Tissot, Richard Mille, Breitling, Tudor... On the Tour de France, bikes and watches
The passion for cycling is also taking over wrists. Watches related to the world of cycling are now abundant. Inventory.
At the end of the effort, and sometimes the suffering, the roads of the Tour de France are the arbiter of cycling talent. On the saddle, the best riders measure themselves, and the champions are revealed. Watches too, which nothing prevents from being worn while pedaling for the lightest, or from being displayed like horological tributes on the side of the roads. Of course, discreetly but effectively, sensors and connected watches from Garmin equip a good number of riders eager for precise data on their daily performances. The American giant is also a partner of some forty professional teams around the world . But in France, for several years now and for this 112th edition, the official timekeeper and the official watch remain Tissot. This year again, a quartz PR100 Tour de France, with a 40 mm diameter steel case, is available for 495 euros.
And in the race? On the wrist of French cyclist Romain Grégoire, we can notably spot a limited edition HD10 numbered to 100 pieces (€890), designed by Humbert-Droz from Besançon. An open-heart automatic watch in steel treated with a black PVD coating that pays homage to the cyclist's fighting spirit. It beats to the rhythm of a Franco-Swiss La Joux-Perret G1A0 automatic movement, hand-assembled in the brand's workshops in Besançon. A movement offering a 68-hour power reserve. Its little extras: its oscillating weight decorated with the silhouette of a cyclist, made by Bailly Roland in Besançon, and its strap with blue stitching by Jean-Rousseau. This limited edition is available for pre-sale on the brand's website for €890 until the end of August 2025.
Whether riding bikes or in F1 paddocks, Richard Mille is omnipresent, driven by extreme performance. Since 2017, the brand has been a partner of UAE Team Emirates, which joined the UCI WorldTour, the highest level of professional cycling. This included Tadej Pogačar winning the 2020, 2021, and 2024 Tour de France. At the end of 2024, he also became world champion for the first time in his career. In addition to wearing the brand's colors on their bikes and kits, UAE Team Emirates cyclists also wear an RM 67-02 watch on their wrists. A miracle of ergonomics, weighing just 32 grams thanks to the TPT composite materials and grade 5 titanium used in its composition. It is paired with a special strap, completely seamless, non-slip, and highly elastic to perfectly fit the contours of each wearer's wrist.
Richard Mille also counts among its ambassadors Mathieu van der Poel, a true cycling phenomenon, who unfortunately had to abandon the Tour this year, after having worn the yellow jersey. The Dutch athlete, 2023 world road champion, has already won two consecutive "the Hell of the North," the grueling Paris-Roubaix, considered the toughest of cycling classics. Blood will tell for the grandson of French legend Raymond Poulidor and son of former cyclo-cross world champion Adrie van der Poel... But another star wears a Richard Mille watch: Alain Prost, partner of the brand since 2017, the year in which the RM 70-01 Tourbillon was unveiled, designed in collaboration with the French champion and inspired by his (little-known) passion for cycling. It has been almost 25 years since "the Professor" took up cycling seriously.
The unique totalizer of this RM 70-01 in TPT carbon, a limited edition of 30 pieces, simply displays the total distance traveled with their various bikes. The pusher located at 2 o'clock allows you to select one of the 5 rollers of the odometer, the indication of which is given in a titanium window. Pressing the pusher located at 10 o'clock moves the selected roller to the next higher number. The only effort required from the user is to add the day's distance to the previous total. On this piece, nods to the world of cycling are omnipresent: in the titanium Allen screws that fix the bridges, in the rock of the barrel, which recalls the spokes of a bicycle wheel, not to mention the tourbillon cage or the dynamometric crown, which evokes a bicycle crankset.
For its part, the Swiss manufacturer Tudor has pushed interest in cycling to the point of now having its own team. It thus created the Tudor Pro Cycling Team, which has already won numerous victories. With it, Tudor has launched a new sports model, a tribute to Swiss champion Fabian Cancellara, Olympic champion and world champion. The new Pelagos FXD Chrono (€5,490), with a 43 mm case combining carbon fiber and titanium, is produced in a series of only 300 pieces in which the number 7, Fabian Cancellara's lucky number, has been reserved for him. A distinctive feature of this model: a tachymeter scale adapted not to the speed of a car but to that of a cyclist. It features a spiral graduation on the flange inclined at 45° around the edge of the dial, allowing the average speed over a given distance to be established. Its Manufacture caliber MT5813, certified by the Swiss Official Chronometer Testing Institute (COSC), has a 70-hour power reserve. Here, its one-piece fabric bracelet is hand-woven on 19th-century shuttle Jacquard looms by the Julien Faure company in the Saint-Étienne region.
At Breitling, whose president George Kern is a true two-wheel enthusiast and accomplished rider, this year is paying tribute to two cycling legends and former brand ambassadors: Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali. It must be said that in the mid-20th century, Breitling was the timekeeper at the world's most important cycling events, including the Tour de France, the Giro d'Italia, the Milano San Remo, and the Flèche Wallonne. The brand is unveiling two 41 mm Top Time chronographs powered by the Caliber B01, offering COSC-certified precision and a power reserve of approximately 70 hours. These limited editions of 750 pieces feature vibrant colors inspired by the bikes and jerseys of past champions. "Coppi and Bartali had one of the greatest rivalries in the history of sport," says Georges Kern. "They pushed each other to the top. These watches revive a most inspiring story."
The Top Time B01 Fausto Coppi features turquoise counters on a white dial, with an orange lightning bolt-shaped seconds hand echoing Coppi's bike colors. The Top Time B01 Gino Bartali features a blue dial with yellow accents, inspired by his jersey. These two limited editions of 750 pieces feature the nicknames of the legendary cyclists on the tachymeter scale: "Il Campionissimo" (the champion of champions) for Coppi and "L'Intramontabile" (the timeless) for Bartali. Their signatures at six o'clock add an even more personal touch. These 41 mm chronographs are powered by Breitling's manufacture caliber 01, with COSC-certified precision and a power reserve of approximately 70 hours.
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