Want some pro race wheels without the price tag? Here’s the smart way to buy Tour de France-inspired wheels for less

Two teams are using Specialized’s Roval wheels at the Tour: Red Bull – BORA-Hansgrohe and Soudal Quick-Step. Their top riders have access to the newly released Rapide CLX III and Rapide CLX Sprint wheels, which retail for between £2,500 and £3,000 a pair.

If you’re after similar tech for much less, Roval’s new Rapide CL III wheels are well worth a look. They offer much of the same aerodynamic design at around half the price. You get a 51mm front rim and 48mm rear, with a claimed weight of 1,555g. They’re also built around DT Swiss 350 hubs – less premium than the top-tier versions, but proven to be reliable and high-performing based on our testing with the previous Rapide CL II wheels.

Movistar are using Zipp 353 NSW wheels, which retail for a whopping £3,379 per pair (you can currently get them for £2,699 from Sigma Sports though, bargain!) If you’re looking to spend less than four figures on a set of wheels though, the Zipp 303 S wheels can be picked up for around £850. 

The 353 NSW wheels feature a distinctive undulating rim, while the 303 S wheels have a standard-shaped rim. Both, however, are 45mm deep. The 303 S wheels have an internal rim width of 23mm, which Zipp says is “optimised aerodynamically when paired with a 28mm tubeless tyre.” They are also compatible with tyres up to 50mm wide, making them suitable for gravel riding as well.

US brand Enve supplies wheels for Tadej Pogačar and UAE Team Emirates, as well as for Team TotalEnergies. The pros are now riding the newly launched Enve SES 4.5 Pro wheels, with 56mm and 55mm rim depths front and rear. These are currently available only in limited numbers before production ramps up, and come with a hefty price tag of £4,100 per pair.

Enve’s Foundation 45 wheelset is less than half the price of the SES 4.5 Pro, featuring a 45mm deep carbon rim with a 21mm internal rim width and said to be optimised for 25-28mm tyres. Like the brand’s SES wheels, the Foundation collection is tested and developed at the Mercedez Benz Formula One wind-tunnel “to deliver best-in-class real-world aero performance”. 

Team Ineos Grenadiers and Alpecin-Deceuninck use Shimano wheels with the pros riding the top-tier Dura-Ace wheels. You can currently pick up a pair of the Dura-Ace C60 disc wheelset for £1,417.50 from Sigma Sports. 

For less money, Shimano’s Ultegra C60 wheelset is currently available for £799, featuring trickle-down technology from the Dura-Ace range. The latest Ultegra wheels debut full carbon rims, with this model featuring a rim depth of 60mm and a width of 21mm.

Shimano says, “As with the Dura Ace counterparts, the balanced relationship between three factors was at the forefront of the development: aerodynamics, stiffness and lower weight”. 

Vision supplies more World Tour teams with race wheels than any other manufacturer with four teams on Vision hoops. These teams are Arkéa-B&B Hotels, XDS Astana Team, Bahrain Victorious and EF Education-EasyPost.  

Riders use Vision’s Metron RS (Racing Series) wheelsets, which feature carbon rims and spokes. They’re available in 60mm and 45mm rim depths, priced at £3,179 and £3,109 respectively.

A more affordable alternative is Vision’s SC60 wheels which are described as a “high-quality carbon product derived from the Metron family”, featuring a 21mm internal rim width which is said to achieve maximum efficiency with tubeless tyres ranging from 28 to 32mm. 

Uno-X Mobility and Tudor Pro Cycling riders are using DT Swiss wheels, specifically the Arc 1100 Dicut Disc brake wheelset. This wheelset has a claimed weight of 1,299g per pair and is priced at €2,499 (approximately £2,150). They come in a range of rim depths – 38mm, 50mm, 62mm, and 80mm. 

The DT Swiss AR 1600 Spline wheels are less than a quarter of the price at £499, and while they aren’t carbon fibre, the AR 1600s are designed to offer the highest aero performance from an alloy system, according to the brand. 

DT Swiss says that the same “know-how” went into the development of these wheels as its high-end carbon aero wheels that are ridden by the pros. Aero touches include flat-bladed spokes and hidden spoke nipples. 

Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale are riding Van Rysel road bikes equipped with SwissSide Hadron³ Ultimate wheels, which cost £1,988 for the pair. These wheels are available in rim depths of 55mm, 68mm, and 85mm, with the team often opting for the 55mm set.

For those looking for the same rim tech but at a more accessible build, SwissSide also make the SwissSide Hadron³ Classic wheelsets using identical rims to the Ultimate series, in depths from 55-88mm, but with cheaper DT Swiss hubs and spokes. 

Team Jayco–AlUla is the only team using wheels from Giant’s Cadex brand, making their bikes an all-Giant affair. Riders like Simon Yates use the Cadex 50 Ultra Disc wheelset, which features a 50mm depth and a hookless rim profile and has a claimed weight of 1,349g for the pair. Each wheel costs between £1,149.99 and £1,499.99, though. 

For less than the price of one Cadex 50 Ultra Disc wheel, a pair of Giant’s SLR 1 50 Disc wheelsets can be picked up for £840 right now. Like the Cadex wheels, these also feature a 50mm carbon hookless rim profile and internal rim width of 22.4mm. They are less than 200g heavier for the pair, with a claimed weight of 1,518g.