There are many iconic bikes that have won at the Tour de France but I’ve narrowed my choice down to just eight that stand out for me, from Pinarello to Bianchi via Trek and Cannondale
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The tour de france is the most exciting and demanding sporting spectacle in the world pushing ryder to absolute limits in pursuit of the iconic yellow jersey it’s also home to some serious bike and equipment development and nowhere as the evolution of a humble bicycle better visualized
Than in the bikes that have won this race over the years this year marks the 108th edition of the race and in this video i picked just eight of the most famous and iconic bikes to have won the tour of france now i’m sure you disagree with my
Choices and that’s what the comment section down below is for so do let me know your favorite bikes from the tour of france and if you enjoy watching the video be sure to like and subscribe as well in recent history the most successful race bike is the pinnarello dogma
The dogma has been constantly updated the dogma was originally a magnesium bike in 2002 but in 2009 it turned into a carbon bike with a dogma 60.1 bradley wiggins won the race in 2012 with a dogma 2 and since then the bike has been updated many times
The dogma 65.1 think two then the f8 f10 and most recently the f-12 the distinctive pinnarello curves have softened with each generation as the aerial improvements have come thick and fast all team sky ineos winning bikes have had shimano duress group sets and most of the time matching wheels Now technically the latest 110 didn’t win a tour of france but chris boardman did win the opening prologue time trial twice first in 1994 achieving the fastest ever average speed in a tour de france time trial a record that stood for 21 years it is in my opinion the most beautiful
Road bike ever made and a win at a tour of france it was first developed for the track in the 108 and then updated with a 110 and made available in a version of the road with gears and brakes it was a bike radical for a time its carbon composite monocoque frame
Was designed to minimize wind resistance and reduce drag and didn’t follow the traditional double diamond frame design the iconic design came from the brains of mike burrows who would also go into revolutionized robot geometry with a giant tcr and its speed was clearly head and shoulders above the wrist
No wonder it was eventually banned by uci we won’t mention his name but the second america in the winner tour of france had a big impact on the sport and so did the trek bikes he raced here’s a partnership that brought seven straight tour de france victories since white from official records of
Course and put trek firmly in the spotlight level loathed him it was launched with push with better bikes and the obvious marketing opportunity of a multiple tour de france winner that really challenged the track engineers to develop the madone platform after first debuting its carbon road bike in 1992
The first tour victory came in 1999 on the 5 000 series bike using the oc lv carbon manufacturing process it was the first time the tour had been won on a carbon bike from start to finish despite the advanced frame material it had a traditional geometry with a forward sloping top tube
The bike scene morphed into madone in 2004 and over time embraced the latest standards like press fit bottom brackets and a sloping compact geometry pioneered by giant with a tcr today madone is an out and out aero race bike while the earmonder is a spiritual successor to the early carbon pioneer
Les is remembered of the italian frame that greg lemon used to win a 1989 tour of france because his adoption of aerodynamic equipment is the most notable feature here the first american to win a race and by the most slender of margins just eight seconds he did so by using
Radical error handlebars for the final time trial along with an aero helmet such error equipment is standard fairly days of course there’s no disputing the benefits of aerodynamics but in 1989 it was groundbreaking and gave le monde the winning advantage the frame these parts were attached to was a steel batakia
Which while using a traditional frame material had anything but a traditional appearance with a sloping top tube and a smaller 650c front wheel racing against a clock would never be the same again aero was here to stay Arguably the greatest cyclist of all time eddie merks won five tours from 1969 all aboard a self-branded steel frame racing bicycle that was a cutting edge at a time they were steel lugged and orange the early steel frames used reynolds tubing are made by local belgian frame builder called kettles
This was a time when local frame builders serve the needs of racing cyclists and achieving supplier was just as important as a name on the down tube in later years he would ride frames made by deroza and carnargo but finding reliable and accurate information it’s as hard as finding photographs of eddie marks
