The 2025 season is a turning point \u2013 many aero bikes are now light enough that riders, such as Poga\u010dar, Vingegaard and Yates, are choosing to ride them even in high mountain stages. In fact, after the 2025 Tour de France, I argued that the lightweight climbing bike is dead<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Yet the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift painted a different picture. Pauline Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot won two stages and the maillot jaune<\/a>\u00a0using the lightweight Cerv\u00e9lo R5<\/a>. Breakout star Ma\u00ebva Squiban of UAE Team ADQ also won a pair of stages on Colnago\u2019s lightweight V5Rs<\/a>. Of the race’s nine stages, only the first was won on an out-and-out aero bike, a Cerv\u00e9lo S5 piloted by the legendary Marianne Vos.<\/p>\n Of course, plenty of teams race bikes that are \u2018all-rounders\u2019. The Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL8, Pinarello Dogma F and Trek Madone all purport to be a one-bike-fits-all solution, balancing lightweight and aerodynamic qualities.\u00a0<\/p>\n But out of the teams that use bikes from brands that produce a climbing bike and an aero bike, a question lingers: Why have the men\u2019s peloton completely eschewed the lightweight bike in favour of aero bikes, and why haven\u2019t the women\u2019s bunch followed suit?<\/p>\n The race speed is high enough\u00a0 \u201cWomen are riding plenty fast enough to make use of the aerodynamic advantage of a more aero frame or aero equipment,\u201d says Dr. Xavier Disley, performance analysis consultant and the owner of AeroCoach, a UK company devoted to improving the speed of cyclists.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe average speed for the women\u2019s Tour de France in 2025 was 39.1kph, with the men\u2019s at 43.4kph\u201d \u2013 making it the fastest ever Tour de France<\/a> \u2013 \u201cwhich means that for a given change in aerodynamic drag, let\u2019s say 0.005m2, the women would save ~5w at that speed compared with the men who would save ~7w, so the aero savings are very comparable,\u201d he explained in an email.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n So, if the speed is high enough, why are riders in the women\u2019s bunch not prioritising aerodynamics as readily as the men?<\/p>\n Jenco Drost, head of performance equipment at Team Visma \u2013 Lease a Bike, says each rider is equipped with the optimal bike and wheelset for their unique role, ensuring \u201cmaximum efficiency and comfort\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBy analysing altitude gain, the positioning of climbs within the stage, and the steepness of every ascent, we\u2019ll determine whether the aero-focused S5 or the lightweight climbing R5 offers the greatest advantage,\u201d says Drost.\u00a0<\/p>\n A question of height Alongside altitude gain and the position and gradient of climbs, there is one less complicated factor in choosing an aero or climbing bike<\/a>: the rider\u2019s height.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to ProCyclingStats<\/a>, the 2025 Visma Lease-A-Bike teams at the men\u2019s and women\u2019s Tours de France average 1.8275m and 1.694m, respectively. Cerv\u00e9lo\u2019s own size guide<\/a> would suggest that the men\u2019s team\u00a0use a 56cm frame on average, and the women\u2019s team use a 51cm frame.<\/p>\n \u201cDifferent frame sizes mean different weights, which can shift the balance between climbing speed and aerodynamic gains \u2013 so the best choice may vary from rider to rider,\u201d says Drost.\u00a0<\/p>\n The weight difference between aero bikes and climbing bikes can be significant, especially when every detail of a pro\u2019s bike is obsessed over. <\/p>\n At the Tour de France Grand Depart in Lille, we weighed Jonas Vingegaard\u2019s 51cm S5<\/a> at 7.385kg and Matteo Jorgenson\u2019s 58cm Cerv\u00e9lo R5<\/a> at 7.03kg. That means Jorgenson\u2019s climbing bike was over 350g lighter than Vingegaard\u2019s aero bike, despite being three sizes larger.<\/p>\n But Disley says: \u201cWeight penalty is not something to worry about. It\u2019s tiny in the grand scheme of things and the aero bikes these days are within 200-300g frameset weight compared with the lightweight ones.\u201d<\/p>\n The UCI weight limit is \u2018completely outdated\u2019\u00a0 While Disley sees weight penalty as something not to worry about, AG Insurance \u2013 Soudal Team\u2019s Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio has a different view.