Ahead of the Tour de France, Continental has launched the Archetype tyre, designed to meet the needs of hot favourite for the overall win, Tadej Pogačar, and the UAE Team Emirates XRG pros.
The new tyre is billed as a limited edition and available in limited quantities at a recommended price of £94.99 / $103.90 / €105.95.
While a few years ago, pro teams would be riding on 23mm tubs, the Archetype tyre comes in a 30mm width only. There's still room to spare in the team's Colnago V5Rs bikes, which offer 32mm tyre clearance.
The Archetype tyre is tubeless-ready and designed to work with hookless beads, such as those on the team’s Enve wheels. Conti rates the tyre for a pressure range from 65 to 73 psi – more numbers unheard of in racing just a few years ago.
At 275g, the new tyre is lighter, with a 275g claimed weight that Conti says is 35g less than the Grand Prix 5000 S TR in the same width. Conti recommends a minimum of 30ml of sealant per tyre, so there’s not much extra weight there either.
In the past, we’ve seen the pros, including Pogačar, riding the GP5000 TT TR on road stages. Although it's only available in 25mm and 28mm widths, the 28mm comes in lighter still at 240g. As a Conti-sponsored team, UAE Team Emirates XRG also has the Continental Aero 111 front tyre at its disposal. This has a pattern of vortex generators in its tread that Conti says makes it the most aero tyre available. It comes in 26mm and 29mm widths, the latter with a claimed 280g weight.
Conti has shoehorned all its tyre tech into the Archetype, including its BlackChili rubber compound, its LazerGrip microprofile shoulder tread pattern, designed to keep riders rubber side down when cornering, and its Active Comfort Tech for a smoother ride.
The availability in 30mm width only meets the needs of UAE Team Emirates XRG, but as Will explained recently, should the UCI decide to implement its proposed maximum metres of development rule, it would fall foul of the new ruling. The draft regulation would mean that the team could, at least in theory, run a maximum 28mm width tyre with the 54x11-tooth highest gear ratio of their Shimano Dura-Ace groupsets.
With wider tyres being not just faster, but also potentially safer, forcing pros to reduce their tyre width seems a little perverse.
