A look at the double Olympic Champions gold Tarmac SL8, as well more of the Belgian's notable custom bikes
(Image credit: Specialized)
Life must feel pretty good for Belgian star Remco Evenepoel right now. The young phenom recently took Gold in both the road race and the time trial at this summer's Paris Olympics, a feat never achieved before by a male rider. Evenepoel joins Leontien Zijlaard-van Moorsel, who achieved the feat in 2000 in a very exclusive double winners club.
After covering the custom-painted bikes that Evenepoel and other Specialized athletes used for the road events, we now have a new machine to cover. It seems Specialized has created a custom, and very bling, S-Works Tarmac SL8 race bike for Evenepoel to celebrate his double Olympic victory. We aren't sure about details at the moment, but one thing is for sure, this is a seriously bling paint job.
Evenepoel used Specialized bikes at the Olympics, the sponsors of his Soudal Quick-Step team. He used the S-Works Tarmac SL8 for the road race and S-Works Shiv time trial bike to take his victories, and like lots of other Specialized athletes, used the custom-painted pink, purple and gold 'Forward 50' frames which really stood out in the bunch. These bikes aren't special editions for the Olympics per se, but a well-timed 50th anniversary scheme to celebrate the company's half-centenary. You can check these out below too.
Soudal-Quickstep is one of several teams sponsored by Specialized, and it now only produces the new Tarmac SL8 'all-rounder', rather than having separate aero and lightweight race bikes. The brand produces the lightweight all-rounder Aethos model, but it isn't raced at the top level.
Evenepoel is a smaller rider at 171cm, and uses a 52cm frameset. He technically is between two sizes, but, as nearly all pros would, he's sized down and opted for a longer stem. Very light builds are achievable with the lightweight S-Works SL8 Tarmac, though we expect these lustrous custom-painted frames added a couple of hundred grams compared to the all-black lightweight frame Evenepoel used in the high mountains of the Tour de France just a few weeks ago - though it certainly didn't hold him back.
Evenepoel has now won each Olympic and World title available on the road in the elite men's category. He has been World and Olympic Champion in both the road race and time trial and has worn various stage race leaders' jerseys. As such he's been riding plenty of custom-painted bikes, from the Olympic-winning bikes below to his red Tour of Spain-winning bike back in 2022.
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Remco Evenepoel's Specialized S Works Tarmac SL8: Specifications
Frame
Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL8 - 52cm.
Groupset
Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 9250 12-speed
Brakes
Shimano Dura-Ace 9270 hydraulic disc
Wheelset
Roval Alpinist CLX II Team (Roval Rapide CLX II on flatter days)
Evenepoel races aboard a S-Works Tarmac SL8 machine and this build aside from the special paint job, appears to use exactly the same equipment that Evenepoel usually races on. The only difference we can spot is the absence of the Roval Rapide CLX II Team wheels, he raced on in Paris. These can be easily spotted thanks to their silver hubshells.
Evenepoel's Soudal-Quickstep team shared these pictures of the bike recently on Twitter / X - you can see the post down below. Details on the paint job are scarce at the moment, we will update this page when we know more.
Technically, Evenepoel could race on a gold bike for the next four years as reigning Olympic champion. We will have to wait and see whether he races on this bike or a similar one, or whether this is more of a commemorative model that will end up in a museum, doing the media rounds, or back in Specialized HQ to commemorate the victory. Either way, we think you can expect to see at least some gold featuring on the Belgian's bikes for the long haul.
Black fade into gold on the headtube, this is cool (Image credit: Specialized)
We are willing to bet some real gold features in this paint job (Image credit: Specialized)
A warm welcome for the double reigning Olympic champion with the special gold SL8 (Image credit: Specialized)
𝐖𝐨𝐰 is the word you’re looking for 😍@iamspecialized 👏 pic.twitter.com/UFh70dAg79August 12, 2024
The bike(s) that Remco Evenepoel rode to glory at the Paris Olympics road race
Evenepoel rode the majority of the Olympic road race on his custom Tarmac S-Works SL8 which featured black, silver, pink, purple and gold highlights. Equipment aside from the special paint appears to be the same as Evenepoel has been using all year. This year is Specialized's 50th anniversary, so we'd guess the folks back at Specialized HQ have even more cause to celebrate now.
The Belgian opted for 56/40T chainring sizes for the relatively flat road race and used them to devastating effect. We also spotted a waxed chain in the pictures down below.
