Reigning world champions given all-new colour schemes ahead of Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Tarmac SL7 gets rainbow stripes along the triangle junctions for the world champions'(Image credit: Specialized)
Rainbow stripes are earned and a deserved rarity, and what better time to pull them out than when Specialized is celebrating the presence of two World Champions on its sponsored teams, for the final monument of the spring Classics campaign?
Followers of the Liège-Bastogne-Liège will see Specialized’s Tarmac SL7 in a dashing new rainbow colourway.
Anna van der Breggen and Julian Alaphilippe will be riding the latest version of Specialized’s Tarmac, featuring a graphic design finish that pays respect to their World Champion status.
Van der Breggen will hope to pilot her Tarmac SL7 to a third career win at the Liège-Bastogne-Liège, whilst Alaphilippe chases his first.
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A detailed build and fit, for Specialized's best (Image credit: Specialized )
These Tarmac SL7 rainbow bikes carry their pro rider names on the downtube(Image credit: Specialized )
The top tube has solid rainbow stipes, with a speed-streak finish on the seat tube(Image credit: Specialized )
Great colours only work when applied meticulously(Image credit: Specialized )
Creating something striking for the final spring Classic(Image credit: Specialized )
For Specialized, the Tarmac SL7 is a pinnacle product. Deeply influenced by the brand’s racers, it has evolved over two decades, tracing all the advances that have been made in aerodynamic modelling and carbon-fibre load structures.
The frame structure allows no watts to go to waste, whilst reducing road buzz and saving riders from fatigue. Beyond its efficient interplay between lateral stiffness and vertical ride-quality compliance, the Tarmac SL7 is shaped to be efficiently aero, with form inarguably following function.
It also happens to make an entirely fitting canvas for those rainbow stripes. Elena Aker is Specialized’s concept bike designer and the person responsible for these vivid Tarmac SL7 designs.
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“The frame graphic pulls from the intense, fast-paced, and often chaotic nature of racing at the highest level," Aker explains. "Anna and Julian are athletes in a class of their own who have proven time and time again that they have the strength to rise above the chaos and find clarity, and ultimately, victory.”
Lance Branquinho is a Namibian born media professional, with 15-years of experience in technology and engineering journalism covering anything with wheels. Being from Namibia, he knows a good gravel road when he sees one, and he has raced some of Africa’s best-known mountain bike stage races, such as Wines2Wales and Berg&Bush.
