When Your Product Lines Up at the Tour de France
In 2026, the Tour de France starts in Barcelona.
For AMS, that matters for two reasons.
First, because Barcelona is home.
Second, because the Caja Rural–Seguros RGA will be on the start line.
And so will our bar tape.
The Weight of That Start Line
The Tour de France is not just another race.
It’s the reference point. The place where everything is exposed.
Equipment doesn’t get hidden behind marketing.
It gets judged by fatigue, weather, pressure, and repetition.
Three weeks.
Different roads.
Different demands.
No room for excuses.
That’s where Caja Rural will race.
And that’s where AMS Sterrato bar tape will be used.
How We Got There (Without Chasing It)
When we developed our first bar tape, Sterrato, it wasn’t designed for the Tour de France.
It was designed for gravel and endurance riding.
For long days. Broken roads. Reducing fatigue without killing feel.
We took our time.
We tested.
We waited.
What followed wasn’t a campaign. It was feedback.
Sterrato was tested, approved, and adopted by Caja Rural for the 2026 and 2027 seasons. Not because it was labeled “race”, but because it worked.
That’s how things should happen.
Why Racing at the Tour Still Matters
Bar tape is not glamorous.
But when it’s wrong, riders feel it every minute of the day.
It’s a bit like tyres in Formula 1.
You’ll never hear a driver or a team principal talking about how good the tyres are when everything works. Tyres only become a topic when there’s a problem. When grip drops. When wear is unpredictable. When performance fades before it should.
Bar tape works the same way.
When it’s right, it disappears.
When it’s wrong, it becomes impossible to ignore.
That’s why racing at the Tour de France still matters. Not because it creates stories, but because it exposes weaknesses. Over long days, under stress, with no margin for improvisation.
What We Learn From It
WorldTour racing teaches humility.
It shows where assumptions break.
Where comfort turns into vagueness.
Where damping becomes disconnection.
It also shows what lasts.
How mechanics tune setups stage by stage.
How wrapping tension changes feel.
How the same product adapts to different riders, hands, and demands.
That knowledge doesn’t stay in the peloton.
It feeds back into development.
Into Honeycomb.
Into what comes next.
Barcelona, History, and Continuity
There’s something symbolic about starting the Tour in Barcelona.
This is where AMS was built.
Where we learned to think in systems.
Where mountain biking, gravel, and road began to overlap for us.
Seeing a product developed here line up at the world’s most important cycling race is not a finish line.
It’s a checkpoint.
Congratulations to Caja Rural–Seguros RGA
We want to congratulate the Caja Rural–Seguros RGA team on their invitation to the 2026 Tour de France.
It’s a deserved recognition for a team with a long history, a clear identity, and years of work at the forefront of the professional racing calendar. Earning a place at the world’s most important race is never accidental.
We’re proud to be their partner for bar tape.
Not as a logo, but as a working component, used every day, by riders and mechanics who know exactly what they’re doing.
Looking Forward
We don’t believe the Tour de France makes a product better by association.
We believe it reveals whether it already is.
In 2026, our bar tape will be part of that reveal.
We’ll be watching closely.
And, as always, learning.
