GRAVAA Goes Bankrupt But Visma-Lease a Bike Double Down on Revolutionary Roubaix Tyre Tech
The most controversial piece of technology in professional cycling is built by a company that no longer exists — and it could still decide Paris-Roubaix this Sunday. GRAVAA, the Eindhoven-based startup behind the revolutionary in-race tyre pressure adjustment system used by Visma-Lease a Bike, was declared bankrupt by a Dutch court in January 2026, just nine months after its technology helped Pauline Ferrand-Prévot win Paris-Roubaix Femmes on her debut. Yet despite the company's demise, Visma's Head of Performance Equipment has confirmed the team will deploy the system at both Paris-Roubaix Femmes on Saturday and the men's race on Sunday.
The GRAVAA system works by housing a miniature compressor inside the wheel hub, with pressure fed into the tyres via an electronically controlled Presta valve. Riders can adjust and monitor tyre pressure in real time while riding — deflating on cobbled sectors for increased grip and comfort, then re-inflating on asphalt sections for lower rolling resistance and higher speed. The difference is not trivial. Ferrand-Prévot dropped to approximately 2.1 bar across all seventeen cobbled sectors at last year's Paris-Roubaix Femmes before pumping back up to nearly 4 bar on smooth roads. That constant optimisation gave her a measurable advantage in both comfort and speed over riders locked into a single compromise pressure for the entire race.
The technology has split the peloton. Critics argue it creates an unfair two-tier race — teams with GRAVAA versus everyone else — and that the system's complexity introduces a mechanical vulnerability that undermines the raw, survival-of-the-fittest ethos of Paris-Roubaix. The UCI has permitted the technology under existing equipment rules, but several team managers have privately expressed frustration that a bankrupt startup's innovation has been allowed to remain in competition after the company itself has ceased trading. "Of course, you can also eliminate the competition this way," one rival team's technical director told Cycling Up To Date, in remarks that captured the mixture of admiration and resentment the system provokes.
For Wout van Aert, who leads Visma's Paris-Roubaix campaign on Sunday, the GRAVAA system represents a tangible edge in his bid to finally win the Hell of the North. Van Aert has finished second, third and fourth at Roubaix without ever taking the trophy, and his team's exclusive access to in-race pressure adjustment could be the marginal gain that tips the balance in his favour — particularly if the forecast dry conditions hold and the race becomes a speed battle rather than a survival test.
The bankruptcy itself is a cautionary tale of cycling innovation. GRAVAA struggled to translate its WorldTour success into commercial sales, finding that the recreational cycling market was not ready for a system that costs several thousand euros and requires specialist installation. The company's intellectual property is now in the hands of a court-appointed administrator, and its long-term future remains uncertain. Visma have stockpiled enough units and spare parts to see them through the 2026 season, but beyond that the system's availability is in question.
Whether the GRAVAA advantage proves decisive on Sunday depends on how the race unfolds. In a fast, dry Paris-Roubaix where the difference between riders is measured in seconds rather than minutes, the ability to gain a few watts on every transition between cobbles and tarmac could be the margin that separates victory from another near-miss. For Visma-Lease a Bike, it is a ghost of a company that might yet haunt the velodrome in Roubaix.