Remco Evenepoel's Tour de France ended on the Col du Tourmalet on Saturday, with the Olympic champion abandoning the race on stage 14.
Evenepoel didn’t have the best start to the Tour, being caught out by the crosswind echelons formed on stage one around Lille and ceding 39 seconds to his GC rivals. He shone on stage five, however, winning the individual time trial to add another Tour de France stage win to the one he claimed in 2024.
Evenepoel may now be out of the race but we took a closer look at his Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL8 ahead of the Grand Départ in Lille.
The Belgian's Tarmac SL8 for the Tour had a gold paint job with black accents and white logos. The paintjob celebrates his gold medal in the 2024 Olympic road race in Paris, when he escaped on the Butte Montmartre, three ascents of which are a new feature added to the final stage of the Tour this year.
7.18kg bike weight
At launch, Specialized claimed that a complete S-Works Tarmac SL8 was just on the UCI’s 6.8kg weight limit, but even in his smaller size and with some weight weenie swap-outs, we weighed Evenepoel's bike at 7.18kg, almost 300g adrift of that number.
Given the almost identical build we saw at last year's Grand Départ, in Florence, weighed less than 7kg, we suspect the lavish gold paint job is to blame here. Paint can add significant weight, after all – and is one of the primary reasons so many modern bikes are black.
We've also previously seen Evenepoel on an all-black Tarmac SL8 on mountain stages, which could be even lighter.
Evenepoel uses the carbon Roval Rapide Cockpit, which is standard on the S-Works Tarmac SL8. It’s apparently a significant contributor to the Tarmac SL8’s aero gains over the SL7, with Specialized claiming that it will save riders 32cm in a sprint finish over the previous separate bar and stem combo.
Evenepoel’s cockpit is 380mm wide, with a 115mm stem length, a size that’s commercially available but looks to be custom-made to suit his geometry and the pros’ preference for narrower handlebars and the more aero position they offer.
Although the Rapide Cockpit comes in standard black, Evenepoel’s K-Edge computer mount gets the same gold treatment as his frame, along with his personal 'R' logo.
New, lighter wheels
When we shot Evenepoel’s bike, the Roval Rapide CLX Sprint wheelset was box-fresh, having been launched by Specialized in June.
It’s distinguished by a deeper 63mm section at the front, and a shallower 58mm rear wheel. The carbon composite spokes with titanium ends and nipples contribute to the 1,395g claimed weight for the wheelset.
Alongside these Sprint wheels, Specialized also introduced the Roval Rapide CLX III wheelset for rolling days, with 51mm front / 48mm rear rim depths, and a claimed weight of 1,305g.
Why differential rim heights on these new wheels? As with the Tarmac SL8 frameset, Specialized says that the majority of aero gains occur at the front of the bike, hence the deeper rim, while airflow towards the rear is so turbulent that Specialized has targeted weight reduction with the shallower wheel depth.
The tan-sidewall tyres marked only with ‘Cotton TLR’ are new and as-yet-unreleased.
Specialized's current top-spec RapidAir TLR Racing Only tyre is all-black. Specialized claims that tyre is its fastest ever, so we’d guess this 'Cotton TLR' tyre, in a 30mm width, is even faster if the pros are choosing to use it.
Although it's a 30mm tyre, according to the hot stamp on the sidewalls, we measured the inflated width at 29.56mm on the rear and 29.3mm up front. Specialized says that the CLX III rims are aerodynamically optimised for 28mm tyre width, but perhaps the benefits of wider tyres outweigh any small aero losses.
While the Cotton logo was in full view on Evenepoel’s road bike, it was blacked out on the tyres on his time trial bike, so we think the new tyre is probably now close to launch – or maybe that was a different, time trial-specific version that the brand still wants to keep under wraps. We'll have to wait and see.
New 3D printed saddle
Specialized’s product launch deluge ahead of the Tour saw it unveil the super-lightweight S-Works Torch Remco shoes, weighing 296.4g a pair in Evenepoel’s size 41.
Specialized also launched the 212g S-Works Power Evo with Mirror 3D printed saddle used by Evenepoel, which adds more struts and includes bio-based materials in its 3D printed top, according to the brand. Along with the wider nose, Specialized reckons the new saddle is more comfortable in a wider range of ride positions.
Evenepoel has the top-spec carbon-railed version and more gold accents on the saddle base.
Large chainrings in carbon
Evenepoel’s Shimano Dura-Ace groupset for the Tour swapped out the standard alloy chainrings for carbon chainrings from CarbonTi. For the flat stage one parcours, he was running 56/44t rings paired with a wide-range Dura-Ace 11-34t cassette.
Carbon chainrings are a popular swap-out for the pros, with Tadej Pogačar also running carbon rings on his Colnago V5Rs, complete with his own logo.
Evenepoel’s Dura-Ace cranks turn in a CeramicSpeed bottom bracket. They’re 165mm long, reflecting the pro trend to run shorter cranks and also his 171cm height. Pogačar also runs 165mm cranks, while Jonas Vingegaard has 160mm cranks on his Cervélo S5.
While the rest of Evenepoel’s bike might be top spec and spendy for the average rider, his bottle cages are more everyday, in the form of Tacx’s 32g Deva, which can be picked up for under £15 or $20 each.
Specs | Remco Evenepoel's Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL8 for the 2025 Tour de France
- Frameset: S-Works Tarmac SL8, FACT 12R carbon
- Groupset: Shimano Dura-Ace, 56x44t CarbonTi chainrings with 10-34t cassette
- Wheelset: Roval Rapide CLX Sprint
- Power meter: Shimano Dura-Ace, 165mm cranks
- Tyres: Unreleased Specialized S-Works Turbo Cotton, 700x30c
- Handlebar: Roval Rapide Cockpit
- Seatpost: Tarmac SL8
- Saddle: Specialized S-Works Power Evo with Mirror 3D printed Carbon
- Bottle cages: Tacx Deva
- Pedals: Shimano Dura-Ace
- Weight: 7.18kg
