Remco Evenepeol has been photographed riding in what appears to be a pair of prototype Specialized S-Works shoes.
The shoes made only a fleeting appearance on the feet of Evenepoel during Soudal - QuickStep’s training ride ahead of stage 1 in Florence. When the Belgian superstar lined up for the Grand Depart he was wearing the S-Works Torch lace-up model, suggesting these are still in the testing phase as opposed to being an all too familiar 'soft launch'.
When Cycling Weekly asked Specialized for comment on the shots, a spokesperson all but confirmed our expectations, saying: "Specialized relies on feedback from professional athletes in both developing and testing advanced pre-production products in real-world applications."
They added: "With this top-level feedback, some of these design elements and products eventually show up in future retail product offerings. We call this Project Black."
So what can we tell from those training ride shots?
The obvious details are the two straps; the top strap is tightened using a Boa dial, while the lower one looks to be fastened using velcro. The appearance is somewhat akin to an amalgamation of the S-Works Ares sprint shoes, which use a strap system but with two more centrally placed Boa dials, and the Torch shoes which feature a lower velcro strap.
The prototype uses what looks to be a metal Boa dial too, as seen on the current S-Works Torch model.
If this prototype is an updated Ares however, then it would be quite the departure.
While the straps bear a resemblance this new shoe doesn’t use the inner mesh sock of the original Ares. As a result, it doesn’t feature the cutaways which make the mesh visible. Instead the upper appears to be a one-piece design, with perforations across the majority of the front and side. It makes for a design that looks, to the eye at least, more robust than the Ares but also potentially heavier too. Is this intended as more of an all-round race shoe, then?
The sole, black at the front and white at the rear, looks to wrap around the upper at the heel, front and sides of the shoe. While we can’t tell the construction, it’s likely to be similar to the I-bam carbon outsole used on the Torch lace-up shoes that Evenpeol has worn in the race to date.
It will be interesting to see if Remco puts the shoes into play over the next three weeks, and if so, which stages he wears them for. Given that the first two stages featured a solid amount of climbing and were conducted in searingly hot temperatures, perhaps this new shoe isn’t his preferred choice in the mountains or the heat.
Maybe, given the double strap which should promote plenty of foot security, they’ll make an appearance during the testing gravel stage in Troyes?
New, unreleased bikes ridden at the Tour de France have been easier to spot than these 'Project Black shoes', with what looks to be an updated Canyon Aeroad and a new Van Rysel aero machine ridden in plain view during the opening stages.
