Want your own piece of the Tour de France? Then look no further

Okay, we're sorry. We're not actually selling little pieces of the Tour de France (nor do we have any idea how that would work), but there are loads of brands on Freewheel that make products being ridden for three weeks in what could reasonably be described as the World's Greatest Bike Race. 

Better than that, this kit is the same as what the pros are using - not replicas, not pared-down versions, the actual same products that the professional teams use. That's one of the best things about cycling; you want those tyres Wout van Aert is riding? You got 'em. How about the groupset Team Ineos is using? No problem (although, you know, it's not cheap). There's nothing - except budget - from stopping you having and riding exactly what the best in the world use, so here's our guide to the brands we stock on Freewheel that provide products to the very best cyclists on the planet. 

Vittoria

We might be a little biased, but it's not exactly a stretch to describe Vittoria as the makers of the world's finest road tyres. Dont take our word for it, Vittoria's Corsas are ridden by the Jumbo-Visma team of Primoz Roglic and Wout van Aert as well as Alpecin-Deceuninck, EF Education-EasyPost, Lotto Soudal, Astana Qazaqstan and Team DSM, so they're definitely doing something right. The pros largely ride the tubular versions, but the clincher and TLR (tubeless-ready) Corsas are beautiful tyres in their own right that'll have you itching to get back out on the road. 

Most of these teams will be riding the Corsa day to day, but the Corsa Speed is the choice for time trials. The range does actually extend a bit further than that, with the Corsa Control a perfect choice for anyone who wants the ride feel and quality of the top end Corsa, but also wants a little more puncture protection (which is most of us in the UK, let's be honest). 

Shimano

It would genuinely be easier to list which teams at the Tour de France are riding Shimano than those that aren't, such is the trust in the Japanese manfacturer's products in the professional peloton. Shimano actually only sponsors a handful of these teams, with the rest choosing to ride Shimano and buying the groupsets. The full list of teams riding Shimano at the 2022 Tour is: Alpecin-Deceuninck, Astana Qazaqstan, Bahrain Victorious, BikeExchange Jayco, Bora-Hansgrohe, B&B Hotels KTM, EF Education-EasyPost, Groupama-FDJ, Ineos Grenadiers, Intermarche-Wanty Goubert, Israel-Premier Tech, Jumbo-Visma, Lotto Soudal, QuickStep-AlphaVinyl, Team Arkea Samsic, Team DSM and TotalEnergies. We told you so. 

Almost all of these teams will be riding Shimano's flagship groupset Dura-Ace Di2, with the occasional piece of Ultegra cropping up every now and again, but with the launch of the first ever 105-level Di2 road groupset this week, Di2 electronic shifting technology is more affordable than it's ever been. 

Oh, and as if that wasn't enough there are a whole host of riders the race using Shimano's top-end S-Phyre RC902 shoes, which we think are the very best on the market (although admittedly we are biased...). 

100%

Still one of the most on-trend brands in cycling, 100% sprang to promenance (in cycling) back in 2016 when they signed Peter Sagan which landed their glasses on the most famous face in the peloton. Fast forward 6 years and the San Diego-based brand now sponsors Sagan's Totalenergies team along with Movistar and Bora-Hansgrohe giving them a pretty strong representation in this year's Tour de France. 

It all started with the now-iconic Speedcraft model which has morphed into a whole range of glasses for different disciplines, riding styles and head shapes/sizes. That includes the Speedtrap, S2, S3, Glendale, Eastcraft, Westcraft, Racetrap and the super-slick, ultra-light Hypercraft. Plus, for this year's race, there's another Peter Sagan LTD series of glasses in a very eye-catching tie-dye style livery. 

Finish Line

One of those products you basically never see on TV is what the mechanics use to clean the bikes/get them ready to race. As a result, it's a sponsorship that basically goes unseen and the proof is in how well the teams perform in the race (or how nice and clean the bikes look at the start of every day). Finish Line work with four teams racing at this year's Tour: Trek-Segafredo, Intermarche-Wanty Goubert, TotalEnergies and Bahrain Victorious, so next time you see one of their Trek, Cube, Specialized or Merida bikes looking resplendent on the start line, remember the work that went into getting them there. 

Lazer

If cleaning products can be easy to miss, then helmets are one thing that you can't help but see when you're watching road cycling. Far cry from the old days when the blond locks of Laurent Fignon were waving in the wind, the head of every rider now bears a helmet and helmet-making just happens to be Lazer's speciality. Lazer sponsors one team that'll be riding the Tour, but it's a good one: Jumbo-Visma. You can do a lot worse than having Primoz Roglic and Wout van Aert wearing your helmets, and those guys are sure to be at the pointy end when the action heats up. 

Most of the riders will be choosing between the Genesis (light and highly ventilated) and the brand new Vento KinetiCore (aero). The Vento has the added bonus of that Kineticore technology, the most advanced rotational impact technology on the market. You can read all about KinetiCore here, if you're interested. Oh, and for the time trials it's the Volante TT lid, look out for those in the prologue in Copenhagen. 

DT Swiss

Wheels of choice for Caleb Ewan, Philippe Gilbert and the Lotto Soudal team, DT Swiss is back in the big time with the Belgium-based squad. With a wide range of wheels that covers all disciplines and riding levels, DT's main attraction is that their wheels are built around what are widely regarded to be the very best hubs money can buy. The Lotto Soudal team will be using their top end ARC 1100 race wheels that come in 50, 62 and 80mm depths - the latter being mostly for time trial use so you'll see them in the opening prologue - and run on the super-light, ultra-cool 180 hubs that are truly a sight to behold. 

While the ARC wheels are fantastic, as an amateur the ERC 1100 wheels are possibly an even better option. Coming in 35 and 45mm depths with a large 22mm internal width, they're perfect for use with 28 or 30mm tyres and - like all DT's road wheels - are tubeless ready right out of the box with tubeless valves and rim tape installed. They're light, too, so you're really getting a set of wheels made for the rough and tumble of every day riding. 

Elite

Elite are an interesting brand as they provide two important - but functionally very different - pieces of equipment to pro cycling teams. The first is turbo trainers, the warm-up and cool-down devices that every team uses at the start and end of almost every stage. Elite makes a number of different turbo trainers that cover the whole range of the price spectrum, but the Justo - their latest and greatest device - is the one that a lot of pro teams will be using.

The other product is water bottles - something that every team needs in rather large quantities. Elite's Fly bottle is the choice of 10 of the 22 teams starting this year's Tour, making them the most popular bottle brand in the peloton, and since the Fly bottle is a perfect combination of light weight and sturdiness (as well as having a top designed to come off if the bottle is run over) it's not a surprise. 

That's a lot of brands at the Tour, right? Well it's actually not all of them. Freewheel also stocks Garmin, K-Edge, PRO, Maxxis, Park Tool, Premax and SiS which are all represented by at least of of the 22 teams starting this year's race.