A pneumatic tire includes a pair of axially spaced apart annular bead cores, a carcass ply extending around both bead cores, a tread for engaging a contact surface and a belt structure. The tread has at least one circumferential groove extending radially inward from a radially outer surface of the tread. The belt structure includes at least one belt layer and an overlay comprising at least one overlay layer. The overlay layer is disposed under the circumferential groove and has an axial width between 70% and 200% of an axial width of the circumferential groove. The overlay layer is a reinforced ply layer or a layer comprising a fabric.