32 mm might be the default at Roubaix in 2026, but some teams were going much wider.
Tyre width has only been going one way in the 21st century. Where 23 or even 21 mm tyres were once the standard, tyres that would be illegal in a cyclocross race have taken their place.
There has been one race that has driven tyre widths to balloon more than any other cobbled classic – Paris-Roubaix.
For most of the 2010s, 28 mm tyres ruled the roost at the Hell of the North, simply because that was the widest tyre that would fit in a traditional rim brake calliper. Towards the end of the rim brake era, some direct-mount rim brakes did open this out a little wider. However, it was when the UCI officially permitted the use of disc brakes in road races that the peloton began going super wide.
For the past three seasons, the majority of the peloton has taken to the start line of both the men’s and women’s races with 32 mm tyres. Some teams have bucked the trend either side of this width, but for the most part, 32 millimetres has been the sweet spot for teams looking to balance rolling resistance, aerodynamics, compliance, grip, and impact protection. Part of the equation was that 32 mm was about as wide as most race bikes would permit.
However, in the last year or so, race bike clearances have been creeping up. So while many teams might be pushing the limit of their frames’ clearance to squeeze a 35 mm tyre in, others like Alpecin-Premier Tech, Movistar, Pinarello-Q36.5, Uno-X Mobility, and Modern Adventure can all officially accommodate wider tyres on their bikes.
This is the first year that so many teams have all taken a step up in their tyre width choices. Considering how few mechanical incidents have happened (at the front of the race at least) in the last few seasons, the move to 35 mm for Roubaix is an interesting one. While there is a definite benefit to having wider tyres on the pavé, there are over 200 kilometres of racing that take place on asphalt, where a 32 mm tyre would outperform the wider tyres, based on Escape Collective’s own tyre testing data.
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