TUDOR Celebrates Fabian Cancellara’s Return to the Tour with the Pelagos FXD Chrono “Yellow” Limited Edition.
Nearly a decade after his final race on French roads, Swiss cycling legend Fabian Cancellara is back at the Tour de France — not as a competitor, but as a team owner. To mark this milestone and pay tribute to his remarkable achievements, TUDOR has unveiled a new colourway of the forged carbon chronograph for riders.
Inspired by the 2024 Pelagos FXD Chrono, this limited edition follows the same design approach as May’s “Pink” Giro d’Italia release — emblematic race colours on the dial and strap set against a matte black backdrop. At the Giro, pink marks the overall leader; in the Tour de France, it’s the iconic yellow jersey.
A symbol of excellence, prestige, and victory, the yellow jersey is beyond the reach of all but the most well-rounded riders. It’s a fitting tribute to a rider who wore it for a total of 29 days and secured eight stage wins throughout his career. Now, as the head of a team that was only in its infancy when we covered it three years ago, Fabian Cancellara will lead it into its first Tour de France.
Related Reading: Tudor Pro Cycling Team
Limited to just 300 numbered pieces, this bold new reference brings TUDOR’s technical watchmaking further into the heart of professional cycling. Of course, one detail stands out for those familiar with Cancellara’s career: the number 7. It’s his signature race number, and it’s already spoken for in this exclusive 300-piece production run.
Case Design
The Pelagos FXD Chrono “Yellow” is more than symbolic. It’s built to perform under the extreme demands of elite road racing. The 43mm case is forged from carbon composite for a featherlight yet durable build — essential for a sport where every gram counts, and this one weighs just 71g. The “FXD” designation stands for “FiXeD,” referencing the watch’s fixed lugs — solid, non-spring-loaded attachments that securely hold the strap. Only pass-through straps work with this Tudor, and that’s the point. It’s a rugged toolwatch, reimagined for two wheels instead of four. Titanium is present on the crown, pushers and caseback, which depicts a peloton of riders and your new lucky number.
Dial Design
Where this chronograph truly stands out, however, is in its functionality. Most tachymeters cater to the high speeds of motorsport, but Tudor has flipped the script. The FXD Chrono features a yellow cycling-specific tachymeter, designed to track average speeds within the range a cyclist would actually sustain during a ride. Rather than the Units Per Hour ending at 60 after just 1 minute, the spiral continues to 59-58-57… all the way down to 20 Units Per Hour over 3 full minutes. While timing, view the chronograph sub dial first to find your minute, which’ll determine what layer of the spiral you’ll look at to find your speed.
If that’s all too technical, the signature big snowflake hands and square ceramic composite indexes have the legibility of a stop sign. The Pelagos has a dive watch in its DNA, which means readability like your life depends on it. A dial-matched black date window sits at 6 pm. The negative spaces, blocks of lume, and the 45° angle of the rehaut will give the dial some pleasing three-dimensionality.
Bird’s-Eye Impression:
The Pelagos FXD collection continues to impress me as an original, modern design—proof that Tudor doesn’t need to live in Rolex’s shadow. The Pelagos line already represented the serious, no-nonsense end of Tudor’s catalog, but the FXD models have zero pretence of dress watch aspirations. It’s pure utility born from the real world, and that’s what makes it exciting.
That said, I do wish Tudor’s confidence extended to rethinking the snowflake hour hand. While iconic, its inclusion across every sports model has become more of a design constraint than a signature. On the chronographs, especially, it creates a real issue: at around 3:20, the hour and minute hands together obscure over half the chronograph minute register. That’s a usability flaw in a watch that otherwise puts function first.
Tudor leans into Fabian Cancellara’s nickname, “Spartacus,” in the watch’s marketing, invoking a gladiatorial theme. It looks badass and is totally on point, but you cannot help but wonder why that wasn’t carried through to the caseback. Instead, we get a peloton of riders, presumably holding up traffic.
To vintage nerds, a spiral “snail trail” tachymeter isn’t anything new to chronographs. What feels new is the combination 60-minute scale bezel with the tachymeter residing on the dial, which runs contrary to nearly every racing chronograph design since 1957. It is a wonderful look, and it gives what is a very high-tech design some eccentric, penny-farthing energy. I cannot think of another chronograph with this layout. If you can, please let us know in the comments (Breitling Chronomat doesn’t count, that’s a dive bezel).
The logistics of professional cycling continue to baffle me. I can understand the gear—the carbon obsession, the marginal gains, the spiralling costs. That part makes sense; I’m in the watch world, after all. What’s harder to grasp is the human side: the relentless physical punishment, the mental resilience, the unwavering commitment, and the sheer danger of it all.
The Pelagos FXD Chrono “Yellow” doesn’t pretend to soften any of that. It leans into it. This isn’t a tribute that sits behind glass — it’s meant to be used, abused, sweated through, and glanced at mid-race or mid-ride. And while it may carry the mark of champions past, it feels built for those still chasing something ahead.
Specification: TUDOR Pelagos FXD Chrono Limited Edition (Ref. 25827KNJN)
- Dimensions: 43mm x 13.2mm thick
- Case Material: Black carbon composite with matt finish, titanium crown and pushers
- Dial: Matt black with yellow elements
- Water Resistance: 100m (10 Bar)
- Movement: Automatic Calibre MT5813 (COSC), Breitling B01 based
- Movement Power reserve: 70 Hours operating at 4Hz (28,800 VpH)
- Crystal: Domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective Treatment
- Bracelet/Strap: Single-piece black fabric strap