Tour de France Tech 2018: Mark Cavendish’s Cervelo S5

Mark Cavendish is racing the Tour de France on a Cervelo S5, and it’s a similar setup to the one he’s used for the past couple of years. We just managed to get a few quick pics as the Dimension Data team got ready to leave for a training ride on the day before the Grand Depart. We didn’t have the chance to put the bike on a stand and photograph all the details; sometimes it goes like that.

We published our first ride review of the latest version of the Cervelo S5 way back in September 2015. That’s a long time ago in top-level race bike terms, especially as brands like Trek, Specialized, Cannondale and BMC have all revealed new aero road bikes within the past week or so. The S5 is due a revamp, we’d say, although no new version has been approved by the UCI so any update is a way off yet.

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The S5 is Cervelo’s flagship aero road bike, boasting many features that have become industry standards, such as a fork crown that integrates into the head tube/down tube, a down tube that’s dropped so that it sits just behind the front wheel to reduce drag, and a seat tube that’s cutaway around the rear wheel. The seatstays are designed to shelter the rear brake and manage airflow in that area.

Dimension Data is one of the many World Tour teams that uses Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupsets. The junction box could be hidden away – there’s a handlebar plug version available these days – but Dimension Data prefers to hang one underneath the saddle. Why do that? It’s so that a mechanic who might be leaning out of a car window can easily adjust shifting on the fly.

Read our Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 review here. 

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The chainset is a departure from the Dura-Ace theme, the Dimension Data riders using Rotor instead. Cav goes for NoQ round chainrings as opposed to Rotor’s oval Q Rings that are designed to vary drivetrain resistance through the pedal stroke.

Rotor’s 2Inpower power meter is integrated into the chainset. This is a change from last year’s Tour de France when Cav was using an SRM power meter and Dura-Ace cranks with blacked out logos. He’s on-message now, keeping the sponsors happy.

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Cav uses a Skylite SR Pilarga saddle with carbon rails from Italy’s Astute. It’s a flat saddle with a twin shell – a U-shaped inner shell and a self-supporting outer shell that’s designed to absorb vibration. There’s triple density memory foam padding underneath the cover.

Check out our Astute Skylite Pilarga SR saddle review.

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Dimension Data uses Enve wheels and Cav opts for SES 4.5s, front and rear, although that’ll change according to the route and conditions. The rear wheel has a depth of 56cm while the front, which is more likely to affect the handling in crosswinds, is shallower at 48mm. 

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The rim of the front wheel is 27mm wide while the rear is 25.5mm. Both are optimised for 25mm tyres, which is what Cav is using here. These are Continental Competition ProLtd.

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Enve provides the SES Aero Road handlebar too, and the Aero Road stem. 

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Cav uses Shimano Dura-Ace pedals, although these are older 9000 Series Dura-Ace rather than the latest R9100 ones. There’s not a massive amount of difference between them. The bottle cages are Elite Vico Carbon.

Click here for the full gen on the shoes. 

Want more 2018 Tour tech? Then visit our special Tour de France tech 2018 tag page and fill yer boots!