Many pro teams have made the switch to tubeless tyres, sois the age of the tubular finally over? We've done the research to check what equipment the teams are choosing to run and see just how many teams are clinging to the past. Let's take a look at the reasons why most have made the transition to tubeless and just how wide they are choosing to run their tyres these days.
In recent years, we've seen a greatermix of tyre types in the pro peloton than ever before, but this yearthemajority of WorldTour teams areusing tubeless systems.
Gone is the era of rim brakes;are tubular tyres going to follow? All of the wheel sponsors of the teams competing in this year's Tour de Francesupply tubeless wheels. Eightof these teams useShimano or Rovalwheels, and most recentlyCorima's new MCC Evo and WS Evo wheels offer tubeless hookless compatibility, giving all of the teams the option to run tubeless, depending on their tyre sponsor.
Ideally, sponsors like to see riders using equipment that the public is likely to buy, and that means wheels that take clinchers/tubeless tyres since tubular wheel/tyre systems are impractical for most of us.
Alpecin–Deceuninck,Arkéa–Samsic,Groupama-FDJ, Ineos Grenadiers andTeam DSMall have access to Shimano'stop-of-the-range Dura-Ace wheels: theC50 tubeless for flat stages, and the C36 tubeless for the mountains.
Bora-Hansgrohe, Soudal Quick-Step and TotalEnergies are all using Roval's wheels: the Rapide CLX for flat stages and the Alpinist CLX for the mountains. Nearly all theRapide CLX wheelsets we've seen these teams using are the lighter first-generation version rather than thesecond-generation design. The first-generation wheels aren't compatible with tubeless tyres while the second-generation are. The teams don't need the beefed-up rim bed that the CLX IIshavebecause they were running clinchers on them.
Team mechanics at the recent Critérium du Dauphiné told us thatSpecialized-sponsored teams optfor tubeless tyres in the wet –the S-Works Turbo RapidAir– and normal clinchers in the dry –the Specialized Turbo Cotton tyre(below) used with latex inner tubes. That'sJulian Alaphilippe's bike pictured here.
> Check out the best road bike tyres 2023
Tubeless tyreswere by far the most popular option in both the men’s and women’s Paris Roubaix this year, but Jumbo-Visma's Wout van Aertstuck with tubular tyres despite the issues he had in the 2022 edition.
The challenging terrains that come with the spring Classics have provided a fertile testing ground for teams, where there has been a major shift to the majority of riders using tubeless tyres.
Jumbo-Visma were previous advocates of tubular tyres, but we spotted them opting for a tubeless setup for the first time in the2022 Tour de France.They did, however, revert totubular wheels and tyres for other stages.
At this year's Critérium du Dauphiné, Jonas Vingegaard was using Vittoria Corsa Pro tubeless tyres (above) in a 28mm width. These tyres have been super-popular in the pro peloton since they were launched earlier in the year.
>Vittoria claims new Corsa Pro is “the most advanced cotton road tyre ever made”
Jumbo-Visma was using the tubeless-ready Vittoria Corsa Speedtyre on its time trial bikes.
Movistar usehookless tubeless rims from Zipp for further weight savings. This (above) is Enric Mas' bike fitted with Zipp 454 NSW wheels and Continental Grand Prix 5000 S TR tyres, for example (Mashad to pull out of the Tour de France after a crash on Stage 1).
Lidl-Trek,known as Trek-Segafredo until recently, uses tubeless tyres from Pirelli. These bikes (above) are fitted with Pirelli P Zero Race TLR tubeless tyres, for instance.
Pirelli says that Mads Pedersen switches between P Zero TLR tubeless tyres and the tube-only version of the P Zero Race tyres with the brand's superlight TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane) P Zero SmarTubes inside.
> Read our review of thePirelli P Zero SmarTube
As mentioned, Arkéa–Samsicuses tubeless tyres. You can see this Shimano Dura-Ace C50 wheel (above) set up with a Continental Grand Prix 5000 S TR tyre at the Critérium du Dauphiné, for example.
However, they also use tubulars. This Bianchi Oltre RC (above) is again fitted with Shimano Dura-Ace C50 wheels but this time the tubular version with a Continental Competition ProLtd glued to the rim.
So why are we still seeing this non-committal approach from some teams? Simply, there are pros and cons tobothsetups:
Pros of tubeless
- Run with sealant inside, small punctures will mend as you ride
- Faster - lower rolling resistance
- No risk of pinch punctures
- Comfier - can be run at lower pressures
Cons of tubeless
- Installing tubeless tyres can be difficult
- Can be heavier than tubular setups
- Harder to ride when deflated than a tubular tyre
- Can be expensive
- Sealant is less effective at high pressures
>Should you get tubeless tyres? Are they your best option?
The advantages of tubeless tyres have been known for some time and the main benefits for pro riders are that they are faster - which is why they are used quite so much in time trial stages - and the risk of puncturing is substantially reduced, so riders are less likely to be forced to the side of the road.
