Time was, only a few years ago, that pros raced on tubular tyres at around 23mm wide, pumped up to 100psi or more (that’s over 7 bar). But now, even in races on tarmac, it’s typical to see riders on 28mm or wider tyres, which are likely to measure up even wider on modern wide aero rims.
Tyres for Paris-Roubaix, in particular, go wider still. 25mm (or, at a stretch, 28mm) tubulars used to be the norm for tyres on rim-brake bikes, but now the race is typically ridden on 32mm tubeless tyres. It has got faster, too.
Each generation of new bikes provides more and more clearance to accommodate wider tyres, enabled by the switch to disc brakes. Even some out-and-out aero bikes have space for 34mm tyres.
This year, we saw a 35mm-wide tyre used at Paris-Roubaix and the trend shows little sign of slowing. Indeed, Pirelli has just launched a variant of its P Zero Race TLR in 40mm width, although few, if any, current race bikes have room to fit it.
However, there’s data to suggest that the rolling resistance benefits of tyres 35mm in width and beyond are greater than the aerodynamic disadvantages of the extra frontal area, or any weight penalty. On the notorious cobbles of Paris-Roubaix, the speed advantages may be even more pronounced.
But do the pros even want wider tyres? Do some hark back to the good old days of tubular, do some want even wider rubber than what’s currently used, or have we hit the sweetspot?
We headed to the start of the Paris-Roubaix women’s and men’s races to get the pros’ take on where the wide tyre revolution could go next, asking 13 riders for their views.
Read on to hear from each of them – or watch the video below for more. You can also check out the rest of our coverage from the Hell of the North in our Paris-Roubaix hub.
Jonas Rickaert (Alpecin-Deceuninck) – 32mm tyres are smooth and fast
Jonas Rickaert and the Alpecin-Deceuninck team typically roll on 28mm Pirelli P Zero Race TLR RS tyres, but switched to 32s for Paris-Roubaix. Will the team look to take advantage of the Canyon Aeroad’s 32mm clearance more often?
“Now we’re running 32s on the cobbles and they’re really smooth… on the normal road, they’re really fast and I think it’s a good choice,” says Rickaert.
Will they go wider still? Should the Aeroad accommodate a bigger tyre in future?
“Maybe in the future. Cycling is still improving and so are we,” he adds.
Rosa Klöser (Canyon//SRAM) – The wider the better
Rosa Klöser comes from gravel racing, so she’s no stranger to wider tyres and very much open to trialling increased tyre widths.
“If you ask me, the wider the better,” she says. “We’re rolling with 34mm tyres today [at Paris-Roubaix Femmes]. If it was only up to me, I’d definitely be interested in checking it out and testing it.”
Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) – All for progress
Third-place finisher in this year’s men’s race, Mads Pedersen, is all in favour of modern developments, but remained coy on exactly what riders are asking for.
“It’s like asking a Formula 1 driver if he wants to drive the car from last year. We all want to improve and we all want to make the equipment better for next year,” he says.
Lizzie Holden (UAE Team ADQ) – 40mm could improve safety
Lizzie Holden is one rider open to running wider tyres on the cobbles. Not so much for speed or comfort, but for safety.
“Honestly, for this race, I think the wider the better,” says Holden, speaking about Paris-Roubaix.
“I think I would ride 40mm tyres for general racing. If it’s marginal between the performance gain and loss, and it improves safety also, it could be a better option,” she says.
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) – 32mm for Roubaix only
Jasper Philipsen and the rest of the team, including race winner Mathieu van der Poel, run a pretty much standard bike for Paris-Roubaix. What do they change?
“Just the tyres for Roubaix, but for the rest we don’t like to change too much,” says 11th-place finisher Philipsen.
Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) – We've got everything we need at pro speeds
Fred Wright had one of the widest tyre setups at Roubaix, running 34mm Continental Grand Prix 5000 AS TR tyres in 2024 and again in 2025, when he placed ninth.
“I had a pretty clean run last year and have kept with a similar pressure [for 2025] and the same tyres,” says Wright. “It’s worth sacrificing that little bit of wattage on the flat part for the gains on the cobbles,” he says. “We’ve done a lot of recons and I’ve had no problems with blisters.”
