After just one day of racing his sixth Tour de France, Jonas Vingegaard has laid down a marker in his bid to add to his pair of wins from 2022 and '23, by storming into the yellow jersey in the opening stage team time trial.
The Dane, who has never finished lower than second in the race's overall, makes his assault on the 2026 race on a Cervélo S5 aero bike. Widely regarded as one of the very fastest bikes in the World, the S5 received an update in mid 2025 to further refine it.
Cyclingnews visited the Visma-Lease a Bike Hotel in the days running up to the race and managed to get some time with Vingegaard's number two race bike.
Spec-wise, it's nothing we haven't seen before, with a 1X SRAM Red groupset and Reserve carbon wheels, but there are some really interesting details that, for me, highlight the team's attention to detail and their ability to focus on the little things.
I also received a tip that the team were doing a few things to lower drag in the derailleur pulley wheels; they use the stock ones, but I wouldn't be surprised if they had stripped the factory grease and added a light oil or grease to really make them fly.
Vingegaard rides a size 51cm frame that has a stack of 519mm and a reach of 376mm; he's added a single spacer under the stem.
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The team rolled out Vingegaard's number two race bike, it had some great details which highlighted the team's attention to detail. (Image credit: Tom Wieckowski)
The S5's stem is easily recognisable now, it sits above the narrow head tube and bayonet-style fork. (Image credit: Tom Wieckowski)
We've come a long way since the days of classic drops and seperate stems. (Image credit: Tom Wieckowski)
The Visma bikes have little mods like this everywhere. Pre-cut stickers for blanking out bolt holes; it just looks dialled and likely provides a little extra gain. (Image credit: Tom Wieckowski)
Vingegaard rides with a single 5mm spacer under his stem, but it still sits nice and low against the top tube. (Image credit: Tom Wieckowski)
It's an agressive front end all told for Vingegaard's 51cm frame size. (Image credit: Tom Wieckowski)
The bayonet fork means the headtube can be made narrow and agressive. (Image credit: Tom Wieckowski)
This bike was setup with a 1x SRAM Red chainset and aero chainring. (Image credit: Tom Wieckowski)
A 52 tooth ring was fitted on the day, but it's simple to swap rings for the demands of a particular course. (Image credit: Tom Wieckowski)
Check out the tape on the Wolf Tooth chain catcher, and the waxed chain. (Image credit: Tom Wieckowski)
Of course we checked, 160mm cranks for Vingegaard. (Image credit: Tom Wieckowski)
A 49mm Reserve wheel on the rear, deeper wheels always look cooler visually, but Vingegaard often seems to run slightly shallower wheels; this will be no coincidence. (Image credit: Tom Wieckowski)
A '690' sticker on the rear hub, we couldn't find out what this meant. (Image credit: Tom Wieckowski)
A 30mm Vittoria Corsa Pro Speed on the front wheel, as fast as it gets when it comes to Vittoria road tyres. (Image credit: Tom Wieckowski)
Vingegaard sits on a 140mm width Prologo saddle. (Image credit: Tom Wieckowski)
The S5 seatpost clamp bolt is neatly covered up. (Image credit: Tom Wieckowski)
A Prologo Choice saddle tops the inline seatpost. This model has a €490 price tag, and weighs a claimed 152 grams. (Image credit: Tom Wieckowski)
Spot more neat tape smoothing out the saddle clamp bolts holes. (Image credit: Tom Wieckowski)
Vingegaard rides a size 51cm frame. (Image credit: Tom Wieckowski)
A name sticker on the Reserve wheels for Vingegaard too. There could be some specific touches just for him with these, such as sealant fill or even spoke tension. (Image credit: Tom Wieckowski)
Tom joined the Cyclingnews team in late 2022 as a tech writer. Despite having a degree in English Literature he has spent his entire working life in the cycling industry in one form or another. He has over 10 years of experience as a qualified mechanic, with the last five years before joining Cyclingnews being spent running an independent workshop. This means he is just as happy tinkering away in the garage as he is out on the road bike, and he isn’t afraid to pull a bike apart or get hands-on with it when testing to really see what it’s made of.
He has ridden and raced bikes from an early age up to a national level on the road and track, and has ridden and competed in most disciplines. He has a keen eye for pro-team tech and enjoys spotting new or interesting components in the wild. During his time at Cyclingnews, Tom has already interviewed some of the sport's biggest names including Mathieu van der Poel, Tadej Pogačar and Alberto Contador. He's also covered various launches from brands such as Pinarello, Ridley, Specialized and more, tackled the Roubaix Challenge sportive aboard his own rim-brake Cannondale SuperSix Evo, tested over 20 aero helmets in the wind tunnel, and has created helpful in-depth buying advice relating to countless categories from torque wrenches to winter clothing.
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