Outside

The road shoes of the Tour de France

$770 shoes, custom molds, hand-painted graphics, and even a mid-range model for the world champion.

Text by: Ben Delaney Photos by: James Startt and Getty Images

While most of the gear riders use will be the same within each team, saddles and shoes are different. Over the three grueling weeks of the Tour de France, it’s vital each rider is as comfortable as possible with their key points of contact between themselves and their bike.

As with so many other pieces of gear, shoes are often a sponsored item for Tour teams, and usually riders can find a model that fits them within the given sponsor’s lineup. Some teams don’t have a shoe sponsor, which simplifies things for riders who prefer a certain shoe.

Here is a look at more than 20 of the shoes being raced at this year’s Tour de France.

Related:

Mads Pedersen has Bontrager Ballista shoes to match his world-champion kit.

107th — Mads Pedersen races in mid-range Bontrager Ballista shoes while his teammate Richie Porte is in the top-end Bontrager XXX.

Elia Viviani has custom DMT KR1 knit shoes. Viviani has worked with the Italian DMT brand for a decade.

107th — Greg Van Avermaet racing in his custom Rocket7 shoes on stage 4 of the 2020 Tour de France.

Groupama-FDJ is racing in Sidi shoes like the Shot (left) and the Wire 2 Carbon (right).

107th — Defending Tour de France champion Egan Bernal is racing in Sidi’s new Sixty shoe, which is the lightest shoe in Sidi’s line-up.

107th — Julian Alaphilippe and his Deceuninck-Quick-Step teammates are racing in Specialized S-Works 7 shoes.

107th — George Bennett’s partner Caitlin Fielder handpaints Maori designs onto his shoes. Fielder has had a custom shoe art business for four years.

107th — Daniel Martin racing in Mavic’s $770 Comete Ultimate shoes that feature a two-piece construction of a carbon skeleton and a sleeve-like bootie.

107th — Marc Hirschi is in the Shimano S-Phyre RC901 shoes. A newer RC902 was released soon after the Tour began.

SH-RC902_C125_5_O_S5 — Shimano updated its S-Phyre road shoes with this RC902 soon after the Tour began.

107th — Robert Gesink is racing in the newer Shimano S-Phyre RC902 shoes while his Jumbo-Visma teammate George Bennett has the original RC901 with custom artwork courtesy his partner Caitlin Fielder.

velonews — Shimano’s S-Phyre shoes (RC901 model) are popular in the peloton.

107th — Rigoberto Uran races in Sidi Shots while EF Pro Cycling teammate Tejay Van Garderen uses Giro Imperial shoes.

velonews — Israel Start-Up Nation is racing on the Mavic Comete Ultimate.

velonews — Valentin Madouas of Groupama-FDJ is racing the older Shimano S-Phyre shoes.

velonews — The Northwave Extreme Pro uses Northwave’s own BOA-style dials.

velonews — AG2R-La Mondiale shoe one: Alexi Vuillermox in the Giro Factor Techlace.

velonews — AG2R-La Mondiale shoe two: Shimano S-Phyre.

velonews — AG2R-La Mondiale shoe three: Northwave Extreme Pro.