Cycling is one of the few sports in which you and I, the general public in all our averageness, can kit ourselves out with exactly the same setup as the pro riders. You can go to any Specialized-selling bike shop, ask for Remco Evenepoel's bike, and walk away with an S-Works Tarmac (along with a fairly large hole in your bank account) without any questions asked.
Of course, the bike you leave with isn't Remco Evenepoel's bike, it's just the same model. Often it's not even the same colour but for many people that's enough.
For a select few, however, it's not. They want the real deal; the collector's item. If you fall into this camp, then you're in luck, because the Italian reseller of previous-seasons WorldTour race bikes, BikeRoom, has Evenepoel's very own Tarmac SL7 for sale, resplendent in its World-Champion-themed paint job.
The price isn't currently listed, but Cyclingnews has learned that the listing will go live today with a fixed price, unlike Tadej Pogačar's time trial bike, which was sold on the same website via auction for €35000. Evenepoel's bike can be yours for a cool €19990.
The young Belgian won the Road Race World Championship in Wollongong, Australia, in 2022 with a searing solo attack. A few months later, such is commonplace, his bike sponsor Specialized celebrated the win with a commemorative paint job.
With a pearly white base coat, it features subtle details throughout, including 'World Champ' on the top tube and the quote 'Legends are built not born' on the drive-side seatstay. It also bears the UCI's rainbow flag on the seat tube, as well as on the out-front computer mount.
The bike was first unveiled to the world at his training camp in December, where our very own tech reporter, Will Jones, managed to snap the photos you see here.
BikeRoom has been around for a few years and made a name for itself selling bikes from WorldTour teams such as EF Pro Cycling, UAE Team Emirates and more. At the time of writing, there's a fleet of Bianchi bikes from Arkea-Samsic's 2023 season. Presumably, Florian Sénéchal will be giving those a miss following his unsavoury words at the end of Paris-Roubaix.
Alternatively, if you want the Tarmac SL7 but nearly €20000 is a little bit out of range, or you're more a fan of everyone's favourite fighting Frenchman - no, not Lafayette, Julian Alaphilippe of course - then his bike is also available in 2023 Deceuninck QuickStep colours for €11990.
Likewise, the bike of Irish sprint sensation, Sam Bennett, is available in the 2023 Bora-Hansgrohe colours for the comparatively pocket-change amount of €10990. *Checks down the back of the sofa and closes browser with a sigh.
