Defending Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard’s Cervelo R5

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Jonas Vingegaard will be hoping to add a third consecutive Tour de France victory to his palmares this July. After suffering a horror crash earlier in the year at Itzulia Basque Country that saw him suffer a punctured lung, fractured ribs and a broken collar bone defending his title is going to be no mean feat. 

Vingegaard has the choice of three bikes for road stages from team bike sponsor Cervélo with the S5 aero bike, the R5 lightweight bike and the Soloist which is something of an allrounder. At the Tour de France, we can expect to see Vingegaard switching between the R5 and S5 depending on the profile of the stage. 

The R5 is a quintessential lightweight climbing bike, Vingegaard’s bike tips the scales at just 6.7kg. When the mandatory race transponder is added the bike comes in bang on the nose at the UCI’s minimum weight limit of 6.8kg making it one of the lightest bikes in the peloton. 

As a team sponsored by American component brand Sram, Visma-Lease a Bike is one of the few teams that has access to a specific one-by groupset. Sram Red AXS can be run with either a single or a double chainring chainset. Vingegaard is clearly a fan of the single-ring option having used it on the testing mountain test of stage four that took the race over the Col du Galibier. 

For a team that spends the majority of the season racing in yellow, the Tour de France is the exception. The team has switched to a bespoke kit that features far less yellow so they don't clash with the Maillot Jaune or yellow race leaders jersey. As a result, the bikes for this 2024 edition of the Grand Boucle feature a unique ‘renaissance’ colourway which was said to take inspiration from the renaissance period.

The bike still features yellow accents of the team's primary colour way blending into the Renaissance paint scheme.  (Image credit: Josh Croxton)

Unlike on stage four of the Tour, Vingegaard had decided to run a traditional double chainring chainset when we got our hands on his bike.  (Image credit: Josh Croxton)

A 10-36 tooth cassette ensures that Vingegaard has a low enough gear to keep a high cadence even on the slopes of the high alpine passes.  (Image credit: Josh Croxton)

The presence of a 10-tooth smallest sprocket allows for smaller chainrings 52/39 to be used. This gives Vingegaard a considerably smaller climbing gear than his main rival Tadej Pogacar.  (Image credit: Josh Croxton)

Wahoo's Speedplay Aero pedals do away with the brand's conventional double-sided system in favour of a single-sided design with the underside of the pedal making use of a dimpled profile that interfaces seamlessly with the surrounding cleat.   (Image credit: Josh Croxton)

The integrated cockpit comes courtesy of Vision's Metron 5D EVO which has a slight forward sweep to the profile of the tops. The aim behind this is to open up the rider's chest more when climbing allowing them to breathe that little bit easier.  (Image credit: Josh Croxton)

There is only a small spacer under the stem keeping the front end low. The fact that Vingegaard is comfortable in this position considering the injuries he sustained shows the extent of his recovery.  (Image credit: Josh Croxton)

The bars measure in at 40cm end to end making them a little bit wider than Pogacar's choice. Vingegaard also has his levers set straight in front favouring this position to the current trend of in-turned levers. 

At the centre of the Reserve 42/49 wheelset are DT Swiss' 180 hubs that house some rather special JTEKT bearings. The team found that these save 2-3 watts over other premium bearings which could be a race-winning advantage.  (Image credit: Josh Croxton)

Vittoria supplies the team with its Corsa Pro tubeless tyres. Vingegaard runs the tyres in a 28mm width mounted to a set of Reserve 42/49 wheels.  (Image credit: Josh Croxton)

Even though Fizik recently released a 3D printed 'Adaptive' version of the Antares that is claimed to increase comfort and reduce soft tissue pressure Vingegaard opts for the standard model.  (Image credit: Josh Croxton)

The seat post clamp is hidden beneath a neat cover smoothing over it both for aerodynamics and to prevent dirt and grime from getting stuck in the bolt.   (Image credit: Josh Croxton)

When compared to rival Pogacar's 165mm cranks Vingegaard's choice of 172.5mm looks considerably more traditional (Image credit: Josh Croxton)

Sram released its latest Red AXS groupset during this year's Giro d'Italia with the rear derailleur borrowing some of the brand's existing technology from its mountain bike groupsets.  (Image credit: Josh Croxton)

Garmin-owned brand Tacx provides the bottle cages with the simple black carbon fibre Ciro model.  (Image credit: Josh Croxton)

The slender profile of the seat stays helps reduce the total frame weight as well as increasing vertical compliance. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)

Just above the bottom bracket is a small Yellow b. logo. According to the team Yellow b. "is the organization we all represent and work for. It's also the bedrock of our team's identity, ethos, mission and values." (Image credit: Josh Croxton)

Underneath the saddle is the race transponder mount. This transmits race data that can be used for race coverage or by race officials.  (Image credit: Josh Croxton)

Sitting on the top tube is the team's Tour de France Renaissance kit logo.  (Image credit: Josh Croxton)

Sitting out in front of the Vision Metron 5D EVO bars is a Garmin 840 computer. Note the tape over the stem headset bolt for a tiny aero gain (Image credit: Josh Croxton)