Petacchi’s S-Works Tarmac – 21 Days of Tour Tech

Hyper-aggressive position for the sprint lead-out

After years of being an Alpha sprinter, Alessandro Petacchi came to the 2014 Tour de France as a lead-out man for Mark Cavendish

Ben Delaney / Future Publishing

Ben Delaney

Published: July 23, 2014 at 12:30 am
After years of being an Alpha sprinter, Alessandro Petacchi came to the 2014 Tour de France as a lead-out man for Mark Cavendish - Ben Delaney / Future Publishing
The new Specialized S-Works Tarmac has a svelte seatpost clamp. Petacchi's number holder was empty when we shot the bike - Ben Delaney / Future Publishing
To get as aero as possible for the high-speed finales, Petacchi has a long and low position, with a whopping 14cm of drop from saddle to handlebar - Ben Delaney / Future Publishing
With Specialized sponsoring the team nearly head-to-toe, Petacchi has his pick of S-Works saddles. He prefers the Romin - Ben Delaney / Future Publishing
Zipp's SL Sprint stem, in a 140mm length with CermaicSpeed bearings in the headset and a BG Fit top cap finishing it off - Ben Delaney / Future Publishing
With its purchase of Quarq a few years ago, SRAM upped the ante among component giants, offering an integrated power meter as an option on its top-end Red 22 group - Ben Delaney / Future Publishing
Look Keo pedals seldom drop down, due to a combination of light body weight and sticky bearing interface - Ben Delaney / Future Publishing
Specialized has two types of tubulars at the Tour, these All Round for most stages and a version for the cobbled stage 5 with FMB cotton casings - Ben Delaney / Future Publishing
Taking a page out of K-Edge's book, SRAM now has its own chain catchers built into its Red 22 groups - Ben Delaney / Future Publishing
Petacchi rides low on stage 3 of the 2014 Tour de France - Tim de Waele

Italian Alessandro Petacchi was once an Alpha sprinter in his own right, winning no less than 48 Grand Tour stages from 2000 to 2010. After bowing out of this role at the end of 2012, he joined Omega Pharma-Quick Step for 2014 as a lead-out man for Mark Cavendish. Even among a field of flexible, aero-minded pros, Petacchi’s bike stands out for its extreme set-up.

Standing 6ft / 1.84m, the lanky Italian has his bikes set up almost like track machines, with a huge amount of saddle-to-handlebar drop (14cm) and reach (62.5cm), plus very narrow 40cm handlebars and a 140mm stem.

As with the rest of his teammates, he can choose any Zipp wheels he likes, often preferring to go with the 303 tubulars.

Interestingly, despite having the Venge aero bike as an option, Petacchi prefers the Tarmac.

We weighed the bike pictured here at 7.25kg / 15.98lb, in no danger of violating the UCI minimum weight rule. As befits a former sprinter, Petacchi is more concerned with just getting over the mountains than winning atop them. His SRAM WiFli Mid Cage derailleur is ready to handle a cassette with as low a gear as 32t. The bike shown here has an 11-28 cassette.

Scroll through the photo gallery above for a closer look, and read the particulars of his component selection below.

Petacchi rides low on stage 3 of the 2014 tour de france: petacchi rides low on stage 3 of the 2014 tour de france - Tim de Waele

Petacchi leads his Omega Pharma-Quick Step teammates on stage 3 of the 2014 Tour de France

Complete bike specifications

  • Frameset: Specialized S-Works Tarmac
  • Stem: Zipp SL Sprinter, 140mm
  • Handlebars: Zipp SLC2, 40cm
  • Brakes: SRAM Red 22
  • Shift/brake levers: SRAM Red 22
  • Front derailleur: SRAM Red 22
  • Rear derailleur: SRAM Red 22 WiFli Mid Cage
  • Cassette: SRAM X-Glide 1190, 11-28t
  • Chain: SRAM Red 22
  • Crankset: S-Works cranks with SRAM 53/39t aero rings
  • Power meter: Quarq
  • Pedals: Look Keo
  • Wheels: Zipp 303 tubulars
  • Tyres: Specialized AllRound tubulars
  • Saddle: S-Works Romin
  • Seatpost: Zipp Service Course SL, 20mm
  • Weight: 7.25kg / 15.98lb

Critical measurements

  • Rider's height: 1.84m / 6ft
  • Reach, saddle tip to bar: 62.5cm
  • Drop, saddle top to handlebar top: 14cm
  • Saddle height: 79cm
  • Stem length: 140mm
The new specialized s-works tarmac has a svelte seatpost clamp. petacchi's number holder was empty when we shot the bike: the new specialized s-works tarmac has a svelte seatpost clamp. petacchi's number holder was empty when we shot the bike - Ben Delaney / Future Publishing

The new Specialized S-Works Tarmac features a svelte seatpost collar design

Ben Delaney

Contributor

Ben Delaney is a journalist with more than two decades of experience writing for and editing some of the biggest publications in cycling. Having studied journalism at the University of New Mexico, Ben has worked for Bicycle Retailer & Industry News, VeloNews and BikeRadar. He has also previously worked as Global Brand Communications Manager for Specialized. Ben covers all things road and gravel, and can be found logging big miles in the Rocky Mountains that nestle alongside his home in Boulder, Colorado. He has covered the most important bike races in the sport, from the Tour de France and Tour of Flanders, to the Unbound gravel race, and specialises in tech content, showcasing what the pros are riding and putting everyday equipment through its paces.
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