In his prime following steel’s long running rain and before carbon fiber was really sorted aluminium enjoyed a brief moment in the spotlight and a man who really enjoyed a spotlight was a flamboyant italian sprinter mario cipollini much of his success came aboard a candle cat 4 an aluminium frame with famously fat
Tubes that was much stiffer and lighter than any steel frame of the time the bright red and yellow paint finishes and the futuristic looking four bladed splinchy wheels were also iconic the wheels were later banned by uci this also marked the emergence of the american bike brand into the very traditional european
Focused bike racing world before team sky handed italian bike brian pinnarello a slew of victories enjoyed much success in the 1990s thanks to miguel indorain despite the appearance of carbon fiber in the 1990s induring stuck with tried and tested steel frames as such four of his five tour victories were all
Aboard steel bikes and in fact he was the last person to win a tour of france on a steel frame bicycle rumor has it that the frames were actually made by a famous and late frame builder dario pegaretti this was a practice much more widespread before the advent of moulded carbon fiber frames
Indorain was switched to aluminium in 1995 for his last tour victory the oldest bike company in the world last enjoyed tour de france success in the 1998 tour de france at the hands of late marco pantani his bianchi mega pro xl race bike is an icon both because of yellow and celeste color
With matching yellow saddle and stem but also because of the frame this marked the last time an aluminum frame winner tour of france or any other material besides carbon fiber in fact rumor has it that bianchi made extremely lightweight frames with wafer thin tubes designed purely for climbing
Really pushing the limits for technology at a time it weighed a reported 6.96 kilograms so light in by today’s standards though i’m not sure the durability would be as good as a modern race bike those then are eight of the most iconic and famous tour of france winning race bikes
There are many many more i could have included of course and do let me know which ones i missed in the comment section down below i hope you enjoyed watching the video and if you did hit that like button don’t forget to subscribe and i’ll see you all again next time
Thank you for watching
24 Comments
the USPS trek is one of my favs, really cool bike, Lance was da best
Love the 7 Eleven Eddy Mercxx and the Motorola ones.
Don't know if any of them won the tour though?
Good selection overall 👏
Big Mig always looked good on those white Pinarello's.
Il Pirata was there, so I'm satisfied. Great video, great choices. I'd love to have you unearth the bikes of the first 10 TDF and make a video about those monstrous bikes.
Why wouldn't you mention lance Armstrong name? Idk. It's so obvious might as well just say it
David, you can mention his name. You won’t get in trouble. After all he is part of the history of the sport. Like him or hate him there’s few cyclists we’ve seen with killer instinct in the bike.
love me some waffer thin ali! :p
You forgot Calfee used by Greg Lemond. Calfee Design is dope.
Bianchi ❤️
Not to turn this into a debate about doping, but we shouldn't be afraid to talk about Lance et al.
We know that just about everyone at the time was doping. It was a massive problem in pro cycling that we need to talk about to move past it – you can't fix something by pretending it didn't (or doesn't) happen.
Yeah,don't mention his name. The biggest cheat in cycling history!!! Fuck Lance Armstrong!!!
correction the bikes ridden by armstrong and co did not win any tour"s
Der Kaisers Pink Telekom Pinarello TT Bike. . .
The Lionkings Saeco Cannondale
Pantanis Bianchi
that is all
Lotus the most beatiful?
HELL NO UGLY AS HELL!
Great job, love seeing these beautiful bikes
you weren't going to mention his name, then dropped the first name!
that Eddy Merckx bike is beyond gorgeous
Interesting choices David – thanks for that.
All the bikes I had in mind made an appearance. Fantastic list! That gorgeous Bianchi of Pantani… no words. The brand reproduced that frame some years ago. Still have regrets that I didn't save the money for that bike.
Eddy merckx was on the gear
2:28
He never failed a drug test, and I see people stage 11 of this year's race not suffering in the front. Hmmmmm
sure bike means almost everything for the rider to keep on going and going on and on but the rider himself is the one who makes it happen with the team and tremendous effort of years with the financers. It is one the modern world's toughest sports race ever created
How the fuck are you going to not say Lance Armstrong. Sell out 🤦🏻♂️