A Dura-Ace Di2 electronic groupset takes care of shifting and braking. The majority of the rest of the bike equipment comes from the Specialized subsidiary brand Roval which provide the Rapide handlebars, saddle, and wheels. The tyres are also from Specialized and we believe were set up with latex inner tubes.
Evenepoel and various other Specialized athletes raced on custom painted Specialized bikes at the Paris Olympics (Image credit: michalcervanyphoto)
After a puncture within the last five kilometres of the road race, Evenepoel switched to this all-black bike to complete the race (Image credit: michalcervanyphoto)
Stem notes for feeding and to show when the riders would enter the city center finishing circuits in Paris (Image credit: michalcervanyphoto)
Not a bad backdrop for a bike shoot, note the custom pink swoosh on the Roval rims (Image credit: michalcervanyphoto)
Custom paint scheme and the limited Roval Rapide CLX Team II wheels with bare metal hub shells to save weight (Image credit: michalcervanyphoto)
Evenepoel was number six for the road race, which was run off without race radios (Image credit: michalcervanyphoto)
56-44T chainrings and what looks like a waxed chain to us. Note the well used crank arms (Image credit: michalcervanyphoto)
A gold thru axle complements the custom paint scheme (Image credit: michalcervanyphoto)
An S-Works Power Pro saddle finish off the kit list for the road. (Image credit: michalcervanyphoto)
Remco Evenepoel's Paris Olympics winning TT bike
Next up is Evenepoel's Shiv time trial bike which he used to win the Olympic time trial event on. The course was wet and the city streets were treacherous, but the Belgian's effort was issue-free.
The Shiv has also received the same Specialized custom paint treatment but features, like most TT bikes, a few more eye-catching features.
Up front, there is a custom carbon fibre time trial handlebar for Evenepoel which routes his brake hoses internally and also features a neat integrated computer mount to keep the bike computer out of the wind, as well as hand rests that are angled inward, we assume to bring the riders hands together in a more aero position.
Equipment is Dura-Ace again, except for the very large Digirit front carbon fibre chainring, a brand we also see used indoors for track events. Digirit components are made in Taiwan.
Tyres are Specialized Turbo Cottons, which also look to be fitted with inner tubes judging by the valve stems. Evenepoel must have thrown caution to the wind on the soaked and slick Parisian streets in order to secure victory.
Specialized provided Shiv time trial bikes in the same bright colour scheme (Image credit: michalcervanyphoto)
A super clean front end - The days of any exposed cabling are long gone at this level (Image credit: michalcervanyphoto)
Carbon fibre time trial bars with a neat computer mount and skateboard grip tape placed where the Olympic Champion holds the bars for maximum grip; much needed in the wet race conditions (Image credit: michalcervanyphoto)
A Specialized Sitero TT saddle for Evenepoel's TT bike (Image credit: michalcervanyphoto)
A carbon fibre Digirit chainring and K-Edge chain keeper. Evenepoel has used a 62 tooth chainring for flat time trials in the past, and we suspect it's the same here. (Image credit: michalcervanyphoto)
Those purple dropouts really pop! (Image credit: michalcervanyphoto)
The top tube highlights the paint detail, but also Evenepoel's UCI height classification, which dictates bike setup dimensions (Image credit: michalcervanyphoto)
The bike that flew to victory on the rain-soaked Paris streets. The red UCI frame check tag in the background is there to indicate that the bike needs checking by the race commissaires for any irregularities - standard practice for every winning machine. (Image credit: michalcervanyphoto)
Remco Evenepoel's 2024 Specialized Tarmac SL8
Below is the bike Evenepoel started the 2024 race season on, which we snapped and got up close and personal with at a pre-season training camp.
Evenepoel has ridden so many custom bikes this year though that it's hard to remember this model already.
At the time, this chequerboard bike marked a departure from Evenepoel's old two-piece bar and stem to the integrated Roval Rapide handlebar, which is a common sight now as we head toward the tail end of the year.
Elsewhere, it's a fairy familiar spec and build, with Dura-Ace di2 equipment and Roval components. The chrome and black bike Evenepoel used at this year's Tour de France seems to perhaps be a development of this paint scheme idea.
