There are only a few races on the cycling calendar which place such demands on a rider’s equipment as Strade Bianche. The hellish cobbles of Paris-Roubaix are perhaps the only terrain which is tougher than the white roads of Tuscany on wheels, components and tyres, and WorldTour teams need to do all they can to stay ahead of the game when it comes to preparing for these events.
As gravel has become more and more commonplace both for the everyday rider and in professional racing, bikes and tyres have steadily become more robust over the seasons in order to tackle all-road terrain. As a result, fewer teams were using gravel-specific bikes or components at Strade, with many opting for standard set-ups but simply switching tyres or wheels to allow better handling on loose rocks. Two main factors when it comes to a race like Strade are ensuring that wheels are as puncture-proof as possible – a mistimed mechanical can be disastrous – and choosing the correct tyre pressure to allow maximum grip while also keeping rolling resistance high – it is a tricky balance.
Eventual second place finisher Tom Pidcock checks his tyres pre-race
Mechanics of WorldTour teams have a tough task at hand when it comes to getting everything right for the Tuscan one-day event, with most teams doing multiple recon rides in the weeks leading up to the race to test conditions. The weather plays a big part in the choices made when it comes to equipment, and 2025’s dry and dusty edition meant slightly ‘easier’ conditions compared to other years. Most teams have soigneurs and mechanics dotted all over the Strade Bianche course with spare wheels at the ready for untimely punctures – the race is often so spread out that team cars are too far away from riders at the front to assist them. Tom Pidcock’s Q36.5 Team had an estimated number of 35 staff at the race to ensure that the British rider was well-equipped. He rewarded them with his eventual hard-fought podium place behind Tadej Pogačar.
Rouleur was present at the start of Strade Bianche 2025 this year in Siena to get an idea of how tech has evolved over the last few years with gravel becoming more prevalent across the sport. We spoke to mechanics about tyres and tech choices, finding out that while some teams make a big effort to alter their set-ups for Strade, others prefer to keep it simple, relying on their usual equipment to do the job.
Team Q36.5's new Zipp gravel wheelset
Pidcock's new team had spent a week in Flanders leading up to Strade and were using new 303 XPLR gravel wheels from Zipp. The Q36.5 mechanic told Rouleur: “It’s a new wheel from Zipp. We are using 30mm tyres, some Corsa Control and some Corsa Pro. We invested one week here in Tuscany to get the perfect set-up done. Everyone has their own set up. It’s super dry this year so you will have a lot of sections which are loose which makes a difference on the tyre pressure.”
Uno-X-Mobility DT Swiss GRC 1100 wheel
Another team who had invested time into their set-up was Norwegian outfit Uno-X Mobility. The forward-thinking squad are known to be at the cutting-edge when it comes to trying out new technologies and the team’s head mechanic explained that plenty of thought had gone into getting ready for the white roads of Tuscany.
“We’ve gone for the DT Swiss GRC 1100 wheel which is a new gravel wheel for this year. We’re using wider tyres than normal going up to 32mm. Only one rider stays on the normal set-up which completely standard – we did a recon yesterday and the personal feeling on the gravel and how loose it was meant he preferred that. We give them both options to try,” he explained.
Liv-Alula-Jayco race wheels
The Liv-Alula-Jayco mechanics were also hard at work ahead of the women’s race starting in Siena. Protecting their riders from untimely punctures was a priority, with the team mechanic saying: “We have the Air Liner and extra mousse inside the wheels to protect from punctures, we also keep 2.5 pressure and we’re safe that the tyre won’t roll off of the wheel. You can also keep riding if the tyre goes flat. We did the recon two days before the race with the first tyre pressure. A few riders wanted 0.1 less – it’s all personal thinking. For example Amber [Pate] doesn’t change anything – she’s using deeper wheels while the others all use shallower. The stickers on the wheels show which wheels have had the specific prep for this race.”
Israel-Premier Tech Factor Ostro team bikes
The likes of Israel-Premier Tech and EF Education-EasyPost were also adopting the approach of using more sealant in 30mm tyres in order to aid puncture protection.
Groupama-FDJ mechanics had taped an Allen key to the seat post of some rider’s Willier race bikes to help with quick wheel changes during the race if necessary.
SD Worx-Protime team bikes ahead of the race
Most of the teams were using either 30mm or 32mm tyres – the entire Visma-Lease a Bike squad rode on 32mm while Ineos Grenadiers opted for 30mm. Interestingly, one of the few teams riding 28mm tyres was SD Worx-Protime. When Rouleur asked the team mechanic why the Dutch squad hadn’t opted to go wider for the race, he simply responded: “We have enough wheels.”
European champion Lorena Wiebes' Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL8
Plenty of riders had good luck charms and motivational quotes on their bikes, but otherwise new technology at Strade was relatively minimal in 2025. It’s clear that innovations aren’t as common today because modern road bikes have evolved so much over the last few seasons. There are multiple reasons for this: frame design has changed so we now see more dropped seatstays and thinner seat posts – older systems that were designed to dampen vibrations on bikes like the Specialized Roubaix, for example, aren’t needed when the technology can be engineered directly into a pure race bike.
Demi Vollering's race winning Tarmac SL8 which is Specialized's 'all-round' race machine. Specialized sponsored teams all looked to be using new. unreleased tyres.
In addition, the use of disc brakes now also allows more tyre clearance – in the past with rim brakes, riders were restricted to 28mm tyres. The idea that wider tyres are slower is something that has been disproven in recent years and wider tyres mean tubeless systems work more effectively. Additional braking power and control from disc-brakes has also been a game changer for races with extra technical challenges.
Paris-Roubaix is, of course, just round the corner: will we see more new tech for the cobbles of Northern France? Or is this the end of new technology for specific races? Time will tell…
