A closer look at Pogačar’s Tour-winning bikes
Tadej Pogačar stormed to a third Tour de France victory in Nice on Sunday, winning the final stage and completing the first Giro-Tour double since 1998.
Although there was no ceremonial final stage to Paris this year (due to the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics), Colnago nevertheless built Pogačar a custom-painted V4Rs to accompany the Slovenian star onto the final podium.
Given the final stage was a time trial, Pogačar finished this year’s Tour aboard his Colnago TT1 – with a host of modifications to make it as light as possible for the mountainous course profile.
Let’s take a closer look at the two bikes.
Tadej Pogačar’s 2024 Tour de France winning Colnago V4Rs
As noted in our deep dive into Pogačar’s Colnago V4Rs versus Jonas Vingegaard’s Cervélo R5, the V4Rs is the Italian brand’s all-rounder racing bike.
It has a claimed weight of 795g for an unpainted, size-50s frame, so we imagine this particular frameset might weigh a little more given its special-edition paintjob.
This perhaps explains why Pogačar didn’t use a fully yellow bike during the race, instead opting for simpler – and almost certainly lighter – yellow logos and accents during his time wearing the race leader’s yellow jersey.
Custom paint and graphics aside, though, the build spec was near-identical to the V4Rs Pogačar used to take five out of his six stage wins at this year’s race.
It features a Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 R9200 groupset, upgraded with CarbonTi chainrings and brake rotors, plus AbsoluteBlack brake pads.
ENVE supplied a set of its SES 4.5 wheels, with custom yellow graphics featuring iconography from this year’s Tour.
The graphics also name-check Pogačar’s teammates, who shepherded him through three weeks of hard racing and took home the Team classification.
These are wrapped with Continental GP5000 S TR tyres.
ENVE also provides Pogačar’s SES Pro Team One-Piece handlebar, although the customisation here is limited to some yellow handlebar tape and brand logos.
As been the case for Pogačar throughout this season, there’s also a baby Hulk stick in the centre of his handlebar.
Not wanting to be left out of the celebrations, Wahoo has also supplied a yellow Elemnt Bolt V2 bike computer.
The bike is finished with a special-edition yellow Prologo Nago R4 saddle, featuring text noting some of Pogačar’s most important victories.
The bike is finished with a set of Shimano Dura-Ace PD-R9100 SPD-SL pedals, Elite Leggero carbon bottle cages and celebratory yellow Elite water bottles.
Tadej Pogačar’s 2024 Tour de France winning Colnago V4Rs specification
- Frameset: Colnago V4Rs (size 485)
- Groupset: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 R9200, with CarbonTi chainrings and brake rotors
- Wheelset: ENVE SES 4.5
- Power meter: Shimano Dura-Ace FC-R9200-P
- Tyres: Continental GP5000 S TR
- Handlebar: ENVE SES Pro Team One-Piece
- Seatpost: Colnago V4Rs
- Saddle: Prologo Nago R4
- Bottle cages: Elite Leggero carbon
- Pedals: Shimano Dura-Ace PD-R9100
- Weight: Unknown
Tadej Pogačar’s stage-winning Colnago TT1 time trial bike
Despite the challenging course profile, Pogačar went all-in on aerodynamics and rode his full Colnago TT1 time trial setup for the final stage.
It was effective too, as he demolished the field to finish 1:03 ahead of his nearest rival, Jonas Vingegaard.
His setup wasn’t exactly the same as he used for the rolling course of the race’s first individual time trial on stage 7, instead making a few concessions to weight and climbing.
Most notably, Pogačar swapped from an AeroCoach Aeox Titan front wheel to an ENVE SES 6.7.
The AeroCoach front wheel has a claimed weight of 1,050g compared to 675g for the ENVE, so the switch ought to have saved Pogačar around 375g.
Whether it was worth it or not is an interesting consideration. According to Dr Xavier Disley (the director of AeroCoach), switching to a lighter, less aerodynamic front wheel wouldn’t have been a net gain overall.
This is likely because although it may have been marginally faster during the climbs, it would have been slower elsewhere on the course.
In any case, Pogačar won by a big enough margin that such equipment choices evidently didn’t matter.
The ENVE front wheel was paired with an AeroCoach Aeox Orbit rear disc wheel. From the limited images we have, we believe Pogačar used Continental’s GP5000 TT TR tyres.
As on his road bike, Pogačar’s time trial bike was equipped with a Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupset, upgraded with CarbonTi chainrings and brake rotors, and AbsoluteBlack brake pads.
He opted for two (rather large-looking) front chainrings and a front derailleur instead of a 1x drivetrain, as did Vingegaard and Evenepoel.
Notably, Pogačar used an SRM Origin Road PM9 power meter spider paired with ‘superlight’ SRM Cybrei Dub carbon cranks, in place of his usual Shimano FC-R9200-P power meter crankset.
Whether this is a swap purely for weight reasons or otherwise, we’re not sure – and given Shimano is a team sponsor, we’re unlikely to get an answer.
Pogačar was also using a 145g ‘special superlight’ carbon seatpost made for the TT1 collaboration with Spanish carbon fibre specialists, Darimo.
As well as using pricier carbon fibre than the standard TT1 seatpost, the Darimo post saves weight by using a fixed offset head.
This was topped with Prologo’s new Time Trial Predator saddle. Developed in collaboration with Pogačar, it’s claimed to offer “optimised weight reduction and enhanced performance”, at the rather extraordinary price of £1,015.
Up front, Pogačar had a set of full carbon aero extensions, which look to be custom-shaped to fit his position and arms exactly.
In terms of kit, Pogačar wore the race leader’s yellow skinsuit, as provided by Santini, along with aero socks, DMT KR SL shoes and MET’s new Drone Wide Body II time trial helmet.
Tadej Pogačar’s stage-winning Colnago TT1 time trial bike specification
- Frameset: Colnago TT1 (size unknown)
- Groupset: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 R9200, with CarbonTi chainrings and brake rotors
- Wheelset: ENVE SES 6.7 front wheel with AeroCoach Aeox Orbit rear disc wheel
- Power meter: SRM Origin Road PM9 with SRM carbon crankset
- Tyres: Continental GP5000 TT TR
- Handlebar: Colnago TT1 with custom aero extensions
- Seatpost: Colnago / Darimo TT1
- Saddle: Prologo Nago R4
- Bottle cage: Colnago TT1
- Pedals: Shimano Dura-Ace PD-R9100
- Weight: Unknown