Shaping Tomorrow’s Tyres: Inside Continental’s Development

Talk with Hannah Ferle, Road Product Manager at Continental, hosted by Jez Cox. She gives a rare look at how the road tyres of the future are developed: from the first rubber compound to the finished tyre on a WorldTour bike.

Hannah reveals what really goes into a modern road tyre. Polymers and fillers decide how it behaves in heat, wet and cold. The layers beneath the tread define stability and puncture protection. And every new development has to master a challenge that physics makes tricky: low weight, high grip, minimal rolling resistance and strong puncture protection, all at once. Hannah shows how Continental’s engineers in Korbach push these boundaries with lab data and real feedback from the pros, from steel test drums to the toughest stages of the Tour.

And the best part: what’s developed for the pros ends up on your bike. Every tyre raced at the 2026 Tour de France is a series product, available in shops exactly as raced. Find out what’s coming next and how race-proven innovation shapes the tyres you’ll ride tomorrow.