Demi Vollering outclassed the field at the women’s Omloop het Nieuwsblad, besting breakaway companion, Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney, in a two-up sprint, aboard a custom-painted Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL8.
The Dutchwoman’s bike was painted in white and blue, with gold stars, denoting her status as the reigning European road race champion.
With a set of chunky, 32c Specialized Turbo Cotton TLR tyres, Vollering’s bike was well-prepped for the race’s punishing cobbled climbs.
Let’s take a look at it in detail.
A bike fit for a European champ
After a disappointing 7th place in the women’s road race at the 2025 Kigali world championships, Vollering bounced back to take an empathic victory at the European championships a week later.
As a result, she’s riding in the European champion’s jersey this season and has been aptly rewarded with this stunning custom-painted Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL8.
As far as we could tell, the design was identical to that which Tim Merlier rode at last year’s Tour de France, as the men’s European road race champion.
In contrast to Merlier’s sprint-focused build, though, Vollering opted for a setup designed to tame Belgium’s many sharp cobbled climbs.
The most obvious nod to this was the extra large, 32c Specialized Turbo Cotton tyres – a popular model amongst Specialized-sponsored teams at this year’s Opening Weekend.
These were paired to Roval’s latest Rapide CLX III wheels, which feature a deeper, wider front rim paired to a slightly shallow and narrower rear rim.
These rims are laced to lightweight alloy hubs via carbon spokes – which, incidentally, also featured on the unreleased Shimano Dura-Ace wheelset Vollering’s compatriot, Matheiu van der Poel, rode to victory in the men’s race.
Vollering used a pro-standard 54/40-tooth crankset, paired with a wide-ranging 11-34t cassette out back, giving her plenty of range to spin up the race’s many steep climbs.
Handwritten notes
While many riders at Omloop had printed race notes taped to their stems, detailing the distance at which key climbs in the race would come, and/or when riders should take on fuel, Vollering had handwritten notes jotted down on simple cotton tape.
Vollering personally taped it to her lengthy stem while we were photographing and filming her bike. It may not have looked quite as slick as some of the setups other teams had, but it clearly did the job.
Finishing off her build, Vollering had a Specialized S-Works Power with MIMIC saddle, a set of Shimano Dura-Ace pedals, a Sigeyi direct-mount derailleur hanger (for added shifting stiffness) and Tacx Ciro composite bottle cages.
The S-Works Power with MIMIC saddle launched back in 2018 and was hailed as a “revolution” in women’s saddle design.
Based around the brand’s popular Power saddle design, it uses a softer foam padding on the nose designed to ‘mimic’ the density of women’s soft tissue. It was, Specialiazed said at the time of its launch, "truly designed for women".
Vollering pairs the Specialized saddle with a zero-offset seatpost with a rangy Roval Rapide integrated cockpit. Her brake hoods were tilted in slightly, but clearly within the UCI’s latest handlebar width regulations.
