New bikes, new wheels, new tyres and plenty more – there’s no shortage of fresh tech making its Tour de France debut in 2026. Here are the standout products to keep an eye on.
Some of these products are brand new, while others have been around for a little longer. What they all have in common is that this marks their Tour de France debut. We also expect more new tech to emerge once the race gets underway, so we’ll be keeping a close eye on the peloton. For now, here’s everything that’s either been officially launched or spotted in the wild.
Cube’s new aero bike
Two TotalEnergies riders were spotted racing on a new Cube aero bike at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (formerly the Criterium du Dauphine). The prototype features a much cleaner, more refined silhouette than the previous model, along with a distinctive sloping seatpost design.
One of the main changes at the front end of the bike is a set of deeper fork legs and the bar also appears to be new. This one-piece design features much deeper tops along with a less angular stem section. At the time of writing, this bike remains unreleased, but it will likely be a new Litening Aero C:68X.
A new lightweight aero bike from Van Rysel
Paul Seixas and his Decathlon CMA CGM teammates have a new lightweight aero bike for the Tour de France after what appears to be a redesigned Van Rysel RCR-Pro was spotted at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
Van Rysel has seemingly married a deep aero front end with much slimmer tube set at the rear, creating a machine that looks set to challenge Specialized’s Tarmac as the leading lightweight and aero all rounder bike.
Like the new Cube, this Van Rysel bike remains unreleased at the time of writing.
Look 795 Blade RS 3
The all new, more aero Look 795 Blade RS 3 is among the most expensive bikes in the peloton and is equipped with a 13-speed Campagnolo groupset.
The French ProTeam Cofidis is the only squad in the race using Campagnolo’s latest groupset, pairing it with high-end Campagnolo Bora Ultra WTO wheels. It’s certainly one of the most distinctive setups blending Italian components with the iconic French-made Look frame.
Ridley climbing bike
Already in use at the women’s Giro d’Italia, the Falcn RS is a bike that we haven’t seen too much of in pro races. Riders tend to favour the more aero Noah Fast but Ridley isn’t done with climbing bikes yet, appearing to have given its lightweight Falcn RS some much needed updates.
The new bike looks to have some small revisions over the existing design with a slightly more profiled design around the head tube, presumably for aero savings. The most notable change, however, is the space inside the fork. Tyre clearance stands at 34mm currently, though the upper limit of tyre size for this new model is currently unknown.
Interesting new Orbea aero bike
Another bike spotted at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes ridden by the Lotto-Intermarché team was a prototype Orbea aero bike with the brand keen to hide the key features of the frame with hand-drawn lines.
A surprising feature can be spotted under the bike, where the bottom bracket shell extends down. Orbea is naturally remaining tight-lipped about the changes, but it could well be that the engineers are tying to shelter the rear wheel as much as possible.
Some elements of the design are less clear, but it appears that the 30mm tyre clearance of the previous bike has been increased. This bike had 29mm Vittoria Corsa Pro tyres mounted to the Oquo rims. These feature a 23mm internal rim width, allowing those tyres to balloon slightly. However, we’ll just have to wait for details on the new bike…
Updated Specialized Tarmac SL9
An updated Tarmac SL9 had been highly anticipated and was finally spotted in competition at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, and officially released earlier this week. The design closely mirrors the Tarmac SL8 but there are noticeable aerodynamic refinements, including a reshaped fork and seat tube that point to a greater focus on aero performance.
Specialized says that the S-Works Tarmac SL9 is “the fastest road bike ever made” – more aerodynamically efficient than the existing SL8, with a frame weight of 687g and complete bikes as light as 6.5kg.
Spanish bike brand MMR
MMR will be on the start line of the Tour de France for the first time with wildcard team Caja Rural–Seguros RGA team. MMR is a Spanish bicycle brand and the squad races on the Aelion SL Team, which is the least expensive bike in the peloton despite MMR offering more premium models elsewhere in its range.
