44 | July 25, 2019 | Cycling Weekly
TECH TOUR BIKE
T
his is the bike Julian Alaphilippe
used when he rode into the
yellow jersey with his solo
win at Epernay on the first
Monday of the Tour de France.
It acquired yellow bar tape and bottle
cages after that day, which were removed
when he lost the lead to Giulio Ciccone
and then replaced when he regained
it after stage eight when he finished
third. In total the Frenchman enjoyed
nine days in yellow, including the time
trial, in which he narrowly held on to the
race lead.
When we got our hands on the bike, it
was painted in the understated Deceuninck-
Quick Step livery, with some details which
include lettering reading ‘The Wolf Pack’ —
the name the team gives itself — on the
insides of the fork blades and a stylised
wolf ’s head logo on the top tube.
Alaphilippe, who is 1m 73cm tall, rides a
51cm frame and keeps the effective stack
low with a -17° Pro Vibe stem in the 100mm
length. The matching Pro bar is a narrow
38mm wide.
This latest version of the Tarmac is disc
brake only, solving that particular dilemma
for the team.
Deceuninck are running Shimano
Dura-Ace Di2 groupsets — including
the power meter crankset rather than
Specialized’s own S-Works power
cranks that come with the consumer
version — and Roval CLX 50 wheels
from Specialized’s in-house wheel brand,
shod with the US brand’s own S-Works
Turbo 26mm tubeless tyres.
French Tour star’s
race bike under
the microscope
Julian
Alaphilippe’s
Specialized
S-Works
Tarmac Disc
Some inspiration for
chasing down the pack
CHAINSET
Alaphilippe is running the classic 53/39 chainrings with a
larger 11-30t cassette at the back. His crank length is 172.5mm
This is clearly a team
that hunt together
SADDLE
S-Works Romin Evo has a
central cutout for more
comfortable aero riding.
Alaphilippe’s saddle height
is 716mm