One of the more curious tidbits we picked up at this year’s Paris-Roubaix came from Visma–Lease a Bike: the team’s mechanics had glued the tubeless 32mm Vittoria Corsa Pro tyres to the rims of the Reserve wheels.
With much of the pro peloton moving from tubs to tubeless in recent years, shouldn’t tubular glue be consigned to history?
Indeed, why did Visma–Lease a Bike blend old school and new school in 2025, by dusting off the tubular glue for use with tubeless tyres?
Having spotted Vittoria's Mastik Pro tubular glue in use on Wout van Aert’s bike, we spoke to Vittoria’s brand and communication manager, Daniele Rota, to find out exactly what’s going on here.
“The team glued their tyres for the Paris-Roubaix race to increase tyre adhesion in case of a puncture," says Rota.
According to Rota, this was a one-off for the team – there is no race on the calendar like Paris-Roubaix, that puts equipment under such severe stress.
“This strategy was specifically implemented for Paris-Roubaix due to the rough terrain,” he told BikeRadar.
“The unique and demanding nature of the race necessitated this approach. Currently, there are no plans to use this strategy in other races.”
That may be the case, but Visma–Lease a Bike’s tyre tactics for the 2025 Paris-Roubaix point to a bigger story than this one race.
Tubeless trends
Paris-Roubaix tech may be less interesting than in decades past – teams no longer make wholesale changes to equipment, instead swapping in wider tyres as the primary change – but the demands of the Hell of the North remain the same.
The shift from tubular tyres to tubeless is one of the most notable trends in Paris-Roubaix tech in recent years, and really gained momentum in 2021 when Lizzie Deignan won the inaugural Paris-Roubaix Femmes on tubeless tyres (and a bike with a 1x drivetrain).
Dylan van Baarle then won the 2022 men’s race on a tubeless setup, and tubulars have barely had a look-in since.
Still, the abandonment of tubulars hasn’t been without its issues. Hitting the harsh cobbles of Paris-Roubaix at 50km/h tests tyres and wheels to their limits, and we’ve seen two main problems in recent years:
- No run-flat protection – if a tubeless tyre punctures, it can lose all pressure almost instantly
- Catastrophic wheel failures – with a tubeless tyre not glued to the wheel, unlike a tubular, if it dismounts from the rim, the wheel directly impacts the cobbles
Foam inserts are designed to solve problem one, and are now commonly used at Paris-Roubaix.
A tubeless insert is a ring of foam that sits between the tyre and the rim, providing additional flat protection for the tyre and, in the event of a puncture, the ability to continue riding safely – assuming the tyre remains mounted to the rim.
Why no tyre inserts?
Continuing the old and new theme for Visma–Lease a Bike, the team also used Gravaa’s self-inflating tyre system for Paris-Roubaix. The Gravaa KAPS comprises a hub containing a mini-electronic inflator, which enables the rider to adjust tyre pressures on the fly via a wireless trigger mounted on the bar.
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot used the system en route to winning Paris-Roubaix Femmes, while van Aert was among the riders to use Gravaa’s novel setup in the men’s race.
However, the KAPS system is not compatible with tyre liners.
“In this case, Air Liner inserts were not used,” says Rota. “The team utilised the Graava system, which allows for pressure adjustments during the ride. However, this system is not yet compatible with tyre inserts.”
The impact of a full-scale puncture on the cobbles was evident during van Aert’s recce before Paris-Roubaix, when he flatted on the Arenberg sector and only a remarkable save stopped the Belgian from hitting the deck. Without an insert, he was riding straight onto the rim, having suffered a front-wheel puncture.
Wow, Wout van Aert almost crashes on Paris Roubaix recon because of puncture 😨 #ParisRoubaix
Full video: https://t.co/DYnj06mLdq pic.twitter.com/RVTbflYLBJ
— Lukáš Ronald Lukács (@lucasaganronald) April 10, 2025
Outside of Roubaix, Vittoria continues to recommend the use of a foam liner for additional run-flat protection, but the introduction of the KAPS system appears to have complicated matters somewhat for the team this year.
“Vittoria is employing Air Liner tubeless inserts designed to keep the tyre on the rim in case of a puncture,” says Rota. “This solution is referred to as a run-flat solution, ensuring that the tyre remains securely seated even when punctured.
“Vittoria deeply studied and tested the bead design and material to assure the highest safety on both hooked and hookless rim designs.”
Wide tyres getting wider
Reserve supplies Visma–Lease a Bike’s wheels and they are some of the widest in the peloton.
Just as tyres have got wider, with 32mm standard at Paris-Roubaix this year – and even 35mm tyres spotted – so have rims, and the Reserve 42/49 wheelset used by van Aert has an internal width of 25.4mm at the front and 24.8mm at the rear.
However, Rota poured cold water on the idea that the most progressive of modern road rims could increase the chances of a tyre dismount – providing standards are adhered to.
“If the tyre and rim sizes are within compatibility as defined by the standards (ISO / ETRTO), and both products follow the standards, there is no risk of unseating, unless of severe impacts leading to failure,” he says.
Tubeless tyre and wheel standards have been the subject of plenty of scrutiny over the past couple of years, fuelled in part by the tyre dismounts and rim failures seen at Paris-Roubaix – among other races.
Last year, the UCI launched an investigation into hookless rims after Thomas De Gendt saw his 28mm-wide Vittoria Corsa Pro TLR road tyre blow off a 25mm-wide Zipp 353 NSW wheel, which uses hookless rims. Vittoria and Zipp both said an impact strike was to blame.
The ETRTO’s new standard, established in 2023, states that the narrowest tyre recommended for use on a 25mm internal-width wheel is 29mm, and Vittoria has responded by creating a 29mm-wide version of the Corsa Pro tyre.
The introduction of hookless rims has clouded the matter, too. However, the Reserve wheels used by Visma–Lease a Bike are semi-hooked, with a lip around the edge of the rim to help secure the tyre. According to Reserve, “this means there are reasonable limits on tyre pressure, no tyre incompatibility issues and tyres are easy to install”.
Looking ahead
For Rota and Vittoria, wheel and tyre standards are now well-established, in terms of the interaction between the two products, but Rota points to the testing methods used across the industry as the new frontier of standardisation.
“We do not see a need for increased standardisation of the product,” says Rota. “The industry is exploring new standardisation of testing methods as further improvement of the wheel system.”
Looking ahead, will we see tubular glue in the hands of Visma–Lease a Bike mechanics next year? That could rest on whether the team continues to use the Gravaa KAPS system, which Visma currently has exclusive access to, but only until the end of the year.
Regardless, tyres continue to be the centre of attention when it comes to the latest pro tech developments.
