Within the ever-evolving global of WorldTour motorcycle tech, apparatus tendencies can shift as briefly because the peloton itself.
Talking forward of Milan-San Remo, we requested Mathieu van der Poel about the result of our check, and he stated he is been sluggish to apply the fad.
“Last year, I was one of the only riders to still ride 28 millimetres, just because I kind of liked them,” the Dutchman started.
“The team was already riding 30 millimetres last year, so for sure it’s a trend. The big advantage with bigger tyres is that you can use a lower tyre pressure, and that, of course, makes a big difference on the cobbles.
“There is a large probability I can experience 30 millimetres this 12 months within the Classics races.”
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The worst-case to best-case difference was a saving of over 70 watts, but even between an already-common 32mm tyre and a currently-rare 40mm tyre on the same rim, there were over 25 watts on the table on cobbled surfaces.
By coincidence, Van der Poel’s Alpecin-Deceunick team switched to Pirelli tyres at the start of the 2025 season, so he does have the 40mm tyre available to him, should he want them.
But even with the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix looming on the horizon, there’s a very good reason why he won’t use them.
The Dutchman’s preferred race bike – the Canyon Aeroad CFR – doesn’t have clearance enough to fit them. To take advantage of the 40mm rubber, he’d have to switch to a different bike, and given the Aeroad CFR is Canyon’s most aero option, anything else would be less aerodynamic overall.
Notably, Israel Premier-Tech made the bold decision to use the Factor Ostro Gravel bike at last year’s Paris-Roubaix, a bike which would clear 40mm tyres with ease, but given anything wider than 32mm tyres fouled the back side of their Shimano front derailleur, they missed out on a potentially sizeable gain.
If they threw caution to the wind and switched to a 1x groupset and appropriate wheels, the data suggests 46 watts could have been saved.
Van der Poel is rightly cautious about the real-world benefits, though. Even at Paris-Roubaix, there are over 100 miles of smooth roads to contend with around the cobbled sectors, and there, at the speeds the professional peloton rides at, the aerodynamic benefit could quickly offset the rolling resistance improvement, assuming of course that the Dutchman has his nose in the wind and isn’t safely ensconced in the peloton.
Whether the net difference over the entire course would be positive or negative is unknown, and largely dependent on how a rider chooses to race.
“The variation isn’t so large,” Van der Poel continued. “However for those who evaluate it to a 23-millimetre tyre, then there is a huge distinction. I’m wondering the place it is going to forestall. You notice already riders the use of 35mm tyres in Roubaix, which is in point of fact vast.
“I think there’s also a limit to it. After a while, if you go any bigger, you won’t be faster anymore.”
The Dutchman’s opinion shines one thing of a gentle on his mindset in terms of tech, marginal positive factors and gear optimisation.
Whilst some riders are early adopters, akin to Victor Campenaerts’ use of the Categorized hub, Tadej Pogačar’s use of carbon chainrings, and Primoz Roglic’s use of a gravel groupset, Van der Poel seems satisfied to make use of what he is given, and what he is used to.
You’ll’t say it is not running for him despite the fact that. The Dutchman soloed to his 2d successive Paris-Roubaix win in historical type in 2024. He broke away by myself with 60km to move, completing a complete 3 mins up on his teammate Jasper Philipsen in 2d position, atmosphere a document moderate pace within the procedure.
His palmares is without doubt one of the perfect within the game’s historical past, too, and he presentations no signal of slowing down.
