Of the 12 stages thus far of the 2021 Tour de France, five have been won on a Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL7. Nils Politt took the win solo for Bora-Hansgrohe on stage 12, adding to Deceuninck-Quick-Step’s tally of Julian Alaphililppe’s opening win and Mark Cavendish’s trio of sprint victories.
Merida and Canyon can each claims two wins. Merida’s victories came with with Matej Mohoric on stage 7 and Dylan Teuns on stage 8. Mathieu van der Poel rode a new Canyon Aeroad into yellow on stage 2, followed by Tim Merlier sprinting on an old Aeroad on stage 3. Ben O’Connor notched one for BMC, Wout van Aert scored one for Cervélo, and race leader Tadej Pogacar put Colnago on the board in the stage 5 time trial.
Here is a look at Politt’s Tarmac, which James Startt shot at a race earlier this year.
Nils Politt is 6’4″, and his seatpost reflects that.
Wahoo sponsors Bora-Hangrohe with its Bolt computers, unique to the cycling world in their aero design.
Specialized has foregone the on-trend integration of bar and stem in favor of letting riders pick their handlebar and set the tilt to their preference.
Specialized no longer has its Venge aero bike, as many of the aero touches have been integrated into the Tarmac, such as the sculpted seatpost.
Specialized has both Bora and Deceuninck on its Roval wheels and clincher tires — an almost unthinkable option until last year, when Alaphilippe won a Tour stage on clinchers. Note how the Bora mechanics have zip-tied the Di2 wire onto the derailleur hanger to keep it from straying onto the cassette.
While clinchers had popped up in time trials from time to time because of the lower rolling resistance, tubulars were the mainstay of the pro peloton for decades.