Mark Cavendish gets unique CVNDSH shoes made by Nike - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
They're pretty simple with three Velcro straps and no obvious fancy features - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
Giro's Empire SLX lace-ups were seen on a handful of riders - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
Adam Hansen makes all his own racing shoes - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
This is his clog-like design for the Tour - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
Luke Durbridge has a small Aussie flag on his strap - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
The 2015 Tour's first yellow jersey holder, Rohan Dennis, swapped his standard dial with a yellow version - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
The new dial goes perfectly with his yellow BMC - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
Tour favourite Alberto Contador has also swapped the dials of his S-Works 6 shoes to match his Tinkoff kit - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
Jens Debusschere was the 2014 Belgian road race champion - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
Riders sponsored by Shimano have to use ratchet straps - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
Rocket7 shoes are handmade in the USA - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
Bright yellow Mavic shoes always stand out - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
The Sidi shoes of three-time world time trial champ Tony Martin - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
Sidi uses a custom dial with a fold-out lever for easy adjustment - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
These blue Sidi shoes of Chris Froome fit in perfectly with the Team Sky colours - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
The Specialized-sponsored teams were on a selection of different S-Works shoes, some fifth generation and some of the new S-Works 6 - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
Lampre-Merida's Kristijan Durasek won't get his pair mixed up with his roommate's - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
Dialled-in Diadoras for the Movistar team - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
Like most brands, Gaerne uses two Boa dials and a Velcro strap over the toebox - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
Pierre-Luc Perichon has his surname embroidered on his Bonts - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
More dialled-in S-Works shoes - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
There were several pairs of Bonts in the peloton - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
With no official shoe sponsor, Bretagne-Seche Environnement riders sported a variety of brands - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
Funnily enough, Specialized produce shoes in just the right colour for Astana - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
IAM Cycling's riders were mostly wearing Scott shoes - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
The only obvious DMT pair we saw - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
And the only Suplest pair we saw - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
No dials for these Giro shoes - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
Overshoes? But the sun's out! Sprinter Michael Matthews looks for every edge - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
No Velcro at all for the Bont Vayor S shoes - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
Daryl Impey gets the RSA flag on his strap - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
Svein Tuft was the 2014 Canadian time trial and road champion - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
Another rare sighting of overshoes - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
The less rare return of laces to pro cycling - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
There's no missing this shiny pink pair of Sidi shoes - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
Nalini's Octopus Plus2 shoes - Velcro only - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
These Bonts look like they've come from Tate Modern - Tom Ballard / Immediate Media
Tour de France professionals might have more power in one perfectly shaved leg than most of us can muster with two, but you can't buy that strength. What you can buy are the shoes that connect that power to the drivetrain.
BikeRadar camped out at the rider sign-in of the Tour de France, getting odd looks from pros and other media alike as we focused low to bring you a selection of the peloton’s footwear.
Check out the full gallery above and a few trends we spotted below.
Dials, ratchet straps and laces
Tour favourite alberto contador has also swapped dials to match his tinkoff kit:
Contador has two colour-matched dials on his S-Works 6 shoes
Boa wire lacing systems give fast but minute adjustment, allowing riders to lock their feet securely without pinching discomfort. It’s no surprise then that the vast majority of Tour professionals are picking this type of closure, with most designs in this style having a pair of dials on the upper.
Ratchet straps
Riders sponsored by shimano have to use ratchet straps:
Ratchet straps are still the only way to go with Shimano
A few riders – namely those sponsored by Shimano – are still using the ratchet straps that come on the Japanese brand’s top-end R321 shoes. If the rest of the peloton is anything to go by, Shimano’s going to have to up its game in the shoe closure department if it wants to keep up.
Laces and Velcro
Giro's empire lace-ups were seen on a handful of riders:
Some riders were sporting the retro look with Giro's Empire shoes
A few of the riders at the start of stage two were wearing Giro’s Empire lace-ups. In fact there were more laces on show than Velcro-only closures. We only spotted two pairs of shoes that just used Velcro – these included the Nike shoes made specifically for Mark Cavendish.
Customisation
This is his clog-like design for the tour:
Adam Hansen makes all his own racing shoes
Some riders use stock shoes, others have their names worked onto the upper. You’ll also see the occasional flash of colour to denote a national champion, while others simply customise with a differently coloured dial. There’s no-one in the peloton with more unique slippers than Team Lotto-Belisol’s Adam Hansen though, who makes all his shoes himself.
