What are the Tour de France pros sitting on? Your guide to the saddles of the 2024 pro peloton

When you ride nearly 3,500km in three weeks, saddle comfort isn't just a minor detail to think about, but rather a paramount aspect of being able to get through all that brutal riding. That is exactly what the Tour de France pro riders do, so we've taken a look at what the pros (or their sponsors) actually think are the best saddles to keep their bums comfy. 

Well, we say what they choose, but we must add that because most teams have saddle sponsors, the riders don't have full reign over exactly what saddle they will sit on. While we do sometimes see star riders using sponsor-unfriendly saddles with the logos blocked out, most will be limited to offerings from the team's saddle sponsor.

Below, we're going through what saddles all 22 WorldTour teams use, and looking to spy if any of them might choose something outside their sponsor's offerings... 

Selle Italia

 

 

 

 

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Selle Italia saddles are also popular among the pros, with four teams riding the Italian brand's seats.

Alpecin-Deceuninck's Mathieu van der Poel rides on a Flite Boost Pro Team SuperFLow Kit Carbon Saddle, with a generous cutout that Selle Italia calls 'Superflow technology'. This should help relieve any pressure, and the saddle top also utilises technical microfiber that should aid with durability. The very same saddle is seen used by riders of Arkéa-B&B Hotels and Cofidis. 

> Review: Selle Italia Flite Boost Kit Carbonio saddle

 

 

 

 

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Israel-Premier Tech riders, on the other hand, are also on the SLR Boost Pro Team Kit Carbonio Superflow and the Flite saddles.

Again, Selle Italia also offers 3D-printed saddles that are seen used by riders such as Simon Geschke (Cofidis) whose choice is the SLR Boost 3D Kit Carbonio Superflow with a large cutout and a very minimalistic-looking design overall.  

Prologo

The majority of Tour de France riders are opting for Italian Prologo saddles, as it is the choice for eight of the men's WorldTour teams, including the current GC leader Tadej Pogacar's Team UAE Team Emirates.

Pogacar, alongside his teammates, spends hours and hours sitting on the Prologo Nago R4 saddle, though the Slovenian has also been seen on plenty of other Prologo saddles, including the Scratch M5. Prologo even made a special Pogacar edition of this seat. 

Team Astana Qazaqstan are often seen using the Prologo Scratch 2, which comes with a more curved shape and a much longer nose. 

It's the team of the now record-breaking Sir Mark Cavendish as well, but interestingly the Manx Missile's Wilier Filante SLR has also been seen equipped with a Fizik Arione saddle, with a Prologo sticker stuck on to hide its identity. The Arione is a much more traditional saddle with no cutout and a long nose, and perhaps for a veteran racer such as Cavendish, it feels even more familiar than the Zero II Nack saddle that he officially races on. 

Fellow record breaker Biniam Girmay of Intermarché-Wanty (below) relies on the Prologo Dimension TRI Nack saddle, which has helped the Eritrean sprint to three stage victories (at the time of writing, he has just won stage 12). 

Bahrain Victorious, on the other hand, also says it uses Prologo Scratch M5, Scratch M5 CPC, Dimension, and Dimension Tri saddles, while EF Education-EasyPost, Groupama-FDJ, Ineos Grenadiers, Intermarché-Wanty, Lotto Dstny, and Uno-X Mobility also trust the brand. 

Specialized

The Specialized-sponsored trio of Redbull-Bora-Hansgrohe, Soudal Quick-Step and Team TotalEnergies are unsurprisingly seen using Specialized saddles. The 3D-printed S-Works Power with Mirror is one of the most popular choices, alongside the slightly longer-nosed S-Works Romin EVO with Mirror, seen ridden by Aleksandr Vlasov of Redbull-Bora-Hansgrohe (below). 

Riders such as Jai Hindley are also seen using the Specialized Phenom Expert with Mimic saddle, which features the soft cutout technology that Specialized originally targeted at women riders, but which suits many men as well. That said, on stage 9 Hindley's saddle doesn't really look like one of Specialized offerings...

Back to the 100% Specialized saddles: both of those incorporate a custom honeycomb structure for "superior support", as well as lightweight FACT carbon shell and rails.

> Here's our review of the Specialized S-Works Power with Mirror Saddle

Fizik

Three teams in the pro peloton are using Fizik saddles: Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale, Movistar and Team Visma–Lease a Bike. There are also those few riders who choose to ride Fizik despite other team sponsors. 

Visma-Lease a Bike's Jonas Vingegaard and Wout van Aert rely on Fizik’s super-light Vento Antares 00 – which has a claimed weight of only 118g for the 140mm-wide model. It's not as short-nosed at 270mm, but its weight makes it an appealing choice for many. Fizik also does a 3D-printed version called Antares Versus Evo 00 Adaptive of the saddle, but that one tips the scales at 168g and isn't really seen used by the pros, even though many of them do seem to like the zonal cushioning that the technology allows. 

Speaking of 3D-printed saddles, Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale's official team saddle is the Fizik Vento Argo 00 Adaptive, which has "zonal cushioning comfort across the entire surface and full-carbon shell and rails to save weight without sacrificing support". The tech is very similar in its premise to the Specialized S-Works Power with Mirror saddle. 

Bontrager, Syncros and Cadex

Teams that have a bike sponsor with a components arm are seen using that subsidiary's saddles as well, and hence we see Lidl-Trek riders with Bontrager saddles, whereas Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL rides with Syncros saddles and Team Jayco–AlUla sits on Cadex seats. 

Again, individual rider choices vary, as we can see from the above picture from this year's Criterium du Dauphine. Though Tao Geoghegan Hart is not riding the Tour this year due to Covid and a fractured rib, we can see his saddle choice for the race would've been on the newest Trek Aeolus RSL Bike Saddle, while most of his team members opted for the Verse Pro instead.  

> Review: Bontrager Aeolus Pro Saddle

Team dsm-firmenich PostNL has three saddle options, the Syncros Tofino, Savona and Belcarra. The Tofino is designed for a low, aggressive riding position and also boasts a very light 156g weight for the 144mm wide seat.

The Savona is a shorter nose saddle, but also has the same V-shape as the Tofino. The Belcarra is the team's TT saddle. 

Lastly we have Team Jayco–AlUla who ride Giant bikes with a full Cadex finishing kit. The Cadex Boost seen under riders such as Michael Matthews has a claimed weight of only 138g, and has an interesting "Integrated Rail Design and Particle Flow Padding (essentially a fancy name for the padding)", making it stand out a little from the other short-nosed saddles. 

What makes a pro saddle good? 

From the above, we can draw quite a few conclusions on what the pros demand from their saddles. It comes as a no-brainer that comfort is a key aspect – but what that means depends on each rider's position and personal preferences. 

Most of the saddles in the pro peloton are top-of-the-range models, featuring the most advanced material technologies that keep the weight low and even add some aerodynamic advantages. Cutouts are present on most riders' saddles to relieve pressure on the perineal area. Most riders also ride short-nosed saddles, but even these come in varying lengths ranging usually from about 240mm to 250mm in length. 

When it comes to materials, the pros prefer a stiff saddle with often quite minimal and firm padding, with carbon rails and shells.  

> How to avoid saddle pain and get comfortable on the bike

Whether you should follow the pros' footsteps (or should we say, bum shapes) in selecting your saddle... perhaps not. None of the above saddles are bad choices, but most of them cost more than £250. While they can shave grams from your setup, and look the part, you are likely going to be as comfortable on your non-carbon-railed saddle. It's also evident from everything we've seen that saddle choice is a hugely personal matter, and what fits one might not work for you.