No cycling event compares to the Grand Tour. The world's best cyclists must conquer all of France's most challenging terrain as they ride more than 2,000 miles across the country over three weeks.

Climb the Alps and Pyrenees. Ride across the plains between legendary mountains. Saddle comfort is crucial throughout the Tour de France. Trick-laden aero frames and components, explosive leg and lung endurance .......

The winner of this year's Tour de France was a youthful Slovenian, Tadej Pogachar, who won sitting atop a Prologo Scratch M5. The Italian cycling component brand has a unique approach to saddle design, and Pogačar's victory demonstrated the Prologo product team's insight into industrial design and physiological ergonomics.

In appearance, the Scratch M5's compact size and split padding are immediately noticeable. Prologo's product development specialists wanted to create a saddle with superior comfort and broad rider compatibility for riders of all builds and genders.

Italy's largest technical university collaborated in the development of this Tour de France winning saddle. Prologo's product team worked with Politecnico di Milano to develop the Scratch M5's MSS (Multi-Sector System) pad structure.

The five clearly defined segments allow the Scratch M5 saddle to better respond to rider movement and provide superior support compared to traditional single-pad configurations. By using different densities of foam for each pad, Prologo's industrial designers and ergonomists were able to optimize how the saddle responds to the rider's dynamic leg and hip movements.

Nothing demonstrates the value of Prologo's MSS feature better than Pogachar's performance in the 2020 Tour de France. During both the pull and push phases of the pedal stroke, the active padded segments that make up the Scratch M5's seating surface provide dynamic support and reduce fatigue.

Tadej Pogačar Winning the Tour de France may be all about the fastest overall time, but seating fatigue, which can be quietly debilitating for racers and amateur riders, is not a consideration in a timing seat. much of the M5's comfort comes from the mono cock construction with carbon fiber rails and saddle base for vibration damping. Prologo's industrial designers took advantage of carbon fiber's excellent sound-absorbing properties to ensure that the contact point between the Scratch M5 and the seat post sufficiently dulls road buzz, even on rough surfaces and over long distances.

Further complementing Pogachar's endurance during the Tour was Prologo's rounded shaping of the rear section of the Scratch M5 saddle. This created a roomy bottom that distributes pressure during pedaling and promotes natural rotation of the pelvis.

While most modern road racing saddles have perineal channels, the Scratch M5 offers both options, allowing the rider to choose which relief profile works best. For riders who want a little more support, there is an open-base design that relieves pressure peaks in the pelvic area without exposing the rider to extreme cold winds in cold conditions.

In addition to the proven ergonomics and comfort of the Scratch M5, it remains a high performance saddle in terms of specifications, weighing only 155 g, which is noticeably lighter.

Tadej Pogachar's Tour de France may have been a great victory for the young pro road cycling star, but all riders have access to his cycling skills. Prologo has always supported a design and product philosophy that prioritizes performance in the pro peloton and makes it accessible to all.

And it's also about gender, with Prologo's Scratch M5 saddle series designed to provide a single solution for male and female riders.