, the 60mm-66mm combination “offers the best possible compromise between crosswind stability and low air resistance.”<\/p>\n

Intermarch\u00e9-Wanty will not be able to use the 66mm rear wheel, pictured below, next season.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Newman’s Streem S.66 is \u2013 you guessed it \u2013 66mm deep.<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Tom Davidson)<\/p>\n

The deepest rims we spotted in Lille on Saturday belonged to Cofidis sprinter Bryan Coquard, who began the stage with a whopping 80mm rear wheel.<\/p>\n

The Frenchman ran a Campagnolo Bora Ultra WTO 80, an aero-optimised product said to be suitable even for time trials. In six months, it will be 15mm over the limit in bunch events.<\/p>\n

\"Bryan<\/p>\n

Coquard’s rear wheel was the deepest on show.<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Tom Davidson)<\/p>\n

On the cusp<\/p>\n

Other teams ran set-ups that will be within millimetres of the UCI’s new rules when they come into place in January.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Visma-Lease a Bike are supplied by Reserve. <\/p>\n

(Image credit: Tom Davidson)<\/p>\n

Visma-Lease a Bike’s new Reserve wheels are 64mm deep, and were fitted to the team’s new C\u00e9rvelo S5, their most aero bike.<\/p>\n

Like other teams, Visma’s wheel depths were mismatched: 64mm at the rear and 57mm at the front. The new wheels also have carbon spokes.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

No prizes for guessing this wheel’s depth. <\/p>\n

(Image credit: Tom Davidson)<\/p>\n

Other riders, like Lidl-Trek’s Jonathan Milan, chose wheels that will fall safely within the UCI’s new limits. The Italian rode 62mm rims for stage one.<\/p>\n

\"62mm<\/p>\n

62mm will keep Jonathan Milan well within the rules. <\/p>\n

(Image credit: Tom Davidson)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New UCI rules will render some of the wheels used at this year’s Tour de France obsolete in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":245307,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4104],"tags":[4230,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-245306","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114812093035280552","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245306\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}