Michelin has a new “faster” racing tyre, but you can’t buy it yet

Team Picnic-PostNL is debuting a new still-to-be-released Michelin Power Cup S race tyre at stage one of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.

The new tyres were revealed fitted to bikes ahead of stage one, with a new ‘S’ moniker setting them apart on the tyre sidewall.

More meaningfully in performance terms, a team mechanic confirmed to BikeRadar that the tyre is “faster” than the current Power Cup Competition TLR tyre, featuring a smoother compound down the centre of the tyre for lower rolling resistance, and a gripper compound on the shoulders.

The tread has also been slightly modified, which could help to improve aerodynamics as well as…