Tadej Pogačar comes into the 2026 Tour de France as the defending champion and hot favourite to win the overall general classification against his arch rival Jonas Vingegaard, as well as Remco Evenepoel and perhaps young Frenchman Paul Seixas too.
The Slovenian, who is also reigning World Champion, comes into the race with a relatively unchanged bike from last year’s race, but as the team’s press officer Luke Maguire tells me, this is only because Pogačar drove the team hard towards improving its equipment a few seasons ago.
Those changes included a switch from Pirelli to Continental tyres, SRM to Wahoo computers, and Campagnolo to Shimano groupsets. Similarly, I recall Colnago telling me last year that Pogačar was pivotal in driving the brand to creating the Y1Rs aero bike too.
Maguire says the team is now “very happy” with their equipment, although that does include some aftermarket add-ons that help the bike get down to the 6.8kg weight limit.
This is his ‘number two’ bike, so not the one he’ll start each race aboard, but set up exactly the same so that if he has a mechanical, he can swap over without issue or detriment.
Pogačar rides the Colnago Y1Rs, a bike which caused a lot of division when it launched due to its unconventional looks. The setup of his bike remains largely the same as the bike he won aboard in 2025. He switched to a raw, unpainted frame for the uphill time trial, and then stuck with that bike for the rest of the 2025 race. He then continued to race it throughout the first half of the 2026 season, including at Paris-Roubaix, albeit set up differently there, with bigger tyres and a 1x groupset. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
He uses Shimano's Dura-Ace Di2 groupset, and here at the Tour, this particular bike has a 2x chainset, and Enve's SES 4.5 Pro wheels. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
And despite surprisingly running 25mm tyres on his time trial bike, having dabbled with 30mm in recent Tours and running as wide as 35mm at Paris-Roubaix, he's currently got 28mm tyres fitted. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
This is his 'number two' bike, but set up exactly the same as the others to ensure continuity. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
The front end of the bike uses a bayonet-style head tube, meaning there's no steerer tube running through the frame, but rather in front of it and then clamped at both the top and the bottom. This design enables an incredibly narrow configuration, which no doubt aids aerodynamics. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Here's that design from the side-on, where you can see the gap at the top is surprisingly big. Pogačar uses a 5mm spacer beneath his one-piece handlebar, and the small spacer behind smooths the gap to the frame's top tube. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Pogačar - and later the whole UAE team - started using Carbon-Ti components in 2023, as a way to bring the weight of his bike down to the 6.8kg UCI limit. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
It started with only his chainrings and disc rotors, but now extends to loads of other hardware, including this red derailleur hanger. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
The bottle cage bolts will rarely be seen when the racing gets underway, but likely save a small handful of grams too. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
The rear thru axle is also from the Italian brand. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Even the pulley wheel bolt has been swapped for the titanium version. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Up front, Pogačar's bike bears a Hulk sticker. I really like that he's wearing rainbow shorts too, to commemorate the Slovenian's status as world champion. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
In front of the hulk, Pogačar's Wahoo computer is held in place using a 3D-printed aero mount (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
The bars have their specs printed on the underside. Pogačar runs a 145mm stem. The width is slightly unsual, in that is states two figures (377mm and 400mm), taking into account the slight flare of the bars from hoods to drops. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
We measured between the hoods and found the gap to be 280mm on the nose. Right on the UCI's minimum legal limit. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Despite the trend towards more progressive bike fits and riders slamming their saddle forward on the rails, Pogačar's saddle sits fairly centrally. The seatpost does kink slightly forwards towards the top, though. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Atop the seatpost, Pogačar uses a Fizik custom-made 'One to One' version of the Vento Argo saddle. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Another aftermarket add-on is the apparently aerodynamic bottom bracket shell from Bikone. The totally smooth shell is said to aid airflow. Certainly a small gain, but perhaps one that could make a difference at the top level. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
"July, Week 1" - We don't know for sure, but guess this relates to when the sealant was last added to these tyres. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
This is a nice touch too. A small end cap with the Colnago logo blanks off the driveside thru axle hole. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
This is also a nice touch - A small sticker to cover the bolt hole for the seatpost adjustment bolt. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
No such cover here though. This is one area that Visma Lease a Bike are a step ahead in the pursuit of nerdy aero gains. You can also see here that Pogačar is using 165mm cranks. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
... and at the end of those cranks, his pedals are cranked up to the max when it comes to cleat retention. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
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Josh is Associate Editor of Cyclingnews – leading our content on the best bikes, kit and the latest breaking tech stories from the pro peloton. He has been with us since the summer of 2019 and throughout that time he's covered everything from buyer's guides and deals to the latest tech news and reviews.
On the bike, Josh has been riding and racing for over 15 years. He started out racing cross country in his teens back when 26-inch wheels and triple chainsets were still mainstream, but he found favour in road racing in his early 20s, racing at a local and national level for Somerset-based Team Tor 2000. These days he rides indoors for convenience and fitness, and outdoors for fun on road, gravel, 'cross and cross-country bikes, the latter usually with his two dogs in tow.
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