{"id":318190,"date":"2026-03-02T17:24:24","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T17:24:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/318190\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T17:24:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T17:24:24","slug":"5-omloop-het-nieuwsblad-tyre-takeaways-from-increased-widths-to-glued-on-rubber","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/318190\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Omloop het Nieuwsblad tyre takeaways, from increased widths to glued-on rubber\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Omloop het Nieuwsblad is the first Spring Classic of the season and it\u2019s the first time we get to see how the pro riders are setting up their bikes for the cobbles ahead.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While we don\u2019t see the same kind of hacks we used to, those cobbles mean riders tweak their setups to ensure comfort and minimise the risk of punctures.<\/p>\n

What the teams and riders opt to do with their tyres remains one of the most intriguing aspects of Classics tech \u2013 and probably the most applicable to everyday riders aiming to avoid fixing punctures<\/a> and achieve a little more comfort out on the road.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So, with that in mind, here\u2019s our rundown of the tyre takeaways from Belgium\u2019s Omloop het Nieuwsblad.\u00a0<\/p>\n

30mm tyres are the popular choice\u00a0
\n\"MathieuMathieu van der Poel used the 30mm Pirelli P Zero Race TLR RS to win the men’s race. Simon von Bromley \/ Our Media<\/p>\n

Our tour of the team\u2019s bikes showed that 30mm-wide tyres were by-and-large the norm at this year\u2019s Omloop.<\/p>\n

Mathieu van der Poel won the men\u2019s race<\/a> using 30mm Pirelli P Zero Race TLR RS <\/a>tyres, which were also used by the rest of his Alpecin teammates. Meanwhile, all teams that use Vittoria\u2019s tyres were running 30mm Corsa Pro TLR<\/a>s.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Most Specialized teams used the unreleased \u2013 but much leaked \u2013 Turbo Cotton SLRs in 30mm, yet a few opted for the 32mm-wide version, including Demi Vollering, the winner of the women\u2019s race<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"DemiDemi Vollering used 32mm tyres for her Omloop het Nieuwsblad victory. Simon von Bromley \/ Our Media<\/p>\n

\"ContinentalUAE Team Emirates used 30mm Continental Archetype tyres. Simon von Bromley \/ Our Media<\/p>\n

There were only two teams that appeared to have narrower tyres at this year\u2019s race. Lidl-Trek\u2019s women\u2019s squad used 28mm Pirelli tyres and UAE Team Emirates XRG had 28mm Continental GP5000 TT TR tyres fitted to their spare bikes, although they used 30mm Continental Archetypes<\/a> on their first bikes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Everyone was on tubeless
\n\"2026All teams used tubeless tyres. Simon von Bromley \/ Our Media<\/p>\n

Despite some variation in widths, there was one uniting tyre trend at Omloop: all teams were using tubeless tyres.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The shift from tubular to tubeless tyres has been one of the most notable tech changes at the Spring Classics in recent years. Lizzie Deignan won the inaugural Paris\u2013Roubaix Femmes in 2021 using tubeless tyres and Dylan van Baarle won the men\u2019s Hell of the North using the tech the following year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While tubeless tyres have become common across all road bike racing, there have been problems with the tech \u2013 including at this year\u2019s Omloop.<\/p>\n

Jayco-AlUla\u2019s Amaury Capiot’s tubeless Cadex Aero Cotton tyre came off his rim and his rear wheel failed<\/a> after he rode for too long on cobbles with a flat tyre. Capiot miraculously avoided injury and finished the race almost 10 minutes behind van der Poel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Glued-on tyres
\n\"ExcessYou can see the excess glue where the rim and tyre meet. Simon von Bromley \/ Our Media<\/p>\n

Capiot may wonder why his team didn\u2019t take the same approach as Visma\u2013Lease a Bike. The Dutch team glued its tubeless tyres to the rims of the Reserve 42|49 Turbulent Aero wheels.<\/p>\n

Visma\u2013Lease a Bike did the same thing at the 2025 Paris\u2013Roubaix<\/a> to minimise the risk of tyres coming off the rim in the event of a puncture.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The team used the Gravaa KAPS<\/a> self-inflating tyre system at last year\u2019s Paris\u2013Roubaix, which meant they could not use tubular tyre liners. Glued-on tyres therefore became a solution to avoid the potentially catastrophic problems Capiot experienced.<\/p>\n

Despite Gravaa announcing bankruptcy in January 2026, Visma\u2013Lease a Bike has stuck with sticking tyres.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pressure sensors\u00a0
\n\"ZippSeveral teams had Zipp 303 SW wheels fitted with pressure sensors. Simon von Bromley \/ Our Media<\/p>\n

Gravaa\u2019s demise might mean riders can\u2019t increase tyre pressure on the fly, but a few at Omloop were able to see if they were losing pressure.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Several teams used Zipp 303 SW wheels<\/a>, launched in May last year, with integrated pressure sensors. The pressure sensor sits in the rim and transmits your tyre pressure to your bike computer via Bluetooth.<\/p>\n

The sensors mean you\u2019ll be warned if you start to lose pressure, which could prove useful for pro riders, who would need to alert their team for a wheel change or new bike, even if the tech is a luxury for the rest of us.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tyre choice is less extreme than Paris\u2013Roubaix\u00a0
\n\"TacoTaco van der Hoorn used 35mm-wide Hutchinson tyres for the 2025 Paris-Roubaix. Felix Smith \/ Our Media<\/p>\n

One thing that\u2019s apparent from Omloop is tyre choice is less extreme than at Paris\u2013Roubaix, which is likely to do with just how demanding the Hell of the North is compared to other races.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The revised 2026 Paris\u2013Roubaix routes<\/a> for the men\u2019s and women\u2019s pelotons are longer than Omloop. Its cobbled sections are also more difficult than those you find in the Belgian classics, such as Omloop and the Tour of Flanders. BikeRadar contributor Charlie Allenby returned from the Paris\u2013Roubaix Challenge and described the experience as \u201cpure agony<\/a>\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The widest tyre we saw at Omloop was 32mm, but 30mm was the more popular choice. Yet, at Paris\u2013Roubaix, widths have ballooned to 34mm in recent years with riders also choosing tyres with more grip over the fastest options to help deal with the harshest cobbled sectors, such as Trou\u00e9e d\u2019Arenberg and Carrefour de l’Arbre.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But despite the differences, it seems almost all teams have moved on from 28mm tyres at the Classics and tubeless<\/a> is now ubiquitous.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Omloop het Nieuwsblad is the first Spring Classic of the season and it\u2019s the first time we get…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":318191,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[85,46,125],"class_list":{"0":"post-318190","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-il","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=318190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318190\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/318191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=318190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=318190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=318190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}