It also gives riders the chance to change their tyre choice last minute. Unlike tubular tyres that have to be prepared and glued in advance, tubeless tyres can be swapped over quickly.
As well as this, most of the drawbacks that would impact whether you or I converted to tubeless are dealt with when you have a team of mechanics preparing your bike for you. Also, gluing tubular tyres on isn't the quickest and easiest job in the world.
The numberof tubeless tyres we see varies a little from stage to stage depending on the profile and weather. For example, some riders prefer a super-light tubular setup inthe high mountains, if they have the choice.
>Buyer's guide to tubeless tyres
It used to becommon for a team's domestiques to usetubeless tyres so that they're less likely to puncture and if they do, can continue riding whilewaiting for a spare wheel.
On the other hand, team leaders were more likely touse tubular tyres because of the small weight advantage and the fact they rarely have to wait long for a spare wheel or bike as the team car is closer and they have the domestiques around them.
As we've seen, though, Tour de France leader Jonas Vingegaard uses tubeless Vittoria Corsa Pros while second-placed rider Tadej Pogacar and his UAE Team Emirates teammate Adam Yates (bike pictured below) use Continental Grand Prix 5000 S TR tubeless tyres on their Enve SES 4.5 wheels.
> Check out the best winter road bike tyres 2023
Inthe 2022 Tour de France we still saw quite a lot of tubular tyres, but there are far fewer in the pro peloton this year.
Groupama-FDJ was using tubulars last year but doesn't anymore, for instance. Here's one of the team's wheels set up with a Continental Grand Prix 5000 S TR (above) at theCritérium du Dauphiné, for example.
Astana Qazaqstan was holding out too, possibly because wheel supplier Corima was slow to embrace tubeless. The team started to use HED wheels with tubeless tyres (above), the relationship with Corima being non-exclusive.
Plus, Corimahas nowreleased the MCC EVO and WS EVO wheelsets, venturing into the tubeless market.
Why has it taken so long?
Tubeless is by no means a new invention, mountain bikes havingby and large moved over to this technology in the last decade. It has been available to road bikes for some time, though it hasbeen slow to catch on, particularly in the world of pro cycling.
Pro cyclists are notoriously resistant to change as they trust what they know and, well, we can't blame them. Back when 25mm tyres were becoming a thing, one French team asked its tyre sponsor to label all the new 25mm tyres as 23mm as they knew the riders wouldn't like the change but knew the wider tyres were faster.
Talking about tyre widths, these are something that we'veseen get wider and wider, with the Vittoria Corsa Pro tyre that has been ridden to numerous pro wins since the start of the seasoncoming in26mm, 28mm, 30mm, 32mm, and even 34mm widths.
Gone are the days of the pros only wanting to ride 23mm tyres.At the recentCritérium du Dauphiné that we keep gibbering on about, we saw a lot of 26mm tyres but these were edged out slightly in terms of popularity by 28s. We even saw the occasional 30mm tyre fitted.
>Why you need to switch to wider tyres on your road bike
One further reason why some pros still like tubular tyres is because of the safety they offer in the event of a puncture. We've seen a few crashes wheretubeless tyres have failedand fully dismountedfrom the rim.
This is very unlikely to happen with tubulars as the tyre is glued to the rim, meaning it should stay there when deflated, allowing the rider to continue riding at the back of the peloton whilethey wait for their team car.
Tyre inserts were created, such as the Vittoria Air Liner, which provides tubeless tyres with a similar benefit, allowing you to ride on if you lose pressure in your tyres. This does mitigate the weight-saving gain of tubeless systems compared with standard clinchers.
Is the game up for tubulars?
Tubeless has been getting its foothold in the pro peloton over the last few seasons and there's no better time to see the latest and greatest kit in action thanin the opening stages of the Tour de France.
Pic: Mark Cavendish Stage 6 2023 Tour de France © SWpix.com (t:a Photography Hub Ltd)
It wasn't so long ago that the pro peloton rolled exclusively on tubulars. Look around this year's Tour de France and they're not exactly a rarity, but they're certainly far less common than ever before.
>2023 Tour de France bikes — your definitive guide to what the top pro cycling teams are riding this year
Are we likely to see tubulars disappear entirely from the Tour de France over the coming years? The tubular market is small andwheel and tyre brands are keen to showcase the technology that they sell to the public, and that means getting their tubeless and clincher systems raced as much as possible.
On top of that, riders are having plenty of success with newer tech so there's less of a reason to stick with tubulars.The peloton is getting gradually less wary.
Tubeless tyres and sealants have got much better in recent years. Highpressure-specific sealants are much more effective at plugging punctures in road tyres than was once the case, and the introduction of ETRTO(European Tyre and Rim Technical Organisation) standards has helped tubeless technology become more widely trusted. Plus,tubeless road tyres are now only slightly heavier than tube-type clinchers and no longer have the insanely stiff sidewalls they once had.
All of this means that tubeless technology is marching forwards. That said, change is usually pretty slow in pro cycling so we expect tubulars to be around for a while yet.
Do you use tubeless tyres on the road? Let us know what you think of the technology in the comments section below...