The bike is equipped with Vision wheels wrapped in Vittoria tyres, alongside a Shimano groupset.
Bianchi’s “ultimate all-rounder”
Last month, Bianchi released the next-generation Specialissima, its flagship all-round road bike, claiming it is the lightest model the company has ever produced while also offering improved aerodynamics and better vibration damping than its predecessor.
Loads of new paint jobs
Bike brands often use the Tour de France as an opportunity to grab some attention with a new paint job. If you’re not launching a new bike, it’s the next best way to make sure that plenty of eyes point in your direction. Many brands, including Pinarello have put their sponsored teams on bikes with new finishes.
One that caught our eye is the Pinarello Dogma F ridden by Tom Pidcock and the Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team. The team moves away from darker tones introducing a palette of light greys and blues. The bike features matt-finished Titan and Luxter Venice tones paired using Pinarello’s Cut paint scheme. Additional details include gold Pinarello and Dogma F decals. Is this the best looking bike at this year’s Tour?
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Lidl-Trek has also released images of the custom colourway they will race in at the Tour, with this super cool design celebrating Trek’s 50-year history.
New Bontrager wheels
2026 Bontrager Aeolus wheels (Image Credit: Lidl Trek Facebook)
Not officially launched yet, these new Bontrager wheels are already being used by Lidl-Trek riders and can be seen pictured on their custom Tour de France Trek bikes. They feature updated branding and carbon spokes, which are becoming increasingly popular in the peloton but mark a first for Bontrager’s wheelset lineup.
Currently, Bontrager offers Aeolus RSL wheelsets in 37mm, 51mm, 62mm and 75mm depths, along with three additional ‘Pro’ models.
Cadex Max 50 wheels
2026 Cadex Max 50 WheelSystem @Sterling Lorence Giant (Image Credit: Giant)
Giant-owned performance wheel and component brand Cadex launched the Max 50 WheelSystem at the start of the year, and Team Jayco AlUla riders have been using them this season.
The 50mm-deep carbon wheels feature a hookless rim, fully integrated hub and spoke technology, and a claimed weight of 1,290g. The rims have a 22.4mm internal width, which Cadex says is optimised for 28mm tyres while remaining compatible with tyre widths from 25mm to 32mm.
The wheels will be wrapped in the Cadex Aero Tyre which was also redesigned this year.
Aero Pirelli tyres
The Pirelli P Zero Race TLR SL-R tyres were released earlier this year and are said to be the fastest in the brands range. It’s a lightweight race tyre that claims to be up to 15 watts faster than the P Zero Race TLR RS thanks to new patented PAAS (Pirelli Advanced Aerodynamic System) tech.
New Giro premium cycling shoes
Earlier this year, Giro launched two new premium cycling shoes, after a multi-year hiatus with the launch of its Imperial II and Empire SLX II shoes. Once a favourite in the WorldTour peloton, Giro has been relatively quiet on the footwear front in recent years, making this release a notable comeback.
The Imperial II features a Boa dial closure system, while the Empire SLX II uses a traditional lace-up design. The lace-up model is often a popular choice among pros such as Paul Seixas, as they are considered more aerodynamic.
Prototype MET TT helmet
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While not officially launched yet, MET posted the TT Proto helmet on social media head of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, and we can expect to see it out in the wild again at the Tour.
The prototype helmet doesn’t radically reinvent the time trial category, but instead follows modern aero trends and brings the team’s setup more up to date. It differs from the current Drone Wide Body II, which MET claims is “already one of the fastest out there”.
We’ve highlighted a range of new bikes, components, and kit making their debut in this year’s Tour de France, but fresh tech in the peloton never really stops. If you spot anything new being used in the race, let us know in the comments section below.
1 thought on “A wave of new bikes, wheels and kit making Tour de France debuts in 2026”
“An updated Tarmac SL9 ” wow, already 2 days after the release of the Tarmac SL9, that’s really specialized!