Black and chrome, with only the odd hint of red and yellow to denote that this is in fact the bike of a Belgian champion (Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
His in-line seatpost is not what comes as stock on the new Tarmac SL8 (Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
Gone is the separate bar and stem, replaced by a one-piece Roval Rapide unit (Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
Dura-Ace discs and calipers match the rest of the groupset (Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
The Tarmac's bottom bracket isn't as chunky as many other bikes in the bunch (Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
A K-Edge chain keeper helps stop the chain from dropping off inside (Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
A Dura-Ace power meter and cadence magnet. His #1 race bike may use a 4iiii power meter this season though (Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
The oversized bearings of Dura-Ace pedals resemble a power unit (Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
Straight hoods now, thanks to the UCI banning the inwardly turned position (Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
The protruding nose, or 'Speed Sniffer' is a marked feature of the new Tarmac (Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
Evenepoel opts for a shorter nosed, 3D printed S-Works Power saddle (Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
There's room for bigger tyres, but the team tends to opt for 26mm rubber in all but exceptional circumstances (Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
Cotton sidewalls and latex inner tubes are a recipe for low rolling resistance, but the puncture protection can't match that of tubeless (Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
A half steel, half titanium rear cassette. Dura-Ace tries to balance low weight, durability, and cost (Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
The team mechanics have neatly affixed the Di2 cables to the frame and mech hanger so that they don't get snagged in the event of a crash, or in transit (Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
CeramicSpeed bearings lie in the hubs to help them roll more smoothly (Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
Minimal sponsor decals exist on this frame, tucked just above the seat post water bottle (Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
Here's another shot of his cockpit, and the small flashes of red and yellow on the top tube (Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
There's still a mere hint of inward inflection, but nothing that should trouble the commissaires (Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
The chrome chequerboard motif does call to mind vintage American cars (Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
The S logo has also been chromed on the head tube (Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
Just in case he forgets who he is when signing autographs? (Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
2023: Remco Evenepoel's World Champion's Specialized Tarmac SL7
Having won the 2022 World Championship road race in Wollongong, Australia, Evenepoel was, as is customary, treated by his bike sponsor to a mostly white bike to ride for his season in the rainbow bands. Given the release of the new Specialized Tarmac SL8 at the Glasgow super-worlds, it was the final time we saw the Belgian superstar on the outgoing model.
Given rule changes and new equipment from Specialized, it was also the last time we saw him with the aggressively turned in hoods we got used to seeing so many riders opt for before they were banned by the UCI, and the last time we saw him opt for a separate bar and step combo.
As world champions bikes go, Evenepoel's Specialized Tarmac SL7 was relatively understated (Image credit: Will Jones)
There's only one rider per season that gets top tube details like this (Image credit: Will Jones)
The Pro Vibe Aero SL bars are already narrow at 38cm, but Remco opted to turn his hoods inwards in a now illegal move to reduce his frontal area (Image credit: Will Jones)
Prior to the launch of the Roval Rapide integrated bar-stem, Remco, like many Soudal Quick-Step riders, opted for the Pro Vibe SL bar (Image credit: Will Jones)
From the side you can barely see the rainbow detailing, only the sponsor logos (Image credit: Will Jones)
Rainbow computer mount for his year in the bands (Image credit: Will Jones)
.500, which we suspect is a reference to the margin between victory and loss (Image credit: Will Jones)
Another subtle bit of custom text, befitting of the work needed to become world champion (Image credit: Will Jones)
2022: Evenepoel's World Championship winning bike
In order to earn oneself a rainbow bike one must first win the world championship road race. Remco Evenepoel won the hilly course in Wollongong, Australia, with a solo attack 25km from the line. He was riding a bike very much the same as his current white steed, but in the case of the world championship race, he was running the older model of the tyres.
While the bike and componentry were essentially the same, the all-black paint job will have been lighter as it is essentially raw carbon rather than heavy white paint. Interestingly on his worlds-winning bike, we did spot that the Di2 cable had been secured to the derailleur hanger by what looks like heat shrink or black tape, to avoid any potential mishaps in such an important race. While we didn't spot this on his bike at the training camp it may be something we see during races.
A much more stealthy bike for the one day race. No team colours here either, as he was riding for Belgium rather than QuickStep (Image credit: Specialized)
His worlds bike featured the previous generation of the Turbo Rapidair tyres, despite the new version having been released already (Image credit: Specialized)
His cockpit setup hasn't changed either, except for the computer mount (Image credit: Specialized)
"Remco Evenepoel - 22 - This is only the beginning - Made In Racing" could well be a remarkably prescient caption for a toptube (Image credit: Specialized)
Remco Evenepoel's 2022 Vuelta a España winning bike
Some riders can win one-day races regularly. Some riders can win grand tours and stage races. The crossover at the centre of the Venn Diagram that encompasses both races contains an alarmingly small number of riders. One of them though is Remco Evenepoel, who, before winning the world championships in Australia, brought the red jersey of the Vuelta a España back to Belgium for the first time in many many years.
His bike, as per his worlds-winning, and world champions bikes above, was mostly stock, save for a commemorative red paint job and a colour-matched saddle and bar tape. The Roval Rapide, rather than Alpinist, wheelset features red decals applied over the white.
All red everything, befitting of a Vuelta champion (Image credit: Cyclingimages)
A red 3D printed saddle and red to black fade Supacaz bar tape take care of the details (Image credit: Cyclingimages)
The decals are well applied, but you can just about make out the original white logos underneath on the Rapide wheels (Image credit: Cyclingimages)
The same Di2 cable hack can be seen here, so we expect to see it on his white bike too when the time comes to go racing (Image credit: Cyclingimages)
Remco Evenepoel's time trial bike
While Remco spends the majority of his time on his S-Works Tarmac SL7 through the season, he occasionally has to take part in time trials. As part of his 2022 Vuelta win, he also took stage 10 aboard his Specialized Shiv TT bike by a margin of 48 seconds.
Below you can see the setup he usually opts for, though for the Vuelta he used an Aerocoach front wheel rather than the Roval model you can see here. It's a bike designed to battle against the clock, so everything is optimised for maximum efficiency, including custom-made bars moulded to his forearms
A very different bike to the Tarmac (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
The aero extensions, in which the riders spend most of the time, are custom moulded to Remco's arms by Dutch company, Speedbar. Notice the sandpaper in place of bar tape for grip (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
A disc wheel at the back makes things significantly more aerodynamic, but harder to control in crosswinds (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
As time trials are usually flat, bigger chainrings are often used; in this case 58/46t (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
A snub-nosed saddle, the Sitero, allows the saddle to be pushed further forward while still remaining legal, and allowing a more aggressive position (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Tyres with cotton sidewalls, S-Works Turbo Cotton here, offer lower rolling resistance but are noticeably more fragile so are more often used on shorter races like time trials (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Remco Evenepoel's gravel bike
Gravel is the hottest genre in cycling at the moment, and more and more pro racers from the road scene are popping up at gravel races. While Remco Evenepoel doesn't routinely take part in the gravel scene at the moment, his presence at the 2021 Belgian Waffle Ride, a gravel race in California, aboard an S-Works Crux was noteworthy enough to warrant a gallery, despite the fact he only rode the short 'Wafer' route rather than the full 'Waffle'.
Given he's a Specialized and Shimano-sponsored athlete it's no surprise to see him aboard an S-Works Crux, equipped with Shimano GRX Di2 and Roval wheels. The tyres, Pathfinder 42mm models, were also Specialized. Given the lack of neutral service in gravel racing, it's much more common to see riders carrying repair equipment, like spare inner tubes, along with them for the race in case of any bad luck.
It's not quite a Tarmac, but from a distance there are certainly similarities (Image credit: Specialized)
A 1x Shimano GRX electronic groupset takes care of shifting and breaking. A single front chainring brings simplicity, and is more reliable in muddy conditions as there isn't a front derailleur to clog up (Image credit: Specialized)
Roval Terra CLX wheels are shod with Specialized Pathfinder Pro tyres in 42mm width (Image credit: Specialized)
No aero handlebars here, but the hoods are still turned inwards. While the team now use Garmin they were previously sponsored by Wahoo, hence the Elemnt Roam head unit (Image credit: Specialized)
Remco uses the same S-Works Power with Mirror saddle for road and gravel, but here there's an inner tube stashed at the back for emergencies (Image credit: Specialized)
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Will joined the Cyclingnews team as a reviews writer in 2022, having previously written for Cyclist, BikeRadar and Advntr. He’s tried his hand at most cycling disciplines, from the standard mix of road, gravel, and mountain bike, to the more unusual like bike polo and tracklocross. He’s made his own bike frames, covered tech news from the biggest races on the planet, and published countless premium galleries thanks to his excellent photographic eye. Also, given he doesn’t ever ride indoors he’s become a real expert on foul-weather riding gear. His collection of bikes is a real smorgasbord, with everything from vintage-style steel tourers through to superlight flat bar hill climb machines.
