This is the updated Cervélo S5 that Jonas Vingegaard is using in his bid to topple Tadej Pogačar in the 2025 Tour de France. The S5 has an impressive palmarès: Wout van Aert rode it to the biggest ever winning margin in the Tour’s green jersey competition in 2022 and most recently Simon Yates ambushed the GC leaders on it to take victory in the Giro d’Italia. The latest version is claimed to be over six watts faster and 124 grams lighter than its predecessor, but, says Cervélo, “it retains the handling, poise, and stability that riders everywhere love”.
The Canadian brand has focused heavily on the front of the bike, which is where significant aerodynamic gains can still be found. The fork legs and head tube are deeper than before, and the all-new, one-piece handlebar/stem is an evolution of Cervélo’s original V-stem concept, the shape that defined the S5, but which formerly consisted of a V-shaped split stem and separate bar.
The new cockpit, called the HB19, is more flowing-looking without the bolt covers and the edges of old the two-piece setup. The front section of the bar, which bridges the gullwing shape, is thrust out further forward, almost certainly smoothing the airflow of the head unit in front of it. The bar uses Cervélo’s Plus-Four concept, meaning the dimension at the hoods is 4cm narrower than in the drops (38cm/42cm, for example). The brand says this approach helps riders maintain a more aerodynamic body position while their hands are on the hoods, and provides stability in the drops for descending and sprinting.
Cervélo is offering the new cockpit in nine stem length/bar width combinations and its customers will be able to order a different size at no additional cost within 60 days of ownership in order to achieve the correct bike fit. All bar sizes are UCI-legal, even with the most recent regulations change.
Cervélo says the new S5’s surface area is larger, but it was able to make it 124 grams lighter than the outgoing version thanks to optimising the hardware and carbon layup.
Cervélo and Reserve co-developed the new Reserve 57|64 Turbulent Aero wheels specifically for use in the S5 frame, completing the aerodynamic 'system'. They’re over eight per cent faster in wind tunnel testing than the Reserve 52|63, says Cervélo, without adding a single gram of rim weight. As the numbering suggests, the front has a 57mm rim that is designed for confident handling in crosswinds, while the 64mm rear delivers “relentless aero gains”. The rim profiles are different shapes as well as depths, with the front internal rim width measuring 25.4mm while the rear is 24.4mm. These wheels played a decisive role in Simon Yates’s Giro victory, according to Reserve, and weigh a claimed 1,554 grams with DT Swiss’s top 180 hubs. The tyres are Vittoria Corsa Pro TLR in a 29c size.
Vingegaard is running a 1x setup with the SRAM Red AXS groupset – he has a 52-tooth aero chainring which, with the 10-tooth sprocket of his 10-30 cassette, gives him a huge, UCI-displeasing top gear of 140.4 inches. He’s also running a chain guide for belt and braces’ sake, even though SRAM’s 1x rings have the X-Sync wide-narrow tooth profile designed for maximum chain control without a capturing front derailleur. We’re told he’s using 160mm cranks – not as radically short as earlier in the season so it could be that he’s found a happy medium in time for the big one – and these are Wahoo Speedplay Aero pedals.
Simon Yates chose the S5 over the R5 climbing bike even for the mountain stages of the Giro – he was riding it when he attacked on the Colle delle Finestre, taking over the maglia rosa. This suggests the extra weight of the aero bike – probably only about 400g over the UCI weight limit of 6.8kg in the team spec – isn't enough to negate the aero gains. Will this be the bike Vingegaard rides when the race hits the very steepest sections that will decide the final outcome?
