As the World Championship road race got underway in Glasgow, all eyes were on the Belgian federation’s trident of talent, Wout Van Aert, Jasper Philipsen and Remco Evenepoel.
But there will be additional eyes on Evenepoel after it was revealed the Specialized-sponsored Soudal-QuickStep rider is aboard the all-new, currently-unreleased Tarmac SL8 race bike.
He’s not the only one, either. Cyclingnews understands that Julian Alaphilippe (France), Kasper Asgreen (Denmark), Peter Sagan (Slovakia) and Sam Bennett (Ireland) are also aboard the ‘Project Black’ bikes from the American brand.
Cyclingnews, on the ground in Glasgow, has sourced some detailed photos of the bike, and can bring you a closer look at the new flagship race bike from the American brand.
From these photos, we can infer some details as to the direction that Specialized is taking the new bike. Is it going to get a renewed focus on aero in a Venge-like revamp? Will it go on a diet in a bid to hit that UCI mandated minimum of 6.8kg? Or Is Specialized going to evolve the so-called "one bike to rule them all" approach it introduced with the SL7?
We can already assume the latter from leaked images and documents in recent weeks, but here we can dive into some details on how the brand has managed to squeeze improvements out of every known marketable trait.
The new SL8 certainly retains an element of the outgoing Tarmac's DNA. To use one of my favourite phrases, the new bike appears to be an 'evolution, not a revolution'
The head tube has been the subject of the most attention in the lead-up to the launch, with critics berating the bulgy front end after the initial leaked photos.
From the photos, it's unclear whether Specialized has taken advantage of the relaxed UCI rules on tube shape, but the head tube is evidently deeper than before. Interested, it protrudes forwards in front of the fork in a similar fashion to the Cannondale SystemSix, rather than rearward into the frame triangle like the unreleased BMC we spotted at the Tour de France.
It's also hard to be sure from the photos, and could be a trick of the eye given the protruding head tube, but it appears the steerer tube has been moved rearward, too.
As expected, the new bike is fitted with the Roval Rapide one-piece cockpit that launched in June with claims of a 50g weight saving and four-watt aero boost.
The seatpost is noticeably thinner and shallower than the outgoing model and again looks to have taken advantage of the new UCI rules. How – and even if – this affects the aerodynamics is not totally clear, but with such turbulent air at this area of the bike from the riders' legs, our guess would be that the reduced size helps air to flow past more easily, while also benefitting weight. Being shallower would also suggest an increase in flex, which should aid compliance and perhaps offset the increased stiffness that the aforementioned leaked documents suggested.
Interestingly, despite the relatively hilly nature of the Glasgow World Championships road race circuit, Remco is racing on Roval's 1.5kg Rapide CLX II wheels, rather than the 300g lighter Alpinist CLX II wheels. Admittedly the parcours is much flatter in the back half of the race where the critical selections are more likely to be made, and riders will certainly be going fast enough to warrant the deeper wheel, even at the expense of weight, but it's not unfeasible to connect the heavier wheels to a significant weight reduction elsewhere.
Specialized has already proven its ability to make an unfathomably lightweight frame with the 585g Aethos, so could it be that the Tarmac with Rapide wheels can hit the UCI's 6.8kg limit? And if so, would that make the Alpinist wheels redundant? We know the Roval cockpit already saves 50 grams over the previous model, and given the SL7 could get close to 6.8kg with its 800g frame, so it's certainly one to watch.
Julian Alaphilippe's bike
Julian Alaphilippe's Project Black SL8 is distinguishable from Evenepoel's on account of his smaller frame, and aggressive stem slam. He's riding on an almost flat integrated spacer, and with a deep bar drop, and opting for a two-piece bar-stem combo rather than the one-piece S-Works solution.
That aggressive cockpit is completed by a metallic blue (suspected K-Edge) Wolfpack Garmin mount.
Sam Bennett's bike
Sam Bennett's Project Black Tarmac SL8 follows a more conventional setup, with Specialized's one-piece bar-stem combo along with Roval's accompanying Garmin mount.
Peter Sagan's bike
For Peter Sagan's last World Championships, he's sporting a rather conservative build - conspicuously absent of any green hulk artwork. In fact, Specialized has seemingly done away with any naming on the frame for Sagan. A quiet departure, perhaps.
Sagan has opted for yet another frontend setup, with an Aerofly II handlebar seen on the previous generation SL7, and itself borrowed from the dearly departed S-Works Venge.