The fact Wright uses the Continental Grand Prix 5000 AS TR, Conti’s training and sportive tyre, not only reflects the demands of Paris-Roubaix, but also the fact that the race-ready S TR tops out at 32mm. If he wants to go wider, he simply needs to use the AS TR, but we expect more tyre brands to launch race-appropriate 35mm and wider rubber in the future.
Would he consider going up to 40mm?
“With the 35s, you get everything you need,” he adds.
Bahrain Victorious can fit 35mm tyres in their Merida Reacto aero bikes, but according to Wright: “40 seems a bit extreme. The faster you go [over the cobbles], the easier it gets.”
Lizzie Deignan (Lidl-Trek) – Happy on 32s
Lizzie Deignan ran 32mm tyres this year at her final Roubaix, a race she won when the women’s Paris-Roubaix was first run in 2021. She’s content with her current tyre width.
“I’ve never tried 40mm tyres, but my Pirelli 32s are supple,” she says.
Marco Haller (Tudor Pro Cycling) – Happy to follow the tech
Marco Haller is excited by the changes he’s seeing in bike tech.
Tudor’s BMC Teammachine R bikes have a claimed 30mm tyre clearance and they rode DT Swiss GRC 1100 gravel wheels, which have 24mm inner rim width, to plump out the tyres at Roubaix.
Is that enough?
“It’s just the beginning. I’m happy technology is advancing,” says Haller.
Lonneke Uneken (VolkerWessels) – Racing is not about comfort
For Lonneke Uneken, 40mm tyres would be a step too far, even if they did mean suffering less on the cobbles.
“No, we don’t need that,” she says. “Racing is not all about comfort. Maybe for an easy ride, but not for [Paris-Roubaix].”
Oliver Knight (Cofidis) – Older bikes look nice, but modern ones are faster and more comfortable
British rider Oliver Knight reckons 32mm tyres strike the middle ground between speed on the road and a more comfortable ride over the cobbles.
“There’s still 210km of roads [in Paris-Roubaix], so there’s a balance in there. For me, 32mm seems really wide,” he says.
Despite the smoother, faster ride, he does hanker after the retro race bike look.
“I do prefer the look of some of the old bikes from 2014, 2015, but these [modern] bikes are a lot quicker to ride and a lot comfier as well,” he adds.
Eline van Rooijen (Coop-Repsol) – Down from 32 to 30mm this year
While the trend has been to ride ever-wider tyres at Roubaix, the Coop-Repsol team has gone the other way.
“You have to ride around 60k on the asphalt as well [in Paris-Roubaix Femmes], so you don’t want to lose that much energy there,” says Eline van Rooijen. “Now we’re riding on 30, last year 32, so we will see.”
Jack Rootkin-Gray (EF Education) – Open to going wider
Jack Rootkin-Gray and the EF Education team ran 32mm tyres at Paris-Roubaix, but he says tyre width should be determined by your objectives.
“If you’re a favourite, maybe you should go for a wide tyre, because their race is made more on the cobbles,” he states.
“If you’re going for the breakaway, maybe you should stay more with a narrower tyre, because your race is spread over the asphalt and the cobbles.”
Would he run 40mm tyres?
“I’m always really open to trying new tech, so there’s no reason why not,” he says.
Camilla Rånes Bye (Coop-Repsol) – It would need to be fast, too
For Camilla Rånes Bye, it’s not just about added comfort on the cobbles. Would she go for 40mm tyres?
“Yes. But it would have to be as fast as well. I don’t want to go too wide just for the comfort; speed as well counts a lot,” she points out.
Ultimately, going faster is the motivation for every pro rider.
But have we already maxed out?
There’s another reason why pros may never run 40mm tyres – or at least not until the UCI changes its regulations.
Article 1.3.018 of the UCI’s regulations states that: “Wheels of the bicycle may vary in diameter between 700 mm maximum and 550 mm minimum, including the tyre.”
That would mean anything wider than 39mm would run the risk of being rejected by the UCI wheel-diameter police. On a modern wide rim, a 35mm tyre may already be close to 700mm in diameter.
However, given the current trend for wider tyres, both in regular racing and taken to the next level at Paris-Roubaix, we’d be surprised if this rule didn’t come under scrutiny by the UCI’s rulemakers.
One thing all the pros we asked were clear on: besides some retro bike nostalgia, none wanted to go back to the old days of 25mm tubulars.