\u00a0<\/p>\n With a career spanning 18 years and a background in engineering, she finds the UCI\u2019s minimum weight limit of 6.8kg \u201ccompletely outdated\u201d. <\/p>\n The origin of the 6.8kg minimum weight, which was introduced in 2000, is unclear, but Moolman-Pasio suspects its roots lie in the men’s peloton.<\/p>\n \u201cBack then, I\u2019d guess the average weight of a male professional cyclist was around 68 kg, and someone decided the bike should weigh roughly 10 per cent of that \u2013 6.8 kg. Perhaps there was a little more analysis behind it, but the principle seems that simple,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n According to Moolman-Pasio, this minimum weight disadvantages lighter riders because bike weight forms a higher percentage of their total system weight (a rider, their bike and any other kit).<\/p>\n \u201cTake a climb like the Col de la Madeleine (18km at 8 per cent),\u201d says Moolman-Pasio.<\/p>\n \u201cA 52kg rider putting out 5.5 W\/kg will climb it at about 14.3kph. A 60kg rider with the same relative power climbs at 14.8kph \u2013 1 minute and 16 seconds faster. Why? Because the heavier rider\u2019s system power-to-weight is higher, since the fixed bike mass is a smaller portion of their total weight.\u201d<\/p>\n Assuming for a second that all bikes raced in the pro peloton weighed 6.8kg, the disadvantage to lighter riders is clear. For a 78kg rider, a realistic average for a larger rouleur or sprinter in the men\u2019s peloton,\u00a06.8kg represents 8.71 per cent of the rider\u2019s weight. For a lighter rider of 58kg, this weight is 11.72 per cent.<\/p>\n If we follow Moolman-Pasio\u2019s logic, then lighter riders should be more discerning in choosing frames and components that save them weight.<\/p>\n Fit and feel Fit and ride feel have a massive effect on bike choice \u2013 and this is often more tangible than a bike’s weight.\u00a0<\/p>\n Moolman-Pasio says: \u201cIdeally, your bike should feel like an extension of your body. If it\u2019s too stiff, it resists the natural movement and rhythm you have when climbing, especially out of the saddle. That resistance costs energy and reduces efficiency over a long climb.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThese are the main reasons why smaller riders \u2013 often without even consciously breaking it down \u2013 will tend to choose climbing bikes and lower-profile wheels on mountain stages. They might just say, \u2018This setup feels better for me,\u2019\u201d she adds.\u00a0<\/p>\n There is also the question of simply getting a bike to fit you. \u201cThe integrated nature of some of the more aero bikes makes it more tricky to adjust for women,\u201d says Disley. <\/p>\n \u201cAs an example the Y1RS doesn\u2019t have the same amount of adjustment as an S5 in terms of its cockpit (handlebar minimum width and minimum stem length, or longer stem with narrower bars).\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n![\"CHATEL](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-2228351915-scaled.jpg\")
Pauline Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot won the 2025 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift using the lightweight Cerv\u00e9lo R5. Szymon Gruchalski \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"Tadej](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-2227252868-scaled.jpg\")
Tadej Poga\u010dar riding the Colnago Y1Rs at the 2025 Tour de France. Dario Belingheri \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n
\n![\"Matteo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Matteo-Jorgenson_Cervelo-R5_20250702_SvB_A6300_BR_0790_CROP-1-scaled.jpg\")
Matteo Jorgenson’s Cerv\u00e9lo R5 at the 2025 Tour de France weighed less than Vingeggard’s S5, despite being three sizes larger. Simon von Bromley \/ Our Media<\/p>\n
\n![\"Ashleigh](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-2223954329-scaled.jpg\")
Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio says the UCI weight limit of 6.8kg is \u201ccompletely outdated\u201d. Luc Claessen \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n
\n![\"Maeva](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-2228210356-scaled.jpg\")
Ma\u00ebva Squiban won two stages of this year’s Tour de France avec Zwift using the Colnago V5Rs, but she might not have fitted the Y1Rs anyway. Szymon Gruchalski \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n