So how much does a complete pro bike weigh in 2022? We got our paws on nine bikes at the Tour de France and put them on the BikeRadar scales of truth.

First, a caveat: we weighed these bikes at the Grand Départ in Copenhagen, ahead of the first two – flat – road stages, so aero bikes and deep-section wheels were the order of the day. They were also weighed ready-to-ride, with pedals, power meters, bike computers and, for the most part, (empty) bottles. We also weighed a couple of time trial bikes.

While some riders will have remained loyal to a dedicated aero bike through the Tour, they would invariably be in a lighter build, perhaps swapping tubeless tyres for tubulars, and almost certainly ditching deep-sections rims in favour of something shallower, for the mountains.

Other riders will have switched to a lighter bike altogether for the Alps and Pyrenees, if their team’s sponsor had two models to choose from. The Cannondale SuperSix instead the Cannondale SystemSix, for example.

Regardless, pro cyclists have never had it better when it comes to tech, and bike racing is faster than ever. While some bikes are getting heavier, they’re not slowing down.

So back to our big secret; consider this not an expose on Big Bike’s desire to sell us heavier bikes, but an insight into the equipment being used today in cycling’s greatest race.

Jasper Stuyven’s Trek Madone SLR – 8.26kg

Okay, let’s start with one of the newest bikes in the pro peloton: the Trek Madone SLR (the one with the hole in the seat tube).

The Madone was repositioned as Trek’s aero road bike in 2015 and this latest model was launched on the eve of the Tour alongside claims of reduced weight (300g lighter than the outgoing Madone, apparently) and improved aerodynamics (60 seconds faster per hour, according to Trek).

This is Jasper Stuyven’s Madone SLR, launched off the front of the peloton on the cobbles of stage five, alongside Tadej Pogačar, in a brave but ultimately fruitless attempt to bridge to the break, which contained eventual stage winner, Simon Clarke.

Equipped with a SRAM Red eTap AXS groupset (with 54-41t chainrings), 62mm-deep Bontrager Aeolus RSL 62 TLR Disc wheels and plump Pirelli P-Zero Race TLR tubeless tyres (with a stated 28mm width but inflating – to our eye – closer to 30mm on the 23mm-wide Bontrager rims), Stuyven’s bike comes in at 8.26kg.

John Degenkolb’s Scott Foil RC – 7.71kg

Simon von Bromley / Our Media

Here’s another new aero road bike at the Tour de France: John Degenkolb’s Scott Foil RC.

Over the years, the Foil has played a key part in the adoption of aero bikes in the pro peloton, with Mat Hayman riding the previous rim brake model to victory at Paris-Roubaix in 2016.

The new Scott Foil RC, launched in June, pairs a claimed 915g frame weight with a 16-watt drag reduction at 40km/h, with Scott working closely with aero expert Simon Smart of Drag2Zero to develop the new frame.

Scott also offers Team DSM riders the weight-focussed Addict RC – though, as a fast man with stage wins in all three Grand Tours, and two Monument victories to his name at Paris-Roubaix and Milan-San Remo, the Foil matches Degenkolb’s penchant for speed.

With a Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 R9200 12-speed groupset, Dura-Ace C60 wheels – the front from the new groupset, the rear from the old R9100 groupset – and 26mm Vittoria Corsa tubular tyres, Degenkolb’s Foil RC weighs 7.71kg.