Before Sunday, Wout van Aert last won a Monument on a celeste Bianchi with rim brakes and quick-release thru axles. Six years on, you’d be hard pressed to find any of those things in the pro peloton.
Nowadays, Paris-Roubaix is all about the 1x cranksets, chain catchers and 32mm tyres. For Wout van Aert, that was the winning combination as he piloted a Cervélo S5 to glory last weekend.
The entirety of Visma-Lease a Bike were riding on the Cervélo S5 on Sunday. Together with the Visma women, the S5 occupied three podium spots over the weekend. The bike, released last year, is the team’s aero machine, but it’s now the main weapon of choice year-round, with Jonas Vingegaard even choosing it for the Alpine passes. As it was rejigged last year, however, this was the team’s first Paris-Roubaix on the new version.
Xavier Pereyron photographed the bike in Compiègne before Wout van Aert’s race to victory.
Wout van Aert’s Paris-Roubaix 2026 Cervélo S5
This was Van Aert’s first Roubaix on Cervélo’s updated S5, released last summer.
54-tooth chain ring for Wout. He was one of many riders to use a 1x setup. In fact, most of the riders on SRAM-sponsored teams did the same.
Although unlike many SRAM teams who incorporated gravel cycling tech, Wout was using the standard road SRAM Red rear derailleur and cassette.
Visma’s old Gravaa tyre pressure system was controversially banned by the UCI before the race, with the company filing for bankruptcy. Previously, the technology helped the team’s riders adjust their tyre pressure before and after the cobbles. Though it seems Van Aert didn’t need it.
Wout van Aert had far fewer mechanical problems than his main rivals at the race. Better luck next time, Tadej and Mathieu.