No one can deny Alberto Contador’s (Saxo-Tinkoff Bank) attacking flair during the 2013 Tour de France. First he fought Chris Froome (Team Sky) for the yellow jersey and then, in the Alps, tried for a spot on the podium.
The Spaniard eventually finished fourth in the final general classification, slipping down in the rankings in the last few stages after some determined riding by Froome, Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha).
The machine that saw him through the 2013 Tour was a Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL4. In this video, Sean Estes from Specialized takes us through the bike, which was set up for the mountain stages at the time:
Alberto contador's tarmac sl4
Video: Alberto Contador's Specialized Tarmac SL4 bike
Contador rode a custom painted Tarmac SL4 at the start of the Tour, the simple three-colour design drawing on his status as winner of the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta a España. Unfortunately, the bike was damaged in a crash on stage 16, and the 30-year-old swapped back to this identical – save for the paintwork – spare for the remainder of the mountain stages.
Contador has already secured one grand tour victory on a Specialized – the 2012 Vuelta a España.
Complete bike specifications
- Frame: Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL4 (54cm)
- Fork: Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL4
- Headset: Specialized S-Works
- Stem: Zipp Service Course SL
- Handlebar: Zipp Service Course SL (classic bend 44cm outside-outside)
- Tape: Specialized Roubaix
- Front brake: SRAM Red
- Rear brake: SRAM Red
- Levers: SRAM Red DoubleTap
- Front derailleur: SRAM Red yaw
- Rear derailleur: SRAM Red mid cage
- Cassette: SRAM Red XG1090 11-28
- Chain: SRAM Red PC1091
- Crankset: Specialized S-Works (172.5mm)
- Bottom bracket: Ceramic Speed
- Pedals: Look Keo Blade
- Wheelset: Zipp 202 Firecrest
- Rear tire: Specialized tubular
- Saddle: Prologo
- Seatpost: Zipp SL Speed Carbon
- Bottle cages: Tacx Deva Carbon (2)
Critical measurements
- Rider's height: 1.76m (5ft 9in)
- Rider's weight: 62kg (136lb)
- Saddle height, from BB (c-t): 74.1cm
- Tip of saddle nose to c of bar: 576mm
- Head tube length: 140mm
- Top tube length: 548mm
- Total bicycle weight: 6.91kg (15.23lb)