Today, twice UCI World Champion Peter Sagan published his new bike’s photo on his Twitter account: a custom Specialized S-Works Venge.
Sagan’s new bike is equipped with Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupset and Roval wheels. On the top tube, near the junction point with the seat post, his name, the flag of Slovakia, and the colors of his rainbow jersey, which he will continue to wear next year, printed.
Tarmac is the top-of-the-line model of Specialized’s road bike series. Specialized Tarmac 2015 is developed in a partnership with the British Formula One constructor McLaren.
Most recently, team Saxo Tinkoff’s Spanish rider Alberto Contador won the Vuelta a España 2014 using a Specialized S-Works Tarmac bike.
In celebration of the 40th anniversary, the California-based bicycle manufacturer Specialized has produced a lugged-steel limited edition Allez frame, in collaboration with Mark DiNucci, one of their original frame builders.
There will be only 74 pieces of the Limited Edition Specialized Allez (the company was founded in 1974), and they will be auctioned on eBay on September 8th for supporting World Bicycle Relief.
Astana Team’s Italian star Vincenzo Nibali has won the Italian national road title recently. The Kazakh team prepared for him a new jersey. And the “Shark” has a new bike – a dangerous-looking Specialized Tarmac.
Nibali’s new Specialized S-Works Tarmac is mainly black and white in color and has a shark figure with sharp teeth in the head tube. Campagnolo Super Record drivetrain, Corima Viva wheels, and FSA components are completing the kit.
Specialized Tarmac is the admiral ship of the American bicycle manufacturer’s road bike models. According to Specialized, its stiffness-to-weight ratio is increased by 19% over the previous Tour de France winning version (refers to Andy Schleck’s 2010 Tour de France win. The original winner was Alberto Contador, he was also riding a Specialized Tarmac, but he lost his victory to Schleck due to doping).
As always, there are plenty of build options for each Specialized Tarmac model in 2014.
Specialized Roubaix 2013: named after Paris-Roubaix, “the queen of the classics”, the famous classic race over the cobbles, Specialized’s endurance bike was designed to soak up the worst of the bumps through its innovative Zerts inserts.
The Zerts are essentially a damper placed in the rear stays and the forks that absorb road vibration. Specialized Roubaix is specifically designed for the cobbled classics in Europe and is good for bad road surfaces, cobbled roads, and long-distance endurance rides (i.e. century rides).
Specialized Venge 2013 – Venge is one of the top-end racing bike models of Specialized (the other one is Tarmac). It is produced and optimized for better sprint performance and aerodynamics, while Tarmac is an all-round racing bike.
Specialized Tarmac 2013: Tarmac may be the most successful racing bike in recent years. Only in 2012, Spring Classics Amstel Gold Race and Ronde Van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders), Monumental Spring Classic Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Vuelta a España, and Olympic Men Road Race are won by the cyclists riding Specialized Tarmac.
UCI WorldTour teams Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank, Omega Pharma-Quick Step and Astana use Specialized bikes, and most of the races, they use Specialized S-Works Tarmac.