Mark Cavendish's Wilier Filante SLR: New pedals, saddle, and wheels for 2024

Could this be the bike on which Cavendish clinches the outright stage win record at the Tour de France?

09:24, Tuesday 19th December 2023

Alex Hunt

Junior Tech Writer

Mark Cavendish will attempt to ride the Wilier Filante SLR to a 35th Tour de France stage win in 2024

Astana Qazaqstan Team
- Nationality Kazakhstan
- Founded 2006
- Team Principal Alexander Vinokourov
- UCI Code AST
- Bike Sponsor Wilier Triestina
Mark Cavendish
- Team Astana Qazaqstan Team
- Nationality United Kingdom
- Age 38
- UCI Wins 168
- Height 1.75m
Wilier Triestina
Wilier Triestina is an Italian manufacturer of road bikes, mountain bikes, gravel bikes and e-bikes, based in Rossano Veneto in northern Italy.
Shimano
Shimano is a bike component manufacturer based in Osaka, Japan. The company is one of the industry’s most popular manufacturers and it makes up around three-quarters of the bicycle component market by value.
Vision
Vision is a cycling component company owned by Taiwanese cycling manufacturer Full Speed Ahead (FSA). Vision produces a range of high-end cycling and triathlon products with a strong focus on aerodynamic gains.
Prologo
Founded in Italy in 2006, Prologo is a market-leading manufacturer of saddles and other bicycle accessories.

Mark Cavendish’s intentions for the coming season are simple: to take his 35th stage win at the Tour de France and, with it, claim the outright stage victory record currently shared between himself and Eddy Merckx. If he is going to succeed, it will be atop his Wilier bike, which features a few alterations from the 2023 model.

The bike in question is the Wilier Filante SLR, which sits as the brand's dedicated aero bike alongside the more lightweight-focused Zero. Cavendish rides a size small, which comes in as an effective 53cm frame.

Although the frame is the aero offering from Wilier, the silhouette is somewhat more modest than some of the more aggressively profiled aero bikes in the WorldTour.

Read more: Wilier Triestina confirmed as new Groupama-FDJ bike sponsor

Mark Cavendish's Wilier Filante

New Vision wheels

In 2023, Cavendish was rolling around on HED wheels, with his go-to choice being the Vanquish RC6 Pro. It is all change for 2024, with the team making the switch over to Vision wheels.

Cavendish is using the Vision Metron SL60 wheelset in training and will most likely use these for most stages in the 2024 edition of the Tour de France. The wheels, as the name would suggest, are 60mm deep, but they are also a staggering 32mm wide externally and 21mm wide internally.

Cavendish will be rolling on Vision Metron SL60 wheels in 2024

The hubs on the Metron SL60 wheels are also of note, with the rear hub featuring a helical clutch ratchet with a five-degree engagement angle. This uses an oversized ratchet ring to allow more surface area to be engaged at any time to deal better with the extreme power transfers associated with bunch sprints.

A new saddle

Cavendish has also made the change from the Prologo Zero II to the Nago R4

It looks like Cavendish is trying out a new saddle during the off-season, with the newly released Prologo Nago R4 fitted to his bike. This comes as a change from his saddle of choice during the 2023 season, which was the Prologo Zero II.

The Nago has a more relaxed feel over the Zero, which could be something used during the long and easy base miles of the early season training, but could equally be a more ergonomic fit for him.

Read more: Ineos Grenadiers switch to Prologo saddles for 2024

Dura-Ace pedals

A closer look reveals that Cavendish is no longer using Look Keo 2 Max pedals and instead has a pair of Shimano Dura-ace pedals fitted

A smaller change from his 2023 set-up is the move to using Shimano’s Dura-Ace pedals. During the 2023 season, Cavendish used Look’s Keo 2 Max pedals.

However, on closer inspection, his bike is now fitted with a set of Shimano Dura-Ace SPD pedals that tie in with the team's groupset sponsor. It is interesting to see the move from Look over to Shimano, with the whole team now using Dura-Ace pedals.

A training-oriented set-up

The bike is clearly set up for training, with the rear derailleur standard issue Shimano Dura-Ace Di2. During the 2023 season, Cavendish was using SLF Motion Speed oversized pulley wheels fitted to the derailleur, which we would expect to see fitted once again come race season.

For the time being, there is no benefit to having them fitted, especially through a period of training in potentially inclement weather.

Custom paint

The bike features an integrated aero cockpit

The paint scheme Cavendish opted for last year remains his choice for 2024, with his custom scheme deviating from the textured blue of the standard team bikes. The design itself remains the same, with a mix of solid black and gold branding alongside a marbled white colour. Down the outside of the fork legs, Cavendish has added his own personal logo in black to further highlight just whose bike it is.

Read more: Mark Cavendish to race special edition Tour de France bike

Could this be the bike to propel Cavendish firmly into Tour de France history with an iconic 35th Stage win? Let us know if you think he can do it in the comments